2012 was an important milestone for the successful long-established Swiss cooperation and SSI SCHAEFER. The warehouse management software was standardized at numerous locations already utilizing the logistics software WAMAS®, which had implemented a comprehensive update. Numerous other locations were connected to WAMAS® for the first time throughout the course of bringing everything up-to-date and standardizing the software.
With a large number of locations and stakeholders having different logistics characteristics, the software update presented a special challenge. During production, distribution, and e-commerce operations, many locations had to change over step by step to the new standard WMS solution – regardless of a manual, semi-automated, or fully automated logistics process. The result is a WAMAS® version with tailor-made Coop elements. The existing systems were replaced at almost all locations while day-to-day operations continued and countless interfaces to external partners and subsystems were integrated.
The pilot project at five warehouse locations was completed mid-2016, followed by five more rollouts in April 2017. By the end of 2019, the SSI SCHAEFER IT specialists will implement 20 additional standardized updates, followed by 50 more within the next few years.
Even before completing the modernization project, the Coop Group registered significant improvements of logistics processes thanks to the standardized WMS solution by SSI SCHAEFER. Due to the standardized software solution, the logistics processes could be optimized and further developed. The success of this concept, elaborated by SSI SCHAEFER, is reflected in increased transparency, reliable traceability of transactions, and reduced costs due to synergies
