Sport Conrad - Customer Story

Customer Story

Sport Conrad successfully optimised their warehouse operations with Treston

The winter season is a peak business period for German-based Sport Conrad. Orders, returns, and deliveries of a wide range of sports equipment and clothing need to be processed, prepared, and dispatched from the retailer's warehouse located in Bavarian foothills of the Alps. This year Sport Conrad, in collaboration with Treston, implemented a logistics project while operations were in full swing, to achieve greater efficiency at all levels of the process chain and to provide employees with an ergonomic work environment.

Logistics hub needed efficiency and ergonomics improvements

The family-owned company Sport Conrad has been known for over 120 years for high-quality mountaineering products and advisory expertise. To meet the high demand for ski and snowboard equipment, especially during the winter months, the company needs not only extensive expertise but also efficient background processes.


The logistics centre is the hub of the sports product manufacturer. From here, all orders from the online shop are dispatched, and products are transported multiple times a day between the warehouse and the three Sport Conrad stores.

Until recently, employees in the approximately 3,500 square metre warehouse walked a distance of 25 to 30 km daily as part of the order picking process. Additionally, the individual workstations were not ergonomically adapted to the employees' needs. To optimise efficiency and ergonomics in the warehouse, Sport Conrad expanded and automated the existing logistics centre within a short period of time. For this strategic move, the company entered into two important collaborations: One with Kardex, a provider of intralogistics solutions for automated storage, provisioning, and material flow systems, to automate the warehouse and shorten the employees' paths within the halls.

Additionally, the now automated processes needed to be connected to the individual workstations at goods receipt and returns areas. This is where Treston came into picture: connecting the workstations to the new automated conveyor techniques required standard products, in combination with tailor-made solutions. 

Sport Conrad x Treston - Customer Story

Christian Vogel, Project Manager and ergonomics expert at Treston, reports: "The project was challenging in a good way. For example, we had to come up with an efficient solution for custom-made drop chutes for textile dispatch to the various branches and functionally connect the dispatch tables to the conveyor technology."

Focus on employee needs positively impacts overall efficiency 

At Sport Conrad, most tasks in the goods receipt and returns areas are performed while standing. In addition, larger and heavier goods are frequently moved here. That's precisely why the family business wanted to ease the work processes with the individually adaptable and ergonomic TP workbenches. These can be adjusted in height, meeting the specific needs of each employee, and thus helping to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and fatigue. At the same time, the processing time for each process step decreases, while team motivation increases. Two effects that positively impact overall efficiency.


An ideal complement to the modular workstations were the ergonomic floor mats from Treston, which have also been well received in the Sport Conrad warehouse. These mats support standing work processes and help prevent fatigue. 

Another advantage of the adaptability of the workstations is that they not only meet the employees' requirements but can also be adapted to constantly changing work processes.

Throughput time reduced from three weeks to two days

Originally, the project was intended to optimise only the goods receipt area of the warehouse. However, it quickly became clear that an expansion of the project to include the picking and returns areas was necessary. After the remodel, a Treston product can now be found in every part of the entire workflow, each bringing more efficiency to the respective process step. Thomas Janker, Head of Purchasing at Sport Conrad, is pleased. "We quickly saw that the use of individually adaptable solutions brings a significant increase in efficiency. Thanks to the perfect design of the tables and the corresponding accessories, the throughput time at goods receipt has been reduced from three weeks to two days."

The throughput time at goods receipt 
has been reduced from three weeks to two days.

Custom-made integration of workstations to automated solutions

Sport Conrad - Customer Story
The precise integration of the new workstations with the automated solutions in the warehouse noticeably speeds up the work processes. To achieve this goal, the dispatch tables were adapted for the conveyor technology and the IT columns flexibly to the conditions in the warehouse. The installation was customised to flexibly attach to the automated solutions. LCD and printer columns were also precisely connected to the Carousel Ports of the Auto Stores.

Another task for which Treston designed a custom-made solution was drop chutes for textiles, which were also connected to the workstations. The tailored solution allows the dispatch of packages to the three branches smoothly and without congestion, as the product lay times between the individual process steps are significantly minimised.

 

 

Successful warehouse optimisation during ongoing operations

A company like Sport Conrad cannot make customers wait for their orders due to warehouse restructuring. Therefore, the project was realised during ongoing operations. The installation of Treston products followed close and continuous coordination between the client and the project manager.

The fact that the installation took place during ongoing operations even brought another major advantage. It enabled a direct diagnosis of where the integration of additional elements was sensible. 

"Thanks to Treston's flexibility, we were able to complete the entire overhaul of the warehouse in three months – and that during ongoing operations," summarises Thomas Janker.

Christian Vogel concludes: "To find the best possible solution for our customers, we always keep an eye on existing requirements as well as the cost-benefit factor. We can respond to obstacles that arise during and after the installation phase with our versatile and adaptable products, always achieving a successful outcome. We look back with pride on our collaboration with Sport Conrad, which is a great example of integrating our standard products, but also the tailored solutions we can offer our customers.”

A video of the customer success story available in German with automated subtitles in English