Here is the original excerpt from the Holzkurier - by Robert Kittel
"Twice as much in half the time".
Josef Balk
The fact that today two employees can move twice as much material as four used to seems unspectacular at first glance. The story only gets spicy when you know that Holz Balk can reliably and punctually deliver glue-laminated timber and construction timber to timber construction companies on an order-by-order basis - within three days. Behind this astonishing performance in view of current market circumstances is an ERP and process control software from Timbertec.
But first things first: For five generations, Holz Balk in Vilsbiburg, Lower Bavaria, was a regional sawmill with a timber trade: It all started when we were thinking about buying a new cross-cut saw to offer transport cuts as a service to our customers," recalls Josef Balk, a graduate in business administration. My production manager Mark West and I then came to the conclusion that timber construction and, above all, its materials have changed - sawn timber is becoming less and less popular, and modern materials, i.e. structural timber (KVH), glulam, are in particular demand." However, only very few had ever drawn such radical consequences as Balk: He shut down the sawmill operation. Two years later, one of the most modern bar picking systems in Germany has taken its place. Instead of cutting and trading with timber as before, Holz Balk now concentrates on supplying professional timber construction companies with the urgently needed raw materials. The promise is that the goods will be delivered within three days - picked to order, conveniently packaged so that the first bar required are also at the top of the package and the customer does not have to sort his material first.
TimberTec controls everything
"We contacted our long-time sawmill suppliers TimberTec and HIT," Balk reports, "and together we developed a concept for a picking system. It quickly became clear that the software would play a central role in this." As the central process control computer, the TimberTec solution not only controls the HIT sorting and stacking system, but also provides all the necessary interfaces, such as direct parts list imports from Serna, online ordering, delivery bill and accounting systems, or goods receipt management, and also controls the so-called stanchion warehouse, in which around 5,000 articles are "stored," explains Balk. His employees have seamlessly transferred from the sawmill to the new facility: "I am glad that I have my employees. Instead of the drudgery of sizing, they just work with computers now - things have changed in the lumber business, too." Especially in terms of efficiency: "Two men can now move twice as much merchandise with this system as four men used to be able to do manually with four forklifts - that's quite something." All these processes are controlled by TimberTec software modules.
Everything under one (software) roof
The delivered bars are loaded onto the HIT system by forklift, unstacked and sorted fully automatically into the stanchion storage system. It holds around 500 items of structural timber (KVH), glulam and duo bars sorted by dimensions. From this moment on, "sales" can be made, order management, import of customer order lists, package formation and plant control are seamlessly integrated by TimberTec, Balk is satisfied: "The automation of all processes in the company is only made possible by TimberTec - the software not only controls the HIT order picking system, it also automatically optimizes the composition of the order picking packages, for example, and parts can even be turned on edge to make optimum use of the loading area of a truck." The elegant thing about it, he says, is "that the software is web-based and available on every computer in the company - so order processing or accounting can process a commission just as well as the picker in the hall." Not only that, orders can be arranged by customer list, and manual intervention is possible at any time-from order acceptance to package release-if needed. Once the package has been released, the robot retrieves the required bars from the stanchion storage area, cuts them to length, optimized for waste of course, and transports them to the output area where the package is formed. Each part is automatically labeled, the package tied and wrapped in film. In his opinion, the key to this efficiency lies in the integration of the most diverse components that TimberTec implements: We have a lot of data today, but it's only useful if I can use it, for example, as a parameter for a machine. TimberTec is, so to speak, a producer of useful data, he grins, "no matter what you want to operate, whether it's a sawmill, wood-based material production, or trade."
"Wenns laaft, dann laafts (EN: When it runs, it runs)"
Of course, the change from the saw hall directly into such a high-tech system is a challenge, reports Georg Bichlmayer, one of the operators of the picking system: "But you can learn everything. The TimberTec technicians helped me and were always available for me." In the meantime, he is getting along very well with the system: "If it runs, it runs," he says, referring to the reliable operation in his experience.
Future plans
In the picking hall built in place of the sawmill, there is obviously still considerable space available: Who knows, I could also imagine a picking system for panel materials," says Balk.
Back with the tried and tested partners? Of course. We are very satisfied with the result. Everything worked right from the start, and after three months we optimized a few minor details. The cooperation ran completely smoothly, on time and reliably." The performance of the plant confirms it, "the market today demands commissioned lists, but customers are sometimes expected to accept delivery times of several weeks. I don't think that is in line with the times. Now, thanks to TimberTec, we are able to deliver within three days."
In the material feed, the bars are separated and automatically sorted into the stanchion storage.
The stanchion storage system holds around 500 items, which are removed using a vacuum gantry.
Thanks to the web-based interface, the modules are available everywhere, here in the order picking system or in order processing, which naturally also has import interfaces for customer data.
The packages are assembled fully automatically, and the parts are labeled, bound and wrapped.
Satisfied: Georg Bichlmayer, Josef Balk and Mark West (from left to right) praise the plant's performance, speed and zero-defect rate.