DCS and KNAPP - Integration partnership as a success factor
A strong network of reliable partners provides the basis for successful automation projects. For more than ten years, KNAPP has been working with system integrators worldwide to implement efficient solutions for complex supply chains. One of these partners is Designed Conveyor Systems (DCS), a leading system integrator in the US for sophisticated material flows.
Together, DCS and KNAPP implemented an automation project for the customer Graco that is fit for the future. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Graco is a global manufacturer of systems and equipment to move, measure and dispense fluid and powder materials for industrial and commercial applications. To support further growth and radically improve customer service, Graco decided to build a new distribution center. Working closely together, DCS and KNAPP implemented the project within 24 months.
Innovation and portfolio
Trust and transparency
Growth and customer focus
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More InformationCompared to other providers, the solution by DCS and KNAPP convinced Graco by providing both a higher number of storage locations and higher throughput in a significantly smaller space.
Matt Ferguson
President, DCS
Would you like to become an integration partner, or have you already got an automation project underway?
Achieving more together: What the automation solution offers
Greater precision
Operational resilience
Higher throughput
Pleasant working conditions
Space optimization
Flexibility for the future
KNAPP brings outstanding technologies and a wealth of innovation to the table to support our customers
Matt Ferguson
President, DCS
Are you interested in a breath of fresh air instead of the same old same old in the integration business?
Intelligent integration – the perfect logistics mix for Graco
Goods-in
As a strong technology partner, we handled the automated storage and goods-to-person picking aspects for DCS’s all-in-one solution. Both these processes are described in more detail below. The KNAPP sub-system receives the storage containers at a defined point right after the goods-in process.
Automated storage
The Evo Shuttle at Graco features two aisles each with 25 levels. Most of the SKUs are stored in the system’s 44,000 storage locations. The orders are transferred from the DCS system to the KNAPP sub‑system, which automatically sequences the containers and provides them to six work stations.
After successful order picking, the containers are put away again in the shuttle system. The stock is always checked against the DCS Host and synchronized. This gives DCS full control at all times over the whole system, allowing it to also control the KNAPP sub-system with the shuttle technology.
The system has a flexible design allowing for future growth: it is possible to add another aisle featuring 66,000 container locations and performing 1,500 double cycles per hour. This gives Graco the possibility to expand their own product portfolio.
Goods-to-person picking
Upon order receipt, the containers are automatically conveyed to one of the six goods-to-person work stations of the Pick-it-Easy Evo series. There, employees pick the orders under ergonomic conditions guided by the easyUse interface and Pick-to-Light indicators. The distribution of orders is handled by the DCS system and every step in the picking process is synchronized between KNAPP and DCS.
m² (~50,000 ft²) storage space
storage locations in the Evo Shuttle
order lines per day
items per day
Solutions from XS to XXL to meet our customers’ requirements
Logistics installations come in all shapes and sizes and with our integration partners, we implement solutions for all requirements, from XS to XXL. As a technology partner, we support system integrators with fully integrated logistics systems including software and lifecycle management as well as partially automated solutions and intelligent stand-alone products. The level of integration depends on the product group and complexity of the solution with the goal to ensure highest level of operational reliability and optimally fulfil specific requirements.
In DCS’ complete solution for Graco, everything revolves around the Evo Shuttle 1D automation technology. Six Pick‑it‑Easy Evo work stations for efficient goods‑to‑Person‑picking round out the concept. Our universal Streamline conveyor system ensures a consistent material flow throughout all processes, reliably supplying the work stations and connecting to another conveyor system integrated by DCS.
KiSoft – maximum flexibility for system integrators
As a value chain tech partner, we offer comprehensive all‑in‑one software solutions, including warehouse management, warehouse control and machine control systems. Intelligent tools for data analysis as well as resource and skills planning round out the portfolio. This provides integration partners with maximum flexibility: They can select a perfect blend of products from our software and technology portfolio, combine these products with existing systems, enabling them to offer their customers tailored automation solutions.
In Graco’s new distribution center, KiSoft WCS controls and coordinates the KNAPP technologies in real time and monitors the execution of processes. What’s more, KiSoft WCS interfaces with DCS’ warehouse control system, ensuring smooth data exchange for order processing and picking instructions.
Equal integration partnership
To sustain a committed partnership with warehouse system integrators, mutual trust and respectful communication are our core tenets of successful collaboration. This is the basis of our partnership with Designed Conveyor Systems (DCS) – not only innovation, but most of all trust. Since 2022, we have enjoyed a successful collaboration with the US system integrator.
What exactly makes the partnership between DCS and KNAPP so special?
Matt Ferguson, President DCS, explains, “We listen carefully and work very hard to make our customers’ goals a reality. When we are in the same room, the customers realize quickly that they have found the right partner.”
For Chris James, Sales Director at KNAPP US, openness, honesty and dynamism are particularly essential. "We always play with open cards. This transparency creates trust and leads to a sense of achievement."
Graco's distribution center is a good example of such a sense of achievement. It shows how visionary goals, state-of-the-art technologies and trusting cooperation can achieve great things together and enable sustainable success.
