KS Tools adds new warehouse space
- Stock levels to be tripled
- Same-day dispatch for every order
- Processes digitalised from top to bottom
Tool specialist KS Tools, based in Heusenstamm in Hesse, has boosted its warehousing and logistics capacity significantly by opening a second site right by the A3 motorway in Rodgau, a mere six kilometres away. The existing storage space at company headquarters has been transformed into a fully automatic small-parts warehouse with 60,000 small-parts containers, while the new warehouse boasts state-of-the-art logistics for same-day dispatch. This allows the growth trajectory of the past few years to be maintained and orders to be processed virtually error-free. The new facilities are being complemented by an extra 10,000 square metres of storage space in Heusenstamm, which is set to open in September 2022. KS Tools is planning further growth and will triple its stock levels with these investments.
“We’re working tirelessly on getting even better,” says Orhan Altin, Managing Director of KS Tools, putting it in a nutshell. “It had got to the stage where we’d reached our limit with our existing warehouse in Heusenstamm. So now was the time to take the next step.” It was only ten years ago – virtually to the day – that the company’s headquarters in Heusenstamm had been thoroughly modernised and expanded. Now, with the next round of expansion in 2021, all of its logistics processes are being digitalised and optimised from top to bottom. An additional 10,000 square metres and 12,000 pallets are now available in Rodgau. Unlike the one at headquarters, this warehouse is purely for pallet handling. However, the two sites do have one thing in common: all deliveries are sent out on the day they are ordered. “We’re aware that many companies aren’t able to make deliveries either on time or at all at the moment,” Orhan Altin explains. “We’re working hard to counter this trend with our new logistics setup. We want our customers to get their orders as quickly as possible.”
Fully automatic small-parts warehouse
An automated storage system is now in place for fast-moving goods that is extremely efficient and space-saving: 30 vertical warehouse lifts handle the work that previously had to be done by forklift – a laborious process. The throughput time for a single item is just one hour. The new warehouse can hold up to 10,000 items in each tower. “It simply means that we can now be even smarter with picking goods and putting them into storage,” Altin continues. “We’ve mapped our processes 1:1 using our in-house software solutions, which allows us to work faster and better. The automatic workflows have an error rate of less than 0.2 per cent.”
The hard figures are impressive: 1,920 trays, 64,560 tray lift slots and a total of 11,676 square metres of storage space with room for 13,348 pallets demonstrate the company’s high performance capacity. A smart roller conveyor control system enables up to 150 orders to be processed simultaneously, while a put-to-light system helps staff assign each item to the right delivery.
Better working conditions
Another technical highlight of the new logistics setup at KS Tools is the fully automated packing robot, which can prepare up to 300 packages an hour. In the process, it cuts the packaging material precisely to size, meaning that no filler is required. This saves time and material while also protecting the environment. Hard though it may be to believe, staff are not being neglected while all this automation is going on. They now enjoy better working conditions than in the past, and some have been able to gain additional qualifications to take on new responsibilities. KS Tools is thus mounting a far-sighted response to the skills shortage.
“We now feel ideally placed to face the future,” says a confident Orhan Altin. “Further growth won’t be a problem for us.”