21.May 2012

ERWIN KRÜGER Holzhandel KG: In Berlin they place great emphasis on scratch-free coatings

VOLKSLAGER practise report: Apparently the message of the trend towards wood as a near-natural raw material has hardly reached East Germany. In a Berlin timber trade shop you learn that here you don't buy wood for traditional reasons or ecological aspects, but because it works, is attractively priced and looks good.
 
The passion for the material wood is not so pronounced in Berlin – the South is ahead of us on this ", reveals Stefan Engel, authorized signatory at ERWIN KRÜGER Timber Trade. Nevertheless, Matthias Krüger, the company's managing director, employs 40 people in one and a half shift operation and cannot complain about the order situation in his timber trade.

The ERWIN KRÜGER Holzhandel KG is a premium dealer for chipboards from Egger, St. Johann, Austria, and specialized on the trade of plastic-coated products for interior fittings. "We also offer veneered chipboards - but in our area these are almost exclusive exotics," continues Engel. For the Berlin customer, easy processability and the visual impression are important. What the product is made of, takes a back seat in the selection process. The traditional connection to the material itself is missing.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, new hotel buildings and the prospering event industry in Berlin ensured good growth in decorative interior design and stage construction. Krüger also benefited from these circumstances: With the exception of the years of the financial crisis, he continuously increased his turnover and was able to position himself more strongly at the end of 2009 with a new warehouse and an automatic shelf system.

Fully automatic without break

ERWIN KRÜGER’s assortment became wider and wider over the years. Storage capacities were exhausted, internal logistics became more complicated. With the integration of the subsidiary K.U.L.A. at the Berlin location, the decision was made to build a new warehouse. When choosing the right shelf system, the company first flirted with the installation of a cost-effective cantilever racking system.

The use of four-way forklifts was to enable narrow dimensioning of the storage aisles and make optimum use of the available hall space. “The problem with this envisioned solution was that we would act contrary to our corporate strategy, that is to become the innovation and quality leader for our main products in the Berlin area.", explains Engel. "Decorative panels must be absolutely spotless. Scratches and impurities on the way to the customer are mostly caused by the handling and picking of the boards in the warehouse".

Economic solutions for damage-free handling

Since our suppliers like Egger deliver the goods with an error rate of almost 0 %, damage can only be caused by us or by our customers. "To avoid our activity as a source of error, we decided to invest in an automatic high-bay warehouse with vacuum lifting technology". Wer traf diese Aussage?

From Krüger's point of view, SYSTRAPLAN in Herford, Germany, was able to offer the most economical solution with the "Volkslager". "The machine frame of the rack-serve carrier is well-balanced - heavy enough to remain stable and light enough to ensure energy-saving operation", explains Norbert Heinrichs of SYSTRAPLAN the racking system. The graduated mechanical engineer knows what he is talking about as he accompanies the fully automatic acting systems from design to individual adaptation.

Significant advantages

For the ERWIN KRÜGER Holzhandel KG, significant advantages have arisen since the installation of the rack: the relief of the staff, the complete control of the flow of goods and a decrease in the number of complaints going close to zero for goods from the SYSTRAPLAN warehouse. "In addition", slightly mischievously adds Stefan Engel, "since then we have not received any complaints for which we are not responsible. Our customers know the SYSTRAPLAN-warehouse by now."

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