newsletter...middle east, but also serve engel’s central spare parts hubs in the us and thailand...

Newsletter

Dear Readers, Everyone is talking about it, many are doing something about it, and we

at 4flow have been consistent and comprehensive in our approach to it

– I’m speaking, of course, about digitization. Whether it is robotic pro-

cess automation, artificial intelligence, or our newest study on weara-

bles, sensors, and other digital technologies in the field of intralogistics,

4flow has established a culture of targeted and systematic experimenta-

tion that we also use to support our customers’ digitization efforts.

However, even in the flurry of digitization currently taking place, we

supply chain experts should not forget that we deal with very real flows

of goods and material. With that in mind, 4flow’s strength in implement-

ing supply chain optimization solutions in the real world continues to be

proven time and again. On a related note, we are also actively involved

in the marketplace of ideas on offer at BVL’s 2018 International Supply

Chain Conference, entitled “Digitalization Meets Reality”.

What risks are you currently contending with? Are you concerned

about the economic cycle, global trade, or the security of your supply

chain? How do you plan to deal with these risks? If you would like to

discuss these topics with 4flow, please feel free to contact us or visit

our booth at the 35th International Supply Chain Conference.

While we are also fully risk-aware, the entire 4flow team is optimistic

about the future. We are focused on opportunities for growth – this

year, we have not only significantly increased the size of our team, but

also expanded existing offices and opened new locations worldwide.

We look forward to speaking with you, either in person or online.

Issue 2/2018

Editorial

Pages 2–6 Spare parts logistics

optimization at machinery manufacturer ENGEL

Pages 7–8

Making digital intralogistics a reality

Page 9

4flow opens new office in Vienna, Austria

Page 10

4flow continues to grow

Page 11 4flow participates in

NOLAN research project

Page 12 4flow news

Page 13

In the spotlight

4flow newsletter, 2/2018 issue, page 2/13

Spare parts logistics optimization at machinery manufacturer ENGEL 4flow supports strategy development, service provider selection, and implementation

With nine manufacturing sites in Europe, North America and Asia and

regional offices and locations in over 85 countries, ENGEL AUSTRIA

GmbH is the global leader in injection molding machinery manufactur-

ing. With its worldwide network of service technicians, the ENGEL

customer service division ensures that customers’ machines are readily

supplied with replacement parts for repair and maintenance. With avail-

ability and delivery performance requirements increasing at an elevated

rate, the need for expanding ENGEL’s spare part capacities was growing

ever more urgent – especially in order to ensure that future customer

demand could be met efficiently.

Up until recently, ENGEL had been providing its customers with spare

parts using its Austrian manufacturing plants in Schwertberg, St. Valen-

tin, and Dietach, which were already very near peak capacity. The crea-

tion of spare parts hubs in the US and Thailand shortened delivery

times, but did not solve the issue of bottlenecks in production. Short-

notice orders for spare parts entailed significant additional effort, and

available floor space at the existing manufacturing sites was limited.

For these reasons, a long-term solution with the potential to accommo-

date future growth was needed.

New strategy for spare parts logistics

4flow collaborated with ENGEL to conduct a strategy study focused on

a make-or-buy decision for ENGEL’s spare parts business. Once the re-

quirements of the future solution were derived from the study, 4flow

and ENGEL developed a corresponding strategy for future-proofing

ENGEL’S spare parts operations. Three options were on the table:

Expansion of the spare parts warehouses at the existing ENGEL sites


Construction of a new site, to be operated by ENGEL

Establishment of an external spare parts warehouse, to be operated

by a partner company

With the aid of the strategy study and 4flow’s expertise in aftersales,

ENGEL elected to solve the issue by utilizing an external warehouse

operated by a partner company. First and foremost, the solution offered

the benefit of having the future site dedicated completely to spare parts

logistics – this would mean that the existing ENGEL plants could once

again focus solely on manufacturing. In the place of three mutually in-

dependent spare parts warehouses, ENGEL would have a single, central

warehouse in Austria with comprehensive and highly efficient processes

for its spare parts logistics. At the same time, the reorganization would

benefit the existing manufacturing plants by freeing up space that was

previously used for spare parts storage and repurposing it for future

growth. 4flow provided support in selecting service providers and es-

tablishing the external spare parts warehouse. The location of the new,

central warehouse facilitates highly efficient processes which enable

ENGEL to fill customer orders quickly and flexibly, even with increased

future demand.

