Knorr-Bremse in Mödling, Austria, to supply production facilities and subsidiaries with small parts using multi-functional shuttle system

The Knorr-Bremse subsidiary in Austria provides equipment for railway vehicles and supplies vehicle manufacturers and operating companies from this sector throughout Austria and Eastern Europe. The Mödling subsidiary acts as a global Knorr-Bremse Center of Competence for development and as production site for the global market. KNAPP has installed an multi-functional small parts warehouse for production supply within a project period of only 16 months.

In January 2020, Knorr-Bremse commissioned KNAPP with the construction of an automated small parts warehouse. This small parts warehouse was created to replace floored racks and vertical rotating racks in order to increase picking performance and quality and to improve existing processes.

A flexible OSR Shuttle™ Evo, which is connected to the Knorr-Bremse SAP warehouse management system, is now supplying small parts to its production facility and distribution for customer deliveries. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and short-time work at KNAPP, the project was successfully implemented according to plan within only 16 months. “I’d like to point out that, above all, it came down to the enormous personal commitment of all the people involved, especially the logistics team and employees of Knorr-Bremse’s production as well as KNAPP’s installation team,” explains Jörg Branschädel, Managing Director of Knorr-Bremse GmbH.

All-in-one: A multi-functional OSR Shuttle™ Evo for three different applications

The new system was installed in an existing warehouse building and, thanks to a special configuration, provides a high storage density and flexibility. The new OSR Shuttle™ Evo covers various applications within its system. It serves as a picking warehouse to supply subsidiaries with small parts and for picking spare parts for direct shipping to end customers. Furthermore, it acts as a buffer and sequencing warehouse to supply the company’s own production facility. In its first extension, the OSR Shuttle™ Evo with a total throughput of 793 double cycles/h can accommodate almost 16,000 containers measuring 600 x 400 mm. The four ergonomic Pick-it-Easy Flex work stations are used for picking small parts for subsidiaries, spare parts for customers and mounting kits for in-house production. Once the mounting kits for in-house production are assembled, the items are returned for storage in the OSR Shuttle™ Evo. These items are supplied to a tugger train station as needed where they are sequenced for onward transport to the production facility. The change-over to the goods-to-person principle has led to a significant increase in the picking performance. “When it comes to the stability and system performance, the shuttle system delivers on its promise,” enthuses Mr. Branschädel.

It was also important to Knorr-Bremse that the system provides sufficient capacities to further increase its performance. Thanks to the new system, Knorr-Bremse is now able to process orders faster and more flexibly. Further expansions of the automated small parts warehouse in the future will enable the warehouse to increase its capacities and performance.

About Knorr-Bremse

Knorr-Bremse AG is the world’s leading manufacturer of braking systems and supplier of additional sub-systems for rail and commercial vehicles. Across the globe, Knorr-Bremse’s products have been playing a major role in ensuring safety and energy efficiency on railways as well on roads. Around 29,500 highly competent employees in more than 100 locations in over 30 countries are dedicated to keep customers satisfied worldwide with their products and services. In 2020, Knorr-Bremse with their two business divisions reported sales of 6.2 billion euros.

Within the Knorr-Bremse group, Knorr-Bremse GmbH in Mödling, Austria, is responsible for developing and manufacturing essential components for the braking systems of railway vehicles. The company has over 2,000 employees, 1,100 of which are working at the Austrian sites in Mödling, Kematen/Ybbs and Vienna.

For further information visit www.knorr-bremse.com

About KNAPP

KNAPP AG is a leading technology company offering efficient, safe and economical automation solutions for the entire value chain. Aside from customers in wholesale, retail, healthcare, textiles and food retail, KNAPP also counts renowned production companies such as Terberg, Pankl Racing, Würth, Siemens and VW among its customers. For further information visit www.knapp.com.