Company investigations are always a good opportunity to take a look at the processes and organization of different companies. They also help to counteract the so-called operational blindness, which is still firmly anchored in many people due to their own experiences in their own company. The team of training managers for the two retraining courses, Andreas Baumann, Roland Domogalla and Richard Kirschner, were happy to take advantage of the offer from the cooperation partner LOXXESS to carry out a business simulation game on the topic of picking with the participants and to take a look behind the scenes of a logistics company.
Reinhard Riedl, who looks after the retrainees during the practical days, and Helmut Albrecht, who is responsible for the internship supervision at the ISE Language and Vocational Training Center and maintains numerous contacts with local companies, were also there as the retrainees themselves in the logistics area could become active as actors.
Viel Hintergrundwissen, Zahlen und Fakten zum Unternehmen des Logistik- & Fulfillment-Unternehmens LOXXESS konnten den Teilnehmern dabei vermittelt werden. Arbeitsprozesse im Rahmen des kompletten Workflows, Logistik- und Fulfillmentlösungen bei der Industrie- und Handelslogistik wurden direkt vor Ort in der Lagerhalle und im Präsentationsraum beschrieben. Auch ein Gang ins automatische Hochregallager ließ die Herzen technikbegeisterter Umschüler und Betreuer höher schlagen.
During the introduction to a business simulation game on the topic of order picking, the participants were informed about Loxxess' lean strategy, which aims to continuously improve and streamline all processes in a customer-oriented manner and at the same time increase quality. In any case, the seven types of waste such as overproduction, high inventory, overcrowding, movement, transportation, rework for scrap and waiting times must be minimized as much as possible.
In the realistic picking simulation game, the participants were able to become active themselves and get to know the process and possible problems when picking in a team. The goal here was to make improvements in the spirit of lean management and the unnecessary waste of resources. The other retrainees were also asked to graphically record the routes using a “spaghetti diagram” while their colleagues were actively picking and to look for optimization options. The processes for picking the sweets product were gradually made more efficient: the deployment of employees (here retrainees) was scheduled more effectively, the picking storage areas were better labeled and set up in the optimal order until the target time set for achieving the goal was almost reached. At the same time, various picking methods such as order-oriented, serial picking with and without transfer points were practiced in a “playful” way. Various options for specialization and species division developed by the retrainees were also able to help increase picking performance. In an outlook, the Loxxess supervisors presented further ways to increase performance when picking. Such as B. the switch from paperless to paperless picking with the “Pick-by-Light”, “Pick-by-Voice” and “Pick-by-scan” variants. “Learning by doing” made the afternoon very varied and educational for the participants. It was a great incentive to take initiative and be innovative and to optimize processes as a process thinker from a logistics specialist's perspective.
We would like to thank the LOXXESS company for the interesting and educational hours, for the tasting and the useful gifts at the end of the event.
Ebermannsdorf – The “Logistics Day” at the logistics service provider LOXXESS in Ebermannsdorf (Schafhof II industrial area) offered the warehouse logistics retrainees a special kind of change from their everyday teaching routine, which is otherwise predominantly theory-based. Retrainees, students, specialists and the general public were invited to this nationwide “Logistics Day”, where visitors were able to slip into the role of a logistician themselves. After an introduction and a tour of the company with site manager Roland Discherl, the two retraining courses in the training profession of warehouse logistics specialist, which are organized and carried out by the ISE language and vocational training center in Amberg, were able to try out the task of an order picker based on the specifications of a model company in the to implement in the food industry.