Thanks to the PROLAG World intralogistics software, processes at Maertin & Co. AG are now both digital and future-proof. Warehouse management, shop sales, and production operate seamlessly from a single, unified platform.
Maertin & Co. AG is a technical B2B and B2C distributor based in Freiburg, Breisgau. The family-owned company is a system partner and service provider active in the following areas: hosing equipment, sealants, adhesives, occupational safety, plastics and elastomer/polymer processing. Maertin uses about 8,000 m2 of storage space, of which approx. 700 m2 is designated for production and manufacture, to store around 50,000 articles, categorized in 20 - 30 article groups.
Before going live with PROLAG World, Maertin had mapped its warehouse processes without using warehouse management software. "To keep pace with the growth of our company, the range of articles we offer and our process portfolio, we decided to digitalize our entire intralogistics," explains Maertin Managing Director Stephanie Maertin. The primary goal was to make the company fit for the future by increasing delivery capacities and enhancing process efficiency. Thanks to the PROLAG World warehouse management system, Maertin has been able to realize this vision. Integrated with gevis, an ERP industry solution by GWS based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, PROLAG World manages the pallet racks, cantilever racks and modular shelving systems at Maertin’s logistics centre, as well as the company’s production areas and an outlet store connected to the warehouse. A total of 35 users work with the warehouse management system every day.
Plastic cutouts are one of Maertin’s many products. The cutouts are made at Maertin’s own production facilities and at about 30 external production sites, for example in centres run by Caritas or in sheltered workshops. CIM’s WMS manages production supplies for the various sites and controls production itself by means of dedicated modules integrated in the software standard. "Of particular importance to us is optimal planning of the cutouts so that as few remnants as possible are produced, and remnants management so that remnants can be utilized as optimally as possible in follow-up orders," says Stephanie Maertin. Thanks to PROLAG World, waste and costs have been significantly reduced. Use of the cutout plates is now fully optimized, with the software assigning orders to plates based on size and maximizing the number of orders that can be produced on any one plate. Any remnants after production are put back into storage and can be re-used for future orders.
A special solution was required so that PROLAG World could manage in-shop sales and Maertin’s online shop. "The classical warehouse processes such as ordering, picking and shipping don’t exist in the shop. Customers arrive, decide and take the goods on the spot," explains Pirmin Weber, project manager at CIM GmbH. In this case, CIM’s warehouse management software doubles up as store management software. Maertin customers can buy goods directly in the shop, order goods from the warehouse while in the shop, or do both simultaneously. "For example, a customer can choose a pair of shoes in the shop and at the same time order hosing from the warehouse. "By the time he has picked the right shoes, the assembled and packaged hosing is already waiting for him at the checkout," explains Stephanie Maertin. PROLAG World’s dedicated order types and sophisticated priority control make this possible. Goods can also be returned directly in the shop. The WMS automatically books the goods and returns them to goods receipt so that customers immediately receive their money back from the POS system. "The special thing about this is that we didn't have to program these processes. Instead we were able to get there purely by configuring our standard modules," says CIM’s Pirmin Weber.
» ‘WMS project’ a complete success! "We have been working faster and more efficiently since the introduction of PROLAG World. In addition, we feel fit for the future thanks to the wide product range offered by CIM and the modular scalability of PROLAG World «
Safe, transparent warehouse management
PROLAG World manages the production facilities, shop and warehouse. "The fact that we can combine these three components in one software instead of using three systems gives us a great deal of process and IT security," Stephanie Maertin is happy to report. Digital process control also ensures a significant increase in inventory security and accuracy. CIM's PROLAG Go order picking system and the shipping system PROLAG Shipping are fully integrated in the software standard and make everyday work routines easier thanks to paperless processes, optimized transactions and minimized handling times. Add-ons such as the business intelligence tool, dashboard and shipment generation make Maertin's processes even more transparent and secure. For Stephanie Maertin, the WMS project has been a complete success: "We have been working faster and more efficiently since the introduction of PROLAG World. In addition, we feel fit for the future thanks to the wide product range offered by CIM and the modular scalability of PROLAG World".
