EgoKiefer_SAP_Transport load optimizer_software_ORTEC 0

Case EgoKiefer – Optimized Transports between Production and Distribution Centers for Switzerland’s No. 1 in the Windows and Doors Market

EgoKiefer AG, headquartered in Switzerland, is an international manufacturer of wood, plastic and aluminum windows and doors. With approx. 600 employees, EgoKiefer offers services ranging from consultation and planning, to installations, e. g.. EgoKiefer’s customers are supplied from ten of their own sales locations as well as through 350 specialized Service Partners throughout Switzerland.

Reorganization and standardization of logistics as part of a large restructuring process

As part of a restructuring process, a large portion of the production was moved to new, more cost-efficient locations throughout Europe. At the same time, the headquarters for EgoKiefer moved from Altstätten to Diepoldsau, which led to a geographical separation between their administration offices and production facilities.

With this in mind, a reorganization and standardization of the logistics processes was needed to cover a yearly average of around 6,000 transports consisting of roughly 100,000 deliveries, plus around 20,000 “empty rack” pick-ups.

It was clear to the manufacturer that both their business and the requirements from their logistics have been in constant change for some years. An important criteria for the selection of a software provider was having a professional, flexible and reliable partnership to be able to overcome the many challenges ahead.

EgoKiefer_SAP_Transport load optimizer_software_ORTEC

Prioritätsbasierter Beladealgorithmus
Bedarfsorientierte Planung und Kontrolle der Nachschubprozesse
Automatisiertes Erstellen von SAP-Belegen
Keine Schnittstellen
Effiziente Auslastung der einzusetzenden Ladungsträger
Flexibilität bei der Planung auf Belegpositionsebene
Minimierung der Planungszeiten

“Production machinery is more easily moved than process, structures and IT. So much so, that it was of the utmost importance for us to have a flexible and reliable partner like ORTEC at our side.”

Remo Gschwend, Head of Logistics and Material Management at EgoKiefer AG

After 6 years of positive experiences with ORTEC for SAP, EgoKiefer steps up the game with ORTEC Transport Load Optimizer

EgoKiefer had already collected six years of positive experiences using ORTEC’s SAP embedded solution, ORTEC for SAP (O4S), for optimizing pallets, trucks and routing for their last mile distribution in Switzerland. Now as part of restructuring the production processes they looked into reorganizing the transportation to the distribution centers in Switzerland. These inter-company shipments are now being optimally planned with ORTEC’s O4S solution TLO (Transport Load Optimizer). Up until this point the planning was done based on “to be expected quantities” as well as actual Handling Units. Now, since the implementation of TLO at a production location in Germany in June of 2019, only the actual quantities are used as the planning basis. This change has also been meanwhile implemented at a production location in Slovakia.

Significant reduction of daily planning effort

Efficient: While considering the complex packing and loading rules for the door and window elements that are susceptible to damage, O4S makes it possible, within SAP, to calculate the optimal utilization and route plan for the available trucks.
Reduction: The daily planning effort needed previously for the shipment organization has been reduced from requiring multiple hours of work to taking only around 60 minutes a day.
Clear Overview: The O4S Planboard provides a compact display of the vehicle loading through 3D graphics.
The dispatcher can clearly and immediately see the optimized packing and loading results.
Customer Tailored: ORTEC specifically tailored the algorithms for the packing and loading optimization of the window and door components as well as made specific changes to the O4S Planboard to meet all requirements requested by EgoKiefer.

Savings: With the implementation of TLO the vehicle utilization was increased by around 10% – which was much more than EgoKiefer had originally hoped for. This increase in efficiency not only reduced transportation costs but also environmental impact.

Expectations exceeded – Increase of the vehicle utilization by around 10%

EgoKiefer had clear expectations of the improvements they expected from ORTEC in this project: vehicle load utilization had to be improved by between one and five percent. In the end these expectations were met and exceeded with an increase of ten percent utilization achieved.

Download: Case EgoKiefer – Construction & Manufacturing Industry