THOMAS SABO GmbH & Co. KG is a jewelry company founded by Thomas Sabo in 1984 with headquarters in Lauf an der Pegnitz. Today, the company is one of the world's leading jewelry and watch manufacturers for men and women. THOMAS SABO sells its wide range of products through a network of its own stores, an online store, retail partners and, from September 2019, also through direct sales to end customers. The company employs around 500 people at its main site in Lauf an der Pegnitz. Internationally, the company has around 1,800 employees.
New headquarters, new logistics centre
In 2016, the new international headquarters of THOMAS SABO was completed in Lauf an der Pegnitz, which from now on unites the previously different locations of the headquarters under one roof. The new logistics center, which was also newly built, is directly adjacent to the new building for the sales and administration departments. This has created the best conditions for an optimal flow of goods and the distribution of products to B2C customers, THOMAS SABO branches or B2B partners, which is managed worldwide from Lauf an der Pegnitz. A decisive factor for the future viability of the company and the design of state-of-the-art workplaces for THOMAS SABO logistics employees and managers.
For the centralization of logistics and to optimally support its further growth in terms of IT, THOMAS SABO decided to cooperate with the company S&P Computersysteme GmbH. Since moving into the new company headquarters, all logistical processes are controlled via the warehouse management system SuPCIS-L8 of the Stuttgart-based specialist for intralogistics IT solutions. From goods receipt to storage, picking and shipping to returns processing.
Optimizedprocesses
Thanksto the SuPCIS-L8 warehouse management system, THOMAS SABO was able to significantly optimize the processing of incoming orders as well as industry-specific processes. Already during putaway, the warehouse management system uses intelligent strategies - based on the principle of dynamic warehousing - to decide which goods should be stored where. During picking, the warehouse management system works with multi-level, cross-order batch picking. In addition, the warehouse management system controls order merging from the different picking areas. By switching from paper-based processes to paperless picking, the error rate has been reduced and picking efficiency has been significantly increased. The material flow computer from S&P also controls the tote conveyor technology and quickly brings order cartons, for example, exactly where they are needed thanks to a sophisticated ejection system.
Efficientspecial machining
Itwas also possible to integrate all the necessary special processing and industry-specific processes of the logistics operations into the warehouse management system. A special feature of the jewelry industry is that silver jewelry must be hallmarked (stamped). In cooperation with S&P Computersysteme, THOMAS SABO was also able to develop an intelligent two-stage order picking system for this purpose, which significantly minimized the setup times for hallmarking.
"With the consolidation of our logistics in the new THOMAS SABO distribution center, we were able to create the conditions for efficient and powerful intralogistics in cooperation with S&P and their warehouse management system SuPCIS-L8, which can optimally accompany the further growth of THOMAS SABO in the future."