Flexible, worldwide order fulfillment – even on holidays

4flow supported ENGEL in the service provider selection process, which

featured several German and Austrian logistics service providers as

candidates. This also included intensive process workshops and onsite

inspections of reference locations in both countries. In the end, the

choice was made to contract an international logistics company based

in Austria – the service provider possessed the appropriate mix of ex-

pertise in the spare parts industry and the corresponding processes in

the area of value-added services. Furthermore, the partner was willing

to commit to rapidly implementing the relocation to the new aftersales

site.


The new ENGEL spare parts warehouse will not only provide highly effi-

cient service to customers in Europe, South America, Africa, and the

Middle East, but also serve ENGEL’s central spare parts hubs in the US

and Thailand for the North American and Asian markets. Fischamend,

the location selected for the new spare parts warehouse, is optimally

suited to its purpose – it is situated just three kilometers from both the

Vienna airport and international CEP service providers. The Bratislava

airport is also reachable in just a few minutes by highway, which enables

international delivery on Austrian holidays. In this way, ENGEL’s new

site allows the company to provide its global customers with up to eight

additional delivery days per year.

As an added benefit, the machinery manufacturer’s customers, service

organizations, and spare parts hubs can rely upon highly flexible logis-

tics with expanded delivery options, including later cut-off and pickup

times. High-priority orders created up until 6:00 p.m. are eligible for

same-day shipping. “For our customers, this means shorter stoppages

and greater availability of injection molding machinery and production

installations,” said Harald Wegerer, vice president of ENGEL’s customer

service division. “We are very pleased to have found 4flow as such an

outstanding partner for the planning and implementation of our new

structures.”

In addition to process optimization, the new warehouse provides

ENGEL with a reliable basis for future growth. With 10,000 square

meters of floor space, 20,000 pallet slots, 18 loading docks and a total

of 2,000 square meters of goods receiving area, the site enables ENGEL

to meet the requirements of future growth – the capacities that ENGEL

uses in the building are flexible and can be adjusted at any time.

Implementing efficient processes at the new location

Using the strategy paper, ENGEL and 4flow laid the foundations for effi-

cient structures and processes at the new spare parts warehouse. Apart

from path optimizations, simplified goods management, and clearly


defined communication channels, the site offers optimal inventory

transparency. One challenge presented by the project was shifting de-

liveries from ENGEL’s three Austrian locations over to the unified model

at the company’s location at Fischamend. As such, employees from both

ENGEL and the new warehousing partner had to be trained, and corre-

sponding processes had to be implemented at the new location. At the

same time, it was necessary to relocate existing inventory to the new

site quickly and without error – a task which had to be carried out at full

capacity in order to keep to the tight relocation schedule of three

months.

Final assembly of ENGEL injection molding machines. Source: ENGEL

4flow ensured the successful move to the new location and the subse-

quent go-live by defining necessary processes, creating comprehensive

training materials, and assuming responsibility for project management.

“The primary challenge of the project was that the constituent structures

and processes of the existing ENGEL locations had to be consolidated at

the new site in a very narrow time frame,” said Harald Wegerer. “Our

collaboration with 4flow and our logistics partner in the context of this

demanding project was highly equitable and constructive.” In this re-

gard, the project partners had a robust cooperative approach:


In addition to the project team members from ENGEL, 4flow, and the

site operator, there were also ENGEL employees from their customer

service, legal, purchasing, controlling and accounting, IT, and quality

control divisions involved. In collaboration with ENGEL and its logistics

service provider, 4flow established systemic interfaces and carried out

an audit of the new site before the go-live. “4flow laid the optimal foun-

dation for a smooth handoff to our site operator and the corresponding

operational startup” added Mr. Wegerer. “We anticipate that the new

warehouse concept’s significant, comprehensive improvements to our

delivery performance will give us as a major competitive advantage.”

ENGEL production facility. Source: ENGEL

LEIV KLARMANN, Partner at 4flow

[email protected]


Making digital intralogistics a reality 4flow study surveys industry to show the way forward into a digital future

4flow has published the results of its study on the digitization of intralo-

gistics, entitled “Wearables, Sensors & Co. – Making digital intralogis-

tics a reality”. In the context of the study, 4flow conducted in-depth in-

terviews with 20 supply chain experts in the automotive manufacturing,

automotive supply, and retail industries. These interviews revealed that

while the digitization of intralogistics is progressing rapidly in the sur-

veyed industries, complete and comprehensive digitization still has not

been achieved. In order to understand why this is the case even though

numerous technologies are actively being tested, the experts were

asked about the goals, obstacles, real-world use cases, development

and implementation considerations, and necessary change management

measures involved with digitizing intralogistics in their respective fields.

