Cargologic Modernizes Material Flow Computer in Shuttle Warehouse

Day and night, the material flow computer of Cargologic, a subsidiary of the Rhenus Group, processes thousands of transport orders, keeping its central automated shuttle warehouse with 8,500 pallet spaces in operation.

(Zurich) In partnership with the software company LplusR GmbH from Parkstein in Bavaria, which specializes in modernizing highly available storage systems, the computer of the leading Swiss air freight forwarder is being brought up to the latest technology in a complex project lasting just over a year and costing around 1.5 million CHF.

The central shuttle warehouse is highly utilized and operates around the clock, thus it allows no downtime. “The modernization of the material flow computer is like open-heart surgery,” says Marco Gredig, Managing Director of Cargologic. “Accordingly, we cannot take the system out of operation for testing purposes – a switch to new software must therefore occur immediately,” adds Reto Nüesch Erismann, Executive Vice President Technics & Applications at Cargologic.

The core of the overall package from LplusR is a digital twin that virtualizes and emulates the shuttle warehouse down to the hardware level. This enables extensive test scenarios, optimizations, and comparisons with the current system. “Only in this way can we be independent of old documentation and reliably test the system, minimize risks, and guarantee a successful, immediate commissioning,” explains Gunther Lukas, Managing Director and Project Manager at LplusR.

Further Milestone in Digitalization

With the modernization of the material flow computer, Cargologic is setting another milestone in its continuous digitalization strategy. The modernization and simplification of the system landscape allows for further optimization of the overall system’s performance, ensures seamless transparency over all shipments, and offers employees a significantly improved user interface. Furthermore, mobile devices enable more efficient maintenance and troubleshooting, which overall increases the reliability of the system.

Photo: © Cargologic