The Würth Group is the global market leader in its core business – the sale of fastening and assembly materials. It currently consists of more than 400 companies in over 80 countries with over 77,000 employees on its payroll. In 1994, the Group created Würth IT, a global IT service provider supporting all 400+ companies in 80 countries. Würth IT’s goal is to invest in modern systems and innovative solutions that can help digitize the Group’s processes.
To achieve this goal, Würth IT has introduced Würth System One (WS1), an enterprise resource planning system based on SAP. WS1 forms the foundation for Würth Group’s enterprise management and includes interfaces to a number of support systems within logistics and production, including labeling. In time, the entire Group will use this system.
Würth IT was looking to standardize their labeling, yet their current labeling system had its challenges. "We had a labeling solution that was custom-built by a small company with only a few employees," relates Simon Koch, Project Lead/Manager. "The system was based on labeling software they had programmed. It consisted of a locally installed database, label design software and a label print interface. Everything was installed locally with CDs, and every time we had an update to the software, we would have to send new CDs with the updates to all of our suppliers."
This approach created multiple challenges for the Würth IT team. First, the manual updating process made it impossible to have an overview of which label software version Würth’s suppliers were using. "With such a large number of users, it was impossible to keep track of who was using what version of the system," Simon explains. "Some CDs would get lost in transit when we were sending updated versions and some partners would continue to use outdated versions."
Every time we had an update to the software, we had to send new CDs with the updates to all of our suppliers
Simon Koch
Project Lead / Manager
Zweitens war es ausgesprochen schwierig, Support für das eigens entwickelte System zu leisten. Der ursprüngliche Programmierer war nicht mehr im Unternehmen, weswegen ein Großteil der Systemkenntnisse nicht mehr verfügbar waren. Die Firma, die die Software entwickelt hatte, war in der Zwischenzeit von einem anderen Softwareunternehmen übernommen worden und existierte technisch gesehen nicht mehr. Dies führte zu weiteren Bedenken im Hinblick auf die Fähigkeit, in Zukunft Support für die Plattform zu leisten.
Außerdem hatte Würth mit vielen Herausforderungen zu kämpfen, die typisch für Altsysteme sind. Es kam zu falsch angebrachten Etiketten, die eine Neuetikettierung von Produkten erforderlich machten, was wiederum zu Verzögerungen beim Versand führte. Zu weiteren Verzögerungen kam es aufgrund fehlender Daten.
All diese Entwicklungen führten Würth zu dem Schluss, dass eine andere Etikettierungslösung erforderlich war. Die Anforderungen waren sehr klar. „Wir wollten ein rund um die Uhr verfügbares System mit zentralisierter Datenbank, das wir unseren Lieferanten ohne Installation zur Verfügung stellen konnten und das Kompatibilität mit verschiedenen Druckermarken und -modellen bot“, erinnert sich Simon. Für die Akzeptanz seitens Lieferanten war es entscheidend, dass das neue Etikettierungssystem Unterstützung für die vorhandene Druckinfrastruktur der Lieferanten bot.
Würth implemented Loftware's web printing solution for their supplier labeling. Approximately 180 suppliers in 15 countries are using Loftware's web printing solution. "Our suppliers weren't pleased with the old system," comments Simon. "They knew it wasn't optimal." By using logic similar to the one used in the old system, Loftware was able to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. The system contains 10 label layouts that were designed in cooperation with Loftware. As of September 2018, Würth’s suppliers print approximately 8.5 million labels a year using Loftware's web printing solution.