In addition to creating a broad overview of current practices in these in-

dustries’ digitization initiatives – which is later used as the basis for rec-

ommendations on how to achieve full digitization – the study provides

highly granular examinations of a broad spectrum of digital technologies

with potential for implementation in logistics. These innovations include

autonomous transportation systems, goods-to-person picking systems,

wearables, identification sensors and technologies, enhanced planning

tools, virtual reality applications, and intelligent warehouse management

systems. “Ready-to-implement digital technologies have the capacity to

set new standards in the field of intralogistics,” said Dr. Stefan Wolff,

CEO of 4flow. “Companies who seize the opportunity will have a signifi-

cant competitive advantage.”

The study goes on to address the most common obstacles to full imple-

mentation of these revolutionary solutions, from the challenges in find-

ing the right service providers and implementation partners, to over-

coming company-internal hesitance on the basis of capital expenditures

and incomplete forecasting data.


Of the companies surveyed, those that have previously overcome such

obstacles cite success factors such as agile project management, trans-

parent communication, and a commitment to expanding successful pilot

projects. Other key factors include implementing robust training pro-

grams to counteract the effects that new technologies and automation

have on human employment, as well as proactively harnessing the en-

thusiasm that younger employees have for innovation and technology.

Based on the insights gained in the study, 4flow makes actionable rec-

ommendations for implementation and change management measures.

These include developing a comprehensive digitization strategy, making

an effort to include all affected employees in planning and implementa-

tion processes as early as possible, and securing the support of imple-

mentation partners with crucial experience from outside the organiza-

tion. Because the study shows that the industries surveyed are generally

open to digitization and eager to innovate, measures of this kind may ul-

timately prove to be the missing links in the global, digital supply chain

of the future.

Request your copy of “Wearables, Sensors & Co. – Making digital

intralogistics a reality” at 4flow.com/digital-intralogistics.


4flow opens new office in Vienna, Austria Company employs over 500 team members at 15 locations on 4 continents

4flow has opened a new office in Vienna, Austria. “4flow has been

active in Austria for over 15 years – the market there continues to be of

critical importance for us. We have many long-standing and successful

partnerships with our existing customers in Austria, and we attract new

business on a continuous basis. By establishing our Vienna office, we

want to get even closer to those customers” said Kai Althoff, COO and

co-founder of 4flow. Among 4flow’s customers are international busi-

nesses from the automotive, retail, machinery manufacturing, and

industrial sectors.

With offices in Budapest, Hungary, and Pilsen, Czech Republic, 4flow

has already been serving customers in the countries bordering Austria

for several years. Since its founding in 2000, 4flow has opened a total of

15 offices across Europe, North and South America, and Asia and em-

ploys more than 500 team members.

The new 4flow office is centrally located at Ungargasse 64–66, Stiege 2,

TOP 207, 1030 in Vienna.


4flow continues to grow Growth at locations in Germany and Hungary

As a further indicator of growth at 4flow, the office in Munich, Germa-

ny, recently moved to a new, larger location. The 4flow office in a fresh-

ly remodeled space at Lyonel-Feininger-Strasse 28, 80807 in Munich’s

Parkstadt Schwabing quarter provides workspaces for 30 4flow team

members and offers expanded conference room capacity. Centrally lo-

cated in Munich, the new office will enable 4flow to fulfill the steadily

growing customer demand for products and services in Southern Ger-

many. To accommodate further team growth in Northern Germany,

4flow’s office location in Hamburg, an important global hub for logistics

and supply chains, expanded recently as well.

"The demand for our supply chain expertise at 4flow continues to grow.

New locations and additional space enable us to meet market demand

and grow as a team," said Dr. Stefan Wolff, CEO of 4flow.

In addition to office growth in Germany – and 4flow’s brand new loca-

tion in Vienna, Austria – the 4flow office in Budapest, Hungary, has

doubled in size to accommodate further company growth. Since its

opening, the Budapest location has enjoyed continuous growth.


