The project partner is one of the world’s leading providers of jewelry and fashion accessories. The company supplies over 30,000 retail locations in 22 countries. From its central distribution center in Germany, up to 400,000 items — ranging from piercings to watches, sunglasses, and textile accessories — are picked and shipped daily. The intralogistics of this fashion and lifestyle company are characterized by extreme dynamism and a wide variety of items. With up to 400,000 picks per day, 150,000 picks per batch, and highly seasonal order peaks—such as those around Black Friday or Christmas — the logistics center demonstrates tremendous performance.
Multihost and Multiwarehouse System
As an innovation-driven company, the client was looking for a Warehouse Management System (WMS) that could optimally support both the high degree of automation and its specific processes. A particular priority was independence from ERP systems, as well as the ability to respond flexibly to new requirements over the long term. The fashion accessories company found the right partner in TUP. The software solution developed in the joint project is designed as a multi-host and multi-warehouse system, meaning the WMS can operate with multiple ERP systems across any number of warehouse locations. To accommodate potential international expansion, the system natively supports multilingual functionality.
Warehouse Automation for Heterogeneous Logistics Processes
In July 2023, the joint project began with the goal of gradually replacing the existing warehouse management system with a custom-developed TUP.WMS. “This involved taking global use cases into account as well as the ability to efficiently manage heterogeneous logistics processes,” reports TUP project manager Paul Lochmann. At that time, the logistics center had two automated small-parts warehouses (ASPW) as well as a high-performance AS/RS (SQS), which are used for both storage cartons and shipping units. Two order-picking sorters, each with 608 stations for shipping cartons, are available for sorting the goods. In addition to automated warehousing, the facility also features manual order-picking areas with pallet racks, flow racks, and shelf racks. For the go-live of the TUP software, the existing system was also expanded to include an additional sorter for larger-volume products, as well as an Adapto shuttle warehouse to serve it and sort the product range. As a result, the project now comprises a total of three sorters and four automated areas, all centrally controlled via the WMS.
Highly Specialized Picking for Millions of Individual Items
Under the project partner’s picking strategy, all picks are made in quantities of 1. Goods arrive via a sorter at pick-to-bucket stations, where they are manually picked and distributed into shipping boxes. The WMS, developed specifically by TUP for the fashion accessories company, operates on a batch-oriented basis, and the system can be flexibly scaled to accommodate the existing infrastructure. The three automated small-part warehouses form the backbone of a very fast consolidation process: A high-capacity automated small-parts warehouse serves as a storage facility, a second one as a buffer, and the high-performance SQS automated small-parts warehouse ensures the rapid delivery of items to the picking stations. When sorting high-volume items, batches are pre-picked with maximum efficiency and piece-by-piece accuracy via the Adapto shuttle warehouse and then sorted by the third sorter.
New WMS with a Perfect Fit
The custom-developed Warehouse Management System is precisely tailored to the individual requirements of accessories logistics. It offers:
- Multi-client capability for international use
- A fully web-based user interface (WebGUI) accessible via browser on any device
- A container-cluster-based deployment (Kubernetes clusters, continuous integration & development via GitOPS) that enables continuous updates — even during operation — and scalability
- Integrated analytics and dashboard functionalities for real-time monitoring of operations and long-term analysis of historical data
“Based on our TUP.WMS, we have created a customized warehouse management software solution that not only optimally maps operational processes but also meets the customer’s IT requirements for flexibility and future-proofing. Thanks to its modular architecture, the system remains expandable at any time,” summarizes TUP project manager Paul Lochmann. The system is operated on-premises on the fashion accessories company’s own server hardware. For its part, TUP supports all variants of system integration and can thus flexibly adapt to the needs and preferences of its project partners — even if these should change at a later date.
Focus on User Experience (UX): WebGUI for All Work Areas
The new Warehouse Management System utilizes the new TUP.WebGUI and will continue to benefit from updates featuring new functions and enhancements in the future. In the web-based user interface, TUP combines the familiar workflows of warehouse staff with the capabilities of a modern, dynamically scalable browser interface. The WebGUI maps out the various roles and workflows — from the control center to the picking station. Whether on a desktop or mobile device, the WMS can be used independently of the device. Through close coordination with the operational teams, the project partner benefits from intuitive, user-friendly dialogs that can be continuously refined.
Successful Go-Live in High-Volume Operation
The transition to the TUP.WMS took place in stages, as warehouse operations had to run at full capacity at all times. During the migration phase, it was possible to run the existing WMS and the WMS developed by TUP in parallel, allowing the three brands stocked in the warehouse to be brought online independently of one another. In close coordination with the customer, the processes for each brand were migrated, tested, and optimized.
A WMS That Does More
Today, this global player in the jewelry and accessories industry uses a high-performance TUP Warehouse Management System at its German warehouse location to manage all of its logistics processes, from goods receipt to order processing to goods shipment. The system makes it possible to handle enormous picking volumes reliably and in record time — a decisive competitive advantage in the fast-paced fashion industry.
The multi-warehouse capability, which was a key objective from the outset, now enables the project partner to implement this successful and beneficial development at additional locations. Immediately after the go-live of the customized TUP.WMS, the two partner companies launched several follow-up international projects.
Warehouse Management System
TUP.WMS - The warehouse management system for uncompromising efficiency
