Background
BMW of Wichita is a luxury car dealership of the Walser Automotive Group located in Wichita, Kansas, USA. As the business expanded and new dealerships opened, how to store a large amount of auto spare parts became an urgent problem to be solved.
Pain Points
Insufficient warehouse space and complicated picking process
Like many car dealerships, BMW of Wichita stocks a wide variety of spare parts. Because auto spare parts are expensive and easy to steal, most dealers use multi-level storage for management, which makes the selection and management of spare parts very redundant and inconvenient. They wanted to find a new way of managing warehouses that would maximise the use of space while optimising workflow in the spare parts department.
Solution
BMW of Wichita purchased a 6m-high Modula VLM, which covers a total floor area of 14.3㎡ and a storage capacity of about 84m³.
Initially, spare parts manager Bob Carlini was not convinced that Modula would be an effective solution to their tight warehouse space and spare parts management issues. He said: “It is impractical to rely on a machine to save on rent expenses. What we need is more space.” “When we saw the Modula, I believed it could be done!”
Modula VLM trays are equipped with adjustable metal partitions. Through flexible adjustment of the partitions, auto spare parts of different shapes and sizes can be reasonably stored.
In addition, the security function of the Modula system can prevent unauthorised personnel from accessing the items stored in the machine. All operations inside the machine and the personnel performing the operation are under the control of the system, and the safety of valuable spare parts is guaranteed to the greatest extent.
Modula WMS inventory management software has been perfectly integrated with BMW of Wichita’s global dealer management system, which enables daily tasks such as product picking, storage, receiving, and delivery to be handled quickly and accurately, and work efficiency and accuracy have been greatly improved.
Bob Carlini, spare parts manager, said: “I would recommend Modula to anyone in the auto spare parts industry, and even any other field that needs inventory management can choose Modula to manage inventory.”