4flow participates in NOLAN research project Initiative develops scalable supply chain solutions for urban crisis management

Contaminated water, electronic payment network outages, shortages of

crude oil – supplying urban populations with critical resources in crisis

situations can best be accomplished if public and private institutions

work together. Supply chain experts from 4flow research are investigat-

ing this topic as part of the NOLAN project, a collaborative public-

private initiative that aims to investigate scalable emergency supply

chain solutions for catastrophes in urban areas. The ultimate goal of the

project is to develop an effective, practicable concept for the collabora-

tive provision of essential goods like food, water, and medication in

times of need.

“Crisis situations pose additional challenges for the complex supply

chain networks that serve large cities,” said Stefan Wolff, CEO of 4flow.

“We look forward to contributing our expertise in supply chain crisis

management to this field of research over the next three years.”

For the duration of the project, supply chain experts at 4flow research

will focus on modeling commercial supply chains, while 4flow’s partners

in the NOLAN initiative – the Institute for Environmental and Techno-

logical Law at TU Dresden and the Institute for Industrial Production at

the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – will concentrate on answering

legal questions pertaining to the project and modeling humanitarian

supply chains, respectively. “4flow’s modeling will focus on investigat-

ing the problems of incentivization and distribution. We will also be

considering the roles of key actors and interest groups,” said Wendelin

Gross, head of 4flow research. The concept will be designed to opti-

mize the use of private resources in crisis situations.

NOLAN is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and

Research and supported by a wide network of partners.


4flow news 4flow at 35th International Supply Chain Conference

4flow will be exhibiting at the 35th International Supply Chain Confer-

ence – “Digitalization meets reality” on October 17 to 19 in Berlin,

Germany. The 4flow booth is located in Foyer Potsdam, booth FP 02.

From 2:45–4:30 p.m. on October 18 at the InterContinental Hotel Berlin

(Potsdam I), 4flow COO Kai Althoff will moderate an expert discussion

entitled “What will secure the success of transport logistics in tomor-

row’s world?” From 8:45–9:30 a.m. on October 19 in the BVL Lounge,

managing director of 4flow in South America Bernd-Paul Koschate will

speak as a panelist on the topic of economic factors affecting supply

chain in emerging markets. 4flow is also the sponsor of this year’s

Science Award for Supply Chain Management. The award recognizes

young scientists whose outstanding academic research has a high

degree of practical relevance.

4flow receives 2018 Innovative Through Research seal

Stifterverband, one of Germany’s largest private re-

search donors, has awarded 4flow the “Innovative

Through Research” seal. Received by 4flow once

already in 2016, the seal recognizes select busi-

nesses that make a positive contribution to public

policies and society with their research. Since the company’s founding

in 2000, the 4flow team has worked together with notable institutions

and leading companies to carry out numerous research projects. These

practice-oriented projects have concerned topics such as green logis-

tics, big data, and optimization algorithms, among others. 4flow is

currently working on NOLAN, a collaborative public-private initiative

funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research that

aims to examine scalable emergency supply chain solutions for catas-

trophes in urban areas. Moreover, 4flow regularly produces publica-

tions and studies.


In the spotlight Samuel Dos Santos Moreira – Supply chain specialist at 4flow

Supply chain specialist Samuel Dos Santos

Moreira joined the 4flow management team in

Campinas, Brazil, in 2015. In 2018, he trans-

ferred from Campinas to the company head-

quarters in Berlin, Germany. Whereas Samuel

worked on execution in Brazil, he currently fo-

cuses on providing support for 4flow manage-

ment’s daily operations in the context of customer

projects at overseas plants in South Africa and Central America.

An important component of Samuel’s responsibilities at 4flow manage-

ment is dynamic balancing – this involves weekly optimization of trans-

portation networks based on current order call-off data from 4flow

customers’ plants. Furthermore, he attends to daily transportation

ordering at the carrier level, which can amount to several hundred trans-

port orders per day. His work with dynamic balancing also entails

exception management, including the identification and implementation

of cost-optimal solutions when exceptions arise.

“I am definitely looking forward to the challenges to come. Being able to

exchange knowledge and experience while seeing different points of

view is helping me to grow as a professional,” Samuel said of his new

role in Berlin. He also appreciates the unique 4flow culture that can be

found across all of the company’s global locations. “The most amazing

aspect of the whole experience is that even in completely different

countries, 4flow has managed to keep the same essence.”

In his free time, Samuel enjoys spending time with his colleagues and

exploring his new surroundings. “The city is full of history, art, parks and

nature,” Samuel said. “It has been a great experience here in the Berlin

office.”

newsletter...middle east, but also serve engel’s central spare parts hubs in the us and thailand...

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