The 24 h Logistics Concept
The 24 h Logistics Concept
Brussels, 5 June 2013
In the presence of Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of European Parliament, Remmers Baustofftechnik GmbH received the European Award for Logistics Excellence 2013.
The jury, chaired by Ádám Kósa, MEP EPP group, nominated nearly unanimously this project as winner. The project in the construction industry provides now deliveries after receiving the order within 24 and 48 hours in 19 countries of Europe wherever the customer is located. Centralising the order taking function combined with the extension of the time frame, modernising and centralising warehousing and distribution activities to 6 centres as well as automated IT logistics, the winning company gained significant and amazing results.
They doubled the logistic area, with an exceptional high quality production speed of specialties within 2 hours after order reception. With more than 40 % increase of orders customised they have reached 99,4 % delivery rate within 24 hours. Such kind of service level in the construction industry is really close to futuristic. This was the most important driving factor of the jury members nominating this project as the winner of this champions league competition.
Remmers Baustofftechnik GmbH managed very complex needs and problems. This solution is proof for the company to grow continuously in the near future and on.
About the project
“Ordered yesterday, delivered today” – that’s the dream of logistics experts all over the world. Impossible, if orders are customer-specific and the quality laboratory tested? Remmers AG in Löningen, Germany says: “Yes, we can!” and presented their unique < 24 hour guarantee to astonished specialists. No matter whether a 1-litre can or 2.5 t of restoration render in a special colour. That was and is unique in the building trade in this combination.
The world ticks faster and faster, also at building sites. More and more orders were coming in with a delivery date of “tomorrow”. Such speedy delivery could no longer be guaranteed by the approx. 180 sales warehouses operated by Remmers Baustofftechnik which had organised delivery so far. It was not possible to optimise the degree of service, warehousing and transport logistics in so many warehouses all over Germany. Company management decided that this was an untenable situation and that logistics should become a core competence area in its own right. Dirk Sieverding, Chairman of the Remmers AG Board: “As a premium supplier on the market, we want to deliver our entire line of products in < 24 hours to each customer in Germany.”
An analysis showed that this could only be achieved through consequent centralisation since all processes in the logistics chain, from procurement of raw materials to production, storage and distribution, needed to be optimised. Implementation of this strategy began by setting up large, highly efficient regional warehouses in Heidelberg and Radeburg as well as pick-up sites as service centres. The parent company in Löningen was expanded, making it the metropolis of the Remmers world. The most visible sign of this is the 17,200 m² Logistics Centre, the central warehouse for all of Europe with approx. 21,000 pallet parking spaces, which was dedicated on November 5, 2011.
The building is the hub of an unprecedented logistics chain. Its integration in the IT landscape of the Remmers group is invisible but extremely efficient. In the world of logistics, information technology is a science of nearly endless potential. It allows orders from all over Europe to be recorded in a web based system which are then forwarded to the warehouses. The system checks stocks, automatically generates production orders, collects raw materials, prepares containers, prints labels, controls warehouse processes and shipment, including route planning.
The use of an integrated IT system makes it possible to automatically process the several thousand orders that come in from customers each day properly and without errors. That also applies to orders for customer-specific special colours. Thanks to an ultra-modern ‘In Can’ special colour facility, Remmers is also able to produce these products in minutes and just-in-time. All orders that are received by 3:00 p.m. are produced the same day, quality tested and loaded for shipment.
Companies in the construction, wood working and floor laying trades who are Remmers customers profit from the unique guarantee given by Remmers Baustofftechnik. With deliveries that fast, even just-in-time at the building site, these companies no longer need to keep large quantities of stocks which can be expensive.
The central warehouse of the Logistics Centre for all of Europe with approx. 21,000 pallet parking spaces, which was dedicated on November 5, 2011.
(Photo: Förster & Krause / Christine Förster)
Löningen, May 2, 2013
Authors: Christian Behrens, Head of Public Relations Remmers AG and Nicole Geerkens, Executive Officer ELA