Austrian manufacturer B&R uses a highly complex automated system to manage its warehouse stock, based heavily on SAP’s R/3 logistics execution system.

The company’s main warehouse has an 18,000-pallet capacity, and can store or retrieve up to 300 pallets per hour. Each pallet can hold more than a ton of stock, and the system incorporates the company’s own servomotor technology with energy reduction, reducing power consumption by roughly one third.

The system is directly linked to a SAP R/3 LES, reported UK industry news website Control Engineering. "Planning the order in which tasks are carried out and defining all storage and retrieval strategies are done exclusively in SAP R/3 and can be quickly adjusted to changing logistics requirements," wrote the news source.

SAP products are used in numerous large-scale supply operations, according to Stores.org, a news site run by the National Retail Federation. That site reported that online grocer FreshDirect incorporates SAP data management solutions into its supply chain, calculating fine details like box volume and product size to make the company’s delivery more efficient.