Successful implementation of the iFD-WMS with AutoStore integration at heo GmbH

Twenty-six years ago, the founders of heo GmbH turned their passion into a profession. Their hobby inspired them to start distributing licensed products and games based on pop culture. Today, the company is one of the leading distributors of such licensed products. With over 20,000 items, it serves customers worldwide. The product range extends from trend items, figures, toys, merchandising items, models, textiles, statues, games and their accessories to life-size replicas and high-quality reproductions.

To keep pace with the dynamic and fast-moving environment, heo GmbH modernised its warehouse. To implement the project, the iFD WMS was deployed, including the AutoStore module and integrated material flow control. The iFD WMS controls the entire flow of goods within the warehouse.
The Warehouse Management System manages and controls the distribution warehouse, comprising an AutoStore with 24 storage and retrieval ports as the heart of the warehouse, conveyor technology connecting the AutoStore to the shuttle consolidation warehouse, a pallet area with a total of approx. 5,000 pallet storage spaces, a goods-in area, the CEP and freight forwarding packing area, and the lorry loading area with staging areas.

iFD WMS and AutoStore integration

The functional scope of the iFD WMS includes the integration of an AutoStore and thus the management of 100,000 bins. Items are stored in undivided and divided bins based on a calculation using item dimensions and delivery quantities. The WMS supports ‘Pick&Pack’ for picking directly into the dispatch box. In addition, the system tracks the bins to estimate which bin could be accessed most quickly. This enables the implementation of various picking and dispatch strategies. Sequenced picking at the ports is also supported.

Integration of the conveyor system

In addition to warehouse management, the iFD-WMS also controls the conveyor system at heo GmbH. The conveyor system serves as a link between the AutoStore and the shuttle consolidation warehouse for picking from the AutoStore and the packing area.

Further iFD-WMS functions

Other selected functions of the WMS at heo GmbH include goods receipt against purchase orders, the distribution of received stock within the warehouse according to a defined and largely configurable storage strategy, transport control with complex handover strategies between the individual warehouse areas, the control of manual narrow-aisle forklifts, and the control of low-lift order pickers in a multi-order process within the pallet area.
The system also supports the packing and loading process and the use of mobile devices on the warehouse floor based on web technologies (operating system-independent) for transport and inventory processing.

We would like to thank heo GmbH and our partner AM Logistic Solutions GmbH, which supported the project as the general contractor, for the trust placed in us and the collaborative, successful implementation of the project.