Smooth ride into the lorry
Scanning system simplifies logistics
Logistics staff at the Pottenbrunn (AT) plant are delighted: they no longer have to get off their forklift trucks to scan pallets before loading them onto lorries. The plant in Austria is just the beginning.
Franz Mann has been working as a supply chain manager at the Geberit plant in Pottenbrunn (AT) for many years. He has introduced numerous innovations during that time. “But hardly any other innovation has sparked as much enthusiasm among staff as the ‘Scangate’,” he says.
An unintended interruption
The system automatically scans pallets as they are loaded onto lorries. The process used to be cumbersome: anyone loading a pallet of products from the warehouse onto a lorry had to get off the forklift truck in front of the loading bay, scan the pallet’s label by hand to verify the cargo, then get back on the forklift truck and drive into the lorry’s loading area. “That was a tedious and time-consuming interruption in the loading process,” says Franz Mann.
The ‘Scangate’ now puts an end to this. Cameras arranged in a column-like formation automatically scan the label, send the data to the system, which verifies the cargo in a matter of seconds and switches a traffic light to green upon approval. “In the event of an error, the system emits a warning signal and displays a message on a screen,” explains Daniel Drews, Head of Warehouse Applications at Geberit’s Global IT department.
Greater efficiency, less risk
Forklift drivers can now drive straight into the lorries without a ‘pit stop’. “All in all, the efficiency gain is considerable,” says Franz Mann. “What’s more, getting in and out of the vehicle always carried a certain risk of injury. That risk has now been eliminated.” Once the first of the three gates in Pottenbrunn had been fitted with “Scangate”, staff were constantly asking him when the other two would follow. In June, the time had come. “To the delight of everyone involved.” The system will also be introduced at the plant in Rapperswil-Jona (CH) before the end of this year. Further plants are likely to follow.
