From sustainable packaging solutions to fridge containers and medical bags: around 70 years of mechanical engineering innovation from Freilassing
In use for ten years now: etiscan
Scalable solution for digitized logistics processes
Goods receipt - dispatch - inventory
Kiefel (Freilassing, Bavaria) develops and produces high-quality machines for processing plastics, recycled and bio-based materials and natural fibers for customers in the packaging, medical technology and refrigerator segments. As part of the Brückner Group, the specialist for thermoforming and joining technologies has a worldwide sales and service network with representatives around the globe.
Photo: Sabine Ursel
Core competencies: Thermoforming and joining technology, including the welding of films. As a technology partner, Kiefel supports well-known customers from the medical technology, pharmaceutical, refrigerator and packaging industries from product development to series production. Machines are designed and assembled for the subsequent production of, for example, cups, food trays, capsules, lids, refrigerator inner containers, medical bags welded with high frequency or thermal contact or flower pots made of natural fibers (corn, cellulose, etc.).
Depending on customer requirements for the end product to be produced and its complexity, Kiefel offers suitable standardized or highly customized machine models that can be up to 30 meters long. Subsequent product production in polymer or fiber? Kiefel will be happy to advise customers in advance on the right solution or technology and provide support with “rethinking” in terms of design, function and material composition - with an ambitious focus on sustainability.
The purchasing department
The 16-strong operational and strategic purchasing team is constantly on the lookout for high-performance suppliers - with zero fault tolerance and a delivery reliability of at least 90 percent. Kiefel does not manufacture its own products, which is why the variance in the procurement and handling of individual and series parts is a constant challenge. The main suppliers produce in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia. 1,300 supply partners are listed, including around 500 active suppliers of production materials. The variety of products is huge: of around 30,000 items, around 15,000 have to be procured depending on customer requirements. 20 percent of the parts must be ready for assembly within 4 weeks - including the request time.
Stefan Kriechbaumer kennt das Unternehmen aus dem Effeff. Er kam 2001 zu Kiefel und ging 2008 in den Einkauf. Innerhalb dieses Bereiches verantwortet der 39-Jährige inzwischen als Head of Procurement for Functional Modules neben dem Procurement-to-Pay-Stream auch die Lagerprozesse. Zudem ist er als Global Process Owner für die weltweiten SAP-Prozesse im Bereich P2P (seit 2021 läuft der weltweite Roll-out der Brückner Group in SAP S4/Hana) innerhalb der Business Unit Kiefel verantwortlich.
The warehouse structure at Kiefel
- Storage area: 6,500m² internal / 6,000m² external
- 7 storage types
- 13,800 storage locations (also fixed storage)
- 3,214 pallet spaces, Kardex paternoster
- 16 area storage locations in the assembly area
- Storage according to product range
- Fast lane, fast turning process
- 350,000 goods movements (not picks)
- 21 employees
- SAP Stock Room Management
etiscan: Scan-Software seit 2014
Seit 2014 ist etiscan bei Kiefel bereits im Einsatz. Damals war wichtig, die Menüführung der etiscan-Software so intuitiv wie möglich gestalten zu lassen und gleichzeitig für Prozesssicherheit zu sorgen.
Due to customer-specific solutions, Kiefel works with many new materials and single-use rotors. The storage system is therefore not determined by a classic storage strategy. The warehouse staff have a free hand and determine the storage location themselves, unless otherwise specified. Storage takes place according to product range and fixed storage bins. The logic is based on the goods receipt slip.
Aus 68.000 Bestellpositionen resultieren 250.000 Kommissionierungen für interne Kunden (zumeist für die Montage), die bedarfsbezogen und möglichst gebündelt abgewickelt werden. Im Herz des Lagers teilen zwei Kolleginnen die Kommissionierer ein, die mit der etiscan-Technik ab dem Verräumen arbeiten. Sie scannen mit ihren Honeywell-Handhelds die Barcodes auf den Scheinen, die zuvor von Zebra-Druckern (ebenfalls über die Firma etiscan geliefert) ausgegeben wurden. Die etiscan-Oberfläche zeigt umgehend alle relevanten Informationen an – jeweiliger Lagerort und -platz, angefordertes Material, Menge, Dringlichkeit, optimale Wegführung zum jeweiligen Lagerort etc. Die „Amtssprache“ des Scanner-Software ist deutsch, was auch am slowakischen Standort kein Problem darstellt. Für Brückner USA kommt demnächst eine englische Version zum Einsatz.
Note: etiscan kann für diverse Sprachen programmiert werden. Die Lösungen werden in über 20 Ländern eingesetzt.
Das wurde im Projekt mit etiscan umgesetzt:
SAP MM/IM
- Goods receipt
- Order picking
(order, network, delivery bill) - Goods dispatch unplanned
(cost center, order, sales order, project, network) - Goods dispatch for stock transport order
- Transfer posting storage location to storage location
- Transfer posting plant to plant
- Change storage bin
- Stock information for material
- Stock information for bin
- Material information
- Requirements and stock list
- Label printing
- Inventory (planned)
SAP SRM
- Order picking
(purchase order, production order, delivery, reservation, transfer order,
sequence) - Putaway/clearance
- Storage bin changes (planned and unplanned)
- Inventory (planned)
- Delivery (to production storage bin)
- Stock information for material
- Stock information for bin
Together with the SAP system house, Kiefel has created a customer-specific process for production supply from the warehouse, whereby goods are picked from the warehouse and loaded onto a train. The goods are then delivered to production.
“We are very satisfied. We are fast and don't lose any time! The error rate is reduced enormously and material traceability is much higher than with conventional processes because everything is digital. Clipboards and Excel spreadsheets have been banned from our company for a long time.”
Stefan Kriechbaumer, Head of Procurement for Functional Modules
More about Kiefel
Kiefel GmbH was founded in 1945 in Freilassing by Paul Kiefel and today employs around 900 people at locations in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, including over 50 trainees. Kiefel includes the Dutch thermoforming tool manufacturer Kiefel Packaging BV and the Austrian company Kiefel Packaging GmbH (tools and automation solutions). The GmbH is part of the Brückner Group based in neighboring Siegsdorf, a family-run medium-sized group of companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector with around 2,900 employees at 18 locations worldwide.
Author Sabine Ursel (Wiesbaden)
