Case Study Automated Testing at the NOSTA Group
NOSTA optimizes its logistics processes and increases its efficiency with the automated test tool in PSIwms.
The NOSTA Group, founded in 1978, is a family-run company headquartered in Osnabrück. The full-service logistics provider offers customized solutions along the entire supply chain and employs over 800 people at more than 40 locations worldwide. The NOSTA Group combines services from the areas of transportation management, warehousing and value-added services. In order to optimally control the complex material flows and picking processes, the company has been using PSIwms at seven warehouse locations since 2008, including an automated test tool to ensure efficient and error-free logistics processes.
Challenges
NOSTA serves customers from a wide range of industries and operates several of its own warehouse locations with individual solutions or multi-user operation. At the Ladbergen site, for example, a multi-client warehouse with 24,000 m² of storage space and 1,750 different items was set up. Before the introduction of PSIwms, warehouse processes were controlled by stand-alone solutions, goods receipts and testing were carried out manually. This led to time-consuming and error-prone processes as well as non-transparent inventories and processes.
Objectives
Solution approach
For more than ten years, the NOSTA Group has relied on PSIwms to control and optimize warehouse logistics company-wide in the private cloud. