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Flexibility is vital, since the Škoda
Spare Parts Centre (SPC) in Mladá
Boleslav, north of Prague, Czech
Republic, handles two completely
different logistical processes in a
three-shift-operation. First, all spare
parts of the Group’s VW, Audi and Seat
brands are supplied to all 460 service
partners or authorized repair shops in
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the
Baltic States in a retail model: orders
received up to 6 p.m. will be delivered
the following morning. Second,
the facility also supplies Škoda
wholesalers in 106 countries across
the globe with the entire spare parts
range. It works out that the retailers
receive an average of 65 per cent of all
picked parts, the wholesalers some 65
per cent of the picked volume. Today,
Škoda generates revenue of more
than €600 million per year by selling
original parts and original equipment
(OP/OE).
These completely different process
flows need to be mapped profitably
by super-efficient logisitics. “One of
the main advantages of our OP/OE
supplies compared to competitors
is the availability of the entire range
in our warehouses to quickly supply
an automated small parts warehouse
(AS/RS) for the storage of small and
medium-sized OP/OE fast movers,
constantly expanded since 1998. The
completed version contains three aisles
with a total of 34,560 tote locations.
Five different tote types - divided up
to 4 times - ensure maximum space
utilization in the AS/RS. The new AS/
RS is located in a separate area close
to the existing AS/RS and connected
via a conveyor system. Three new
workstations, designed according to
the highest ergonomic standards are
also now installed. It all took place
during full operation of the SPC,
without affecting daily business.
“The expansion of the AS/RS was
one of our strategic steps towards
protection of sufficient capacities and
fast processing of customer orders”,
explains Jira. It was not only about
increasing warehouse capacity, but
also about protecting pick performance
and processing speed of orders.”
Škoda is designing new models and
production capacities are constantly
growing, which means an increased
range of OP/OE. Meanwhile, customers
order more often, more specifically
and in ever smaller quantities. “Some
customers would prefer to completely
walk away from storing goods in their
own warehouses and receive parts in
even shorter timeframes from Mladá
Boleslav,” according to Jira.
The 13-aisles of AS/RS comprise some
140,000 storage locations and capacity
is at an average of 85 to 90 percent.
Witron’s integrated storage and picking
system OPS (Order Picking System)
is also part of the package. It is able
our customers across the globe. This
is how we set ourselves apart from
independent repair shops who often
only offer fast movers,” says Petr Jira,
of the company’s Operating Systems
and Resources After Sales. In total, the
SPC supplies more than 550 retailers,
service partners, and importers.
Such a comprehensive logistical
complexity needs more than manual
warehouse areas. The core element
of the spare parts logistics centre is
The automated small parts warehouse (AS/RS) at car giant
Škoda processes over 26,000 orders a day from a range of
185,000 different items. Optimum logistics is therefore a big
deal, as
Paul Hamblin
discovers.
Small parts
big prize
54
Logistics Business Magazine | February 2016
AUTOMATION