German supply chain software specialist Ehrhardt Partner Group (EPG) has deployed its LFS warehouse management systems at Schneider Electric’s Sarre-Union warehouse and distribution centre in France, boosting logistics capacity at the facility by 15 per cent.

Responsible for all enclosures and related accessories to Schneider Electric’s local distribution centres and third-party suppliers all over the world, the site sees the equivalent of 30 trucks per day leave carrying a collective 30,000 tons of goods, with over 7500 products in storage and 15,000 pallets in internal and external locations. Reliable and always-on IT and software systems are vital in running the 1000 square metre warehouse and distribution centre efficiently.

As a company with almost 200 years of history in sustainable innovation, Schneider Electric specialises in digital transformation of energy management and automation, and provides electrical distribution equipment and secure energy equipment for homes, buildings, data centres, infrastructure and industry.

Prior to the upgrade, the centre’s previous WMS was built on a legacy mainframe, and with existing data becoming less reliable, Schneider looked to EPG to install a flexible WMS that could match their own specific needs more closely as well as future-proof the business at the same time.

LFS is EPG’s off-the-shelf WMS, customised to connect the planning and control of all material flows intelligently in a logistics facility. It actively guides the movement of all manual and automated storage units with 100 per cent safety and transparency.

Implementation of the project was trouble-free, and required no downtime at Sarre-Union, despite the added pressures of the Covid lockdown, which did delay the first go-live target date. The entire process took 18 months, and the EPG team worked closely with Schneider Electric teams with initial workshops and project specification to prepare for the customisation, tests and deployment.

Since implementing LFS, the centre has experienced improvements to its processes, including a 15 per cent uplift in logistics capacity. In just three months, the centre was outperforming previous benchmarks and has boosted capacity by 15 per cent.

“All configurations are controlled by our own key users, who can manage the jobs, change the flows and processes all by ourselves,” said department operations manager Kevin Cartolano. “The label management facility enables us to print directly via LFS. The benefits of that include no fixed batch jobs and no downtime needed to integrate new orders. Meanwhile, the printer management function permits key users nominated by us to manage individual printers.”

The system’s easy-to-use interface makes it more comfortable for relevant teams to adopt, particularly as it is flexible enough to be used on several platforms as required throughout the facility, such as tablets, handheld units, laptops and desktop computers.

“Schneider Electric is delighted with the flexibility benefits provided by the multiple functionalities incorporated within the customised LFS,” said Cartolano. “The quality and speed of communication provided by EPG’s versatile and expert support personnel have been commendable, and we look forward to working with EPG on many future upgrading projects.”