Nothing holds back logistics in KNORR-BREMSE anymore
We interviewed the head of warehouse logistics, Mr. Jiří Rak, as a representative of the customer.
KNORR-BREMSE was founded in 1905 by engineer Georg Knorr. It is currently the world's leading manufacturer of brake systems for rail and commercial vehicles. In 2017, the Group generated sales of EUR 6.24bn and employed around 28,000 people worldwide. Knorr-Bremse Systémy pro užitková vozidla ČR, s.r.o. is based in Liberec, where a new plant was opened in 2010.
Why did you decide to deal with the choice of a loading/unloading planning system?
The initial impulse was that we relocated the dispatch of goods and there was a great fear of traffic jams. The new location of our dispatch of goods is in a bad place in terms of transport. There was a great risk of traffic jams there. So we wanted to organize the arrival of vehicles and their order. Then we wanted to deploy the time slot reservation system to other plants.
How exactly were you looking for a time-slot application?
We made an inquiry for a competitor application that one of our business partners had. At that time, however, you contacted us with the offer. There was a presentation where it turned out that your application can do much more, including reporting & analysing. At the same time, it is very user-friendly.
How was the system implemented? Did you notice any problems, did everything go on time?
You have trained our employees who work with Time Slot Control (TSC). At first, I was worried that the application would be too difficult to use, but as it turned out over time, my fears were unnecessary. In the application, I can set 99.9% myself in the administration, so we have adapted the TSC to our needs. Thanks to this, we were not dependent on the supplier, as is the case with other systems that we use here.
What changes have you seen after implementation? Did it have any benefits and advantages?
he benefit, which we did not expect, was in two warehouses of empty packaging, where after some time we reduced the two-shift operation to a one-shift operation. Thanks to this, we have reduced the number of employees and handling equipment in these warehouses by 50%. We had a clear order of LKW arrivals. We know for what purpose they come to us, how many goods to pick or how much space to prepare. Forwarding companies, dispatchers, customer service, warehouse workers, etc. work in the application, and one of the main benefits for all of them is online information. In the past, they were always on the phone, writing emails, which cost us a lot of time and was not efficient. This has been eliminated, also thanks to email notifications.
Do you have quantified savings that the TSC application generates for you? Do you have any other hard data about effects that the implementation brought?
As I mentioned in the previous answer. We have saved on three people in warehouses of empty packaging. That's CZK 128,000 monthly. Then we saved CZK 30,000 on two units of handling equipment. Due to the fact that we have three buildings among which we move goods, we have saved CZK 50,000 on transport costs after reducing the two-shift operation to a one-shift operation. Thanks to the interconnection of your application with the CCTV system, we were able to terminate cooperation with gatekeepers, whose monthly costs were CZK 166,320. Overall, we are talking about a monthly saving of CZK 374,320. The saving totals CZK 4,491,841 every year.
How did business partners / customers / carriers get used to the introduction of the system?
We started gradually. At first we started dealing with the reception, i.e. with the delivery of material to our plant. After the first two months, we reached 95% of our partners who were using the app regularly. We order transport for dispatch. At the beginning it was a bit more complicated, we were at about 30-40%. However, we have gradually introduced other carriers to the use of TSC. We explained to everyone that it was necessary for us to use time slots. Today, slightly over 90% of all carriers and suppliers who use the time slots are booked into the system.
Why TSC from Lotraco?
Overall, your app was the best for us. It can be seen that you continue to improve the application as part of regular updates.
Are you satisfied with the user interface, with the technical support?
Overall, the app is very intuitive. I appreciate that we can set a lot of things by ourselves. Your support is flexible and your response to requests is fast.
Would you recommend TSC to another company of your specialization?
Definitely, yes, and it is happening.
