 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Ivoclar North America of
Amherst, New York is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ivoclar AG
from Liechtenstein, a worldwide manufacturer of dental products. |
|
| The North American subsidiary
handles limited manufacturing, although it primarily serves
as a distribution center of aesthetic dental products for three
divisions: Ivoclar - technical dental laboratory products; Vivadent
- clinical dental office products; and Williams - precious metals. |
|
|
|
| In 1999, the company moved from the
former Williams Gold Refining Company site in Buffalo, New York to Amherst.
It purchased a building and renovated it into ultra modern offices, as well
as built a 30,000 square foot warehouse/distribution facility. |
|
| According to Andrew Schalberg, Ivoclar's
Director of Logistics and Warehouse Operations, the company had run out
of space which really hampered distribution. The newfacility, with the help
of six Hanel Rotomat Carousels working in conjunction with a sophisticated
materials handling system, solved the problem and also helped Ivoclar handle
the brisk increase in customer orders which has grown in excessof 5% a year. |
|
| Proper planning pays. |
|
The local Hanel distributor was fortunate
to be involved at the planning stage of the Ivoclar project,
before construction of the physical building was started. Bill
Kraft,
Senior Project Manager from Kraftwerks Storage and Material
Handling, worked hand-in-hand with Ivoclar management. |
|
| Plans for the advanced storage-handling-order
fulfillment system were submitted and approved. Building construction
began in January of 1999. Bill Kraft maintained almost daily
contact with Andy Schalberg and Richard Cracchilo, Logistics
Manager. |
|
| The project was completed in August.
All materials handling equipment from conveyors to controls
to carousels was installed. Inventory was moved in during the
weekends of July. Effective August 1, 1999 the state-of-the-art
Ivoclar Distribution Center was up and running. |
|
| Operational efficiency. |
|
| The new Ivoclar Warehouse/ Distribution
Center enabled the company to consolidate all of its storage
in-house. The system is totally integrated from order entry
through order picking and shipping. The facility has earned
an ISO 9001 certification and is a model of operational efficiency. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Andy Schalberg describes the progress,
"Our new system represents a quantum leap in technology from the old
supermarket method of order picking where employees would push a cart among
static shelves and racks requiring extensive walking, bending and double
handling of parts. Now the products come to the employees through the help
of fully automated technology utilizing the Hanel carousels." |
|
| The Ivoclar system uses 6 Hanel Rotomat
automated storage carousels. Four are dedicated to the technical laboratory
products. This represents the bulk of the business (approximately 600 of
the 700 average shipments per day), as well as the most time sensitive.
Dental labs typically order materials they need for the next day. To service
these important customers, Ivoclar promises next day delivery on all orders
received by 7:00 PM EST. |
|
 |
|
| The remaining two Hanel
units are dedicated to the Vivadent clinical products used by
dentists in their offices. These products are sold through dental
supply houses that generally stock products and therefore don't
have the urgency associated with the shipping. |
|
| Approximately 4000 different
products are housed in the Hanel carousels. About 95% of the
products are manufactured and shipped to the Amherst facility
by Ivoclar AG in Liechtenstein (also users of Hanel storage
systems). Stocking the carousels takes place in the mornings
before the order picking process begins for the day. |
|
| Andy outlined a few benefits
of the Hanel Rotomats which he and his crew have found especially
useful: |
|
|
|
 |
Protect products
and keep them clean. |
|
Vertical storage
efficiency. Now able to store utilizing cubic footage rather than
square footage. |
|
Error rates reduced
tremendously. Hanel CIM advanced inventory management software interfaces
with internal host software system. |
|
Product is available
to the order picker at efficient counter height. |
|
Hanels provide quality
lighting directly on the work area. |
|
|
| Total integration. |
|
| Ivoclar uses the AS400 host software
system and expects to switch to SAP software. Either one interfaces smoothly
with the Hanel CIM advanced inventory management system. |
|
 |
|
| CIMS receives an order que from the
host system. The operator scans the order bar code. The information is taken
from the CIMS que and sent to the Rotomat which finds the part and presents
it with a display light. CIMS in turn updates the inventory. |
|
|
Ask for the
Hanel storage story
on CD-ROM. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
