Fully Automated Honeycomb Warehouse Takes Production Planning at OKNOPLAST to a New Level
The OKNOPLAST Group, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of windows and doors, has modernised its intralogistics processes by installing a fully automated honeycomb warehouse from Remmert. The result: Production planning now extends twice as far into the future as before — a decisive competitive advantage in a growing market.
Every minute, two stacker cranes transport storage cassettes containing window profiles to the material stations in the production area.
Window profiles are delivered to the production line for further processing every minute via several picking stations.
By moving the long-item cassettes to the honeycomb warehouse, valuable space was freed up for further growth.
Since its foundation in 1994, OKNOPLAST has evolved from a regional manufacturer into a global company. Today, the group employs around 3,200 people, has a presence in 21 countries, and produces approximately 2.3 million window units annually across six state-of-the-art facilities in Poland, Spain, and Austria. A network of around 3,500 showrooms and partner companies further highlights the brand’s international presence.
As the company grew, so did the demands on its intralogistics. OKNOPLAST is actively driving the trend towards customised products, with a steadily growing number of colour options and profile geometries. In order to meet the resulting production demands and prepare plastic profiles for cutting in the shortest possible time, the warehousing system had to be fundamentally redesigned.
Outdoor Storage Hinders Further Growth
Prior to 2024, OKNOPLAST primarily stored the plastic profiles required for window and door production outdoors. The consequences were significant: The materials were exposed to weather-related quality risks, the space requirements hindered planned expansion projects and manual warehousing was labour-intensive. Most seriously, production planning was limited to a horizon of just one to three days — too short a timeframe for a company with OKNOPLAST's growth ambitions.
The requirements for a new solution were clear: weather protection for high-quality materials, greater capacity, increase of labour efficiency, higher automation and significantly greater production planning reliability.
Remmert Delivered with a Customised Solution
Honeycomb storage systems have proven to be the ideal solution for the storage and handling of plastic and aluminium profiles in the window manufacturing industry. “Compared to storing materials in stacked cassettes, there are significant advantages,” explains Hugo Allemann, CEO of Remmert. “Fully automated storage and retrieval using a stacker crane virtually eliminates the need for material transport with forklifts and thus also protects against damage,” adds Allemann. The system also provides immediate access to all materials, allowing production of custom orders to be organized very flexibly within a very short time. Compact racking design makes consistent use of the available height, thus creating additional storage capacity within a small footprint. Seamless inventory transparency is enabled by the integrated warehouse management system, as well as by the direct integration of the warehouse into higher-level ERP systems. This enables fully digitised production and supply chains.
However, when deciding on a Remmert honeycomb storage system, the product itself was not the sole focus for OKNOPLAST. The positive experiences of other companies were the deciding factor. During a preliminary visit to a comparable facility, the OKNOPLAST team were able to see the system's benefits for themselves. Added to this was Remmert’s willingness to tailor the solution precisely to the customer’s specific requirements. 'Other providers could not match this level of flexibility', added Adam Musiał, Senior Maintenance Engineer at Oknoplast Sp. z o.o.
With a total capacity of over 1,700 cassettes the Remmert honeycomb storage system is the heart of the new solution. In an area of less than 1,500 m², over 2,500 tonnes of material can be stored close to production. Two stacker cranes operate simultaneously in an aisle over 70 metres long, achieving a throughput of up to 60 cassettes per hour. Eight material stations are available for picking goods on the production side, and storage is handled via two quick-change stations in the adjacent outdoor area.
Each material station is equipped with a terminal through which picking orders and goods postings are processed using the Remmert Warehouse Management System (WMS). The WMS controls the two stacker cranes and is seamlessly integrated into OKNOPLAST’s ERP system.
Planning lead time has doubled and quality has improved
After more than two years in operation, the benefits of the investment are clearly evident. The most significant factor is the extended production planning: whereas a lead time of up to three days was previously possible, the new material flow through the honeycomb warehouse now allows for planning over five to six days — a doubling that directly impacts the completeness of production orders and delivery times. “Production planning now allows for a lead time twice as long as before,” confirms Adam Musiał.
OKNOPLAST also benefits from higher material quality thanks to weather-protected storage, reduced labour costs in logistics and significantly lower storage space requirements, freeing up space for further construction projects at the site. The short distances between the warehouse and production, combined with the automated material flow, also improve supply reliability, shorten setup times and minimise errors in day-to-day operations.