SSI Schäfer Creates Scalable Solution for the Chiron Group

SSI Schäfer has developed the concept for the new logistics center for the Chiron Group at the production site in Neuhausen ob Eck. The installation allows for a gradual implementation towards automation. For the Chiron Group, the overall project represents the largest investment in the company’s history.

(Neunkirchen) For the Chiron Group, SSI Schäfer has created the concept for the new logistics center at the production site in Neuhausen ob Eck. The aim of the project is to supply the assembly stations more efficiently. The plant layout provides for a gradual implementation towards automation. With the manual storage setup, such as the pallet racking and the shelving system from SSI Schäfer, the perfect foundation has now been established.

“Success in competition requires high flexibility,” says Christian Kalisch, Head of Logistics at Chiron-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Tuttlingen. “In this context, we are continuously expanding our product portfolio.” The consequence: decreasing capacities in inventory management for production supply and increasingly complex processes. With the largest investment project in nearly 100 years of company history, the management decided to establish a new production center with an attached storage area, the Chiron Precision Factory, “the most modern machine factory in Europe,” according to Kalisch. SSI Schäfer was awarded the contract for the intralogistics equipment tailored precisely to the requirements. “We had already had good experiences with SSI Schäfer’s technology,” Kalisch justifies the award of the contract. “SSI Schäfer was also ahead of the other manufacturers in this case.”

Two-Thirds for Export

The Chiron Group, based in Tuttlingen, specializes in CNC-controlled vertical milling and turning machining centers as well as turnkey manufacturing solutions. The group is globally present with production and development sites, sales and service branches, and agencies. About two-thirds of the machines and solutions sold, which are produced under the three brands Chiron, STAMA, and SCHERER among new machines and in the retrofit of the CMS brand, go into export. Key customer industries include the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, medical and precision technology, as well as aerospace.

The new central logistics at the Neuhausen site connects the Chiron Precision Factory with the existing production buildings. In equipping the Chiron Precision Factory, IT experts, production, and intralogistics planners have implemented everything possible regarding digitization to ensure high productivity and future viability. For example, digital assembly folders, contactless logistics bookings, and intelligent material flows with optimized picking and provisioning processes have been established as important milestones on the way to a paperless factory.

400 Machines per Year

The operational areas with 9,000 m² for production and 2,500 m² for logistics have been specifically designed for the precise assembly of new machine series. Up to 400 machines will leave the Chiron Precision Factory each year in the future. Optimized assembly and logistics processes ensure the shortest delivery times. SSI Schäfer has covered the specific requirements for the reliable supply of the assembly stations in the new Precision Factory with the realization of a comprehensive, continuously scalable solution. Within eight weeks after the order was placed, the complete equipment was installed. “The project had a tight realization schedule,” emphasizes Kalisch. “The pure installation had to be completed within 14 days as planned.” At the end of August 2019, trial operations began at the new production site, which covers 13,700 m². In September, the facility was handed over, and the official opening took place at the end of October.

Shelving Technology with QR Code

“The logistics area is purposefully structured and allows for an orderly material flow into the machine assembly. In addition, the entire area is column-free. This was an important requirement on our part,” says Kalisch. For the stocking and optimal access to the required components and materials, SSI Schäfer initially installed a 6-aisle, manually operated pallet racking system with a special cable drum rack, as well as a shelving system with around 840 shelves for small parts storage. In the new shelving system, visibility storage boxes from the LF series by SSI Schäfer are used. Thanks to the slanted front opening, quick and easy access to the materials is ensured. However, ecological sustainability also played a role in the selection. The containers are made from high-quality regranulate. Furthermore, SSI Schäfer ensured transparency and data linkage of inventory and the process-leading IT system SAP MM with the clear labeling of all storage locations. The entire shelving technology has been equipped with QR code labeling. This enables mobile data collection and, if necessary, a quick change of storage locations. The storage setup is designed as a scalable system that can be expanded and automated in further stages as needed. The concept also includes a future heavy-duty rack and four storage lifts.

