Siemens Achieves 78% Faster Picking, Major Cost Savings

Siemens traces its history back to 1847 and, over the years, the company has seen many mergers and acquisitions. It's known for producing a wide range of products and services in electronics and electrical engineering. Siemens is also known for its medical, building, and transportation products.

With its wide range of building equipment, automation systems, fire safety equipment, generators, turbines, lighting products, and advanced diagnostic equipment, you're likely to see several Siemens products in your home, office, grocery store, or local hospital.

The company is truly a global one: What started as a small workshop in a backyard in Berlin has now grown into a company with more than 200 locations worldwide.

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AutoStore part of innovation philosophy

“Innovative technology has been at the core of Siemens for more than 170 years and it will remain at the core of the future we're building,” says Dr. Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG.

Siemens decided to install an AutoStore warehouse system into its production and distribution warehouse in Chemnitz (Germany) in 2019. By the end of that year, the installation was complete.

The facility, which the team first started using in 2014, has a floor size of 34,002 sqm (366,000 sf). The AutoStore system is empowered by Dematic and is aimed at improving the production supply of small parts.

This site produces control cabinets for companies across all industries.

The AutoStore system at the Chemnitz facility

The new AutoStore warehouse system has the following specifications:

• The system takes up two levels: On the upper level, incoming goods are distributed to the workstations; on the lower level, empty Bins are brought to the workstations.
• A conveyor line takes the filled Bins and transports them into the Grid.
• The size of the aluminum Grid — an optimally condensed warehouse with 16 layers of Bins — is 760 sqm (8,180 sf).
• There are 45,080 Bins in the system. Each can carry several different items.
• 34 Robots run across the top of the Grid, using long grippers to dig out the Bins requested by the software system. Once a Robot has retrieved the right Bin, another Robot moves any displaced Bins back into their original location in the Grid.
• The chosen Bin is brought to the edge of the Grid. From here, it’s presented to an operator at one of the picking stations (Ports).

How Siemens benefits from AutoStore

Siemens has greatly benefited from the AutoStore installation, which has translated into cost savings, greater efficiencies, optimal usage of storage space, and lower energy usage.

“The system achieves maximum storage density with minimal space requirements and thus ensures optimal use of space,” says Jessica Heinz, Head of Marketing and Business Development at Dematic Central Europe.

Carsten Sambo, Head of Inbound Logistics at Siemens AG (WKC), confirms this: “The advantage of the AutoStore system is the maximum consolidation of the warehouse footprint.”

The exact benefits are as follows:

• An up to 40% saving on staffing costs.
• An increased picking rate of 78%.
• An almost 60% saving of storage space.
• The system runs around the clock, which saves both time and money.
• Even if one of the Robots breaks down, the system continues to run.
• The flow of materials has been automated, and there are far fewer picking errors.
• Siemens can easily expand the system in the future without disrupting current operations.

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System Overview

• 760 sqm (8,180 sf) covered by the Grid
• 45,080 inventory Bins
• 34 Robots
• 5 Conveyor Ports