Modular System

From the modular system of the pallet rack PR 600, SSI Schäfer has created a racking system for Chiron with more than 700 storage locations for large components for final assembly, such as machined cast parts, axle motors, or machine stands. The pallet rack is 1,250 mm deep and equipped with mesh grids. “This gives us maximum flexibility in assigning the stored goods,” says Kalisch. “The mesh grids allow for cross-storage of special load carriers and also increase safety in the pallet storage.” With a frame height of 5.20 m, the racking system offers up to 6 levels. The aisle width is wisely designed at 4 m. “The concept also includes driverless transport vehicles (FTS) that can take over the loading and unloading in the pallet rack,” the logistics manager illustrates the underlying planning horizon. “Accordingly, the transport routes and the racking technology are already aligned for automatic processes.”

One row of the pallet rack is designed as a cable drum rack with 9 fields for 5 cable drums stacked on top of each other. The hangers allow for the incorporation of roll sizes with a diameter of up to 500 mm, a drum width of 685 mm, and a weight of 275 kg (N5 according to DIN 46391). Each field is completed by a level with two pallet storage locations. The drum rack with 45 locations allows for quick and comfortable retrieval of meter goods for machine assembly.

Opposite the pallet storage locations, SSI Schäfer has also installed the shelving system for small parts storage for machine assembly. The system is assembled from the R7000 shelving system by SSI Schäfer and consists of 2 single rows and 10 double rows. In the 2.17-meter-high rows, there are 72 horizontally oriented shelving and 58 slanted shelving units installed. The slanted shelves primarily store bulk goods in almost 2,500 visibility storage boxes from the LF series.

20,000 Picks for Timely Assembly Supply

With this plant design, the processes are geared towards continuous efficiency, precision, and future viability. A delivery hall of around 750 m² has been set up for the receipt of goods. It ensures weather-independent goods acceptance. Large components are delivered two days before they are needed and placed directly on the production’s provisioning areas to ensure optimal temperature during access. All materials that are stored first go through the goods receipt. There, goods receipt inspection and acceptance take place. Subsequently, forklifts pick up the pallets and bring them to the storage locations specified by the SAP system or to the repacking areas for storage in the shelving system. The storage principle is fixed-location storage.

For order picking, the stored materials are mobilized on demand from the large and small parts area to the assembly stations. “With the new warehouse, we have now centralized the material for final assembly close to the demand locations and can respond faster,” Kalisch describes the advantages, “Even with unplanned material needs, reactions occur in seconds.” For bulk goods, picking is done with a two-container system in Kanban processing. The inventory-managed materials are controlled via SAP Kanban or automatically reordered from SAP. For C-items, the material is automatically reordered via a self-sufficient RFID system.

Storage Containers Made from Regranulate

The material is picked independently of assemblies in the racking systems and then summarized into assemblies for machine assembly in plastic containers. The containers are labeled with the designation for the assembly. The containers used in the racks and in the material flow from SSI Schäfer are all made from recycled material. “The storage containers made from regranulate emphasize the ecological thought that characterizes the entire project,” says Kalisch.

The acceptance of the assembly-specific packaged containers into the assembly plant takes place according to the respective machine cycles. Special picking carts are used for picking and provisioning, which are stocked with materials for the next assembly cycle. At so-called stations, the picking carts are prepared for delivery to the final assembly lines and combined with order components from other storage areas. Subsequently, the logistics department takes over the delivery of the carts and large components to the assembly stations.

20,000 Picks per Month

In the new, transparently structured material warehouse, the intralogistics employees currently achieve around 20,000 picks per month with their mobile data terminals – thus ensuring timely and scheduled supply of the assembly stations. By switching to mobile data collection, for example, goods receipt bookings, storage location changes, inventory processing, and material withdrawals can be carried out with the same device in the operational area. This increases the degree of digitization, which was a key objective of the overall project. The associated digitization of administrative processes also enhances the quality, productivity, and transparency of logistics. “Thanks to the QR code labeling, the quickly and flexibly adaptable modular racking systems, and the short picking routes, there is a significant improvement compared to the previous processes,” summarizes Kalisch. “At the same time, the foundations for further digital transformation processes have been laid. In project planning, we examined numerous aspects of Industry 4.0 and selected the most important elements suitable for the Chiron material flow. We can now implement them in appropriate realization steps. Overall, a very successful project, where we had SSI Schäfer as a competent realization partner by our side.

Photo: © SSI Schäfer

www.ssi-schaefer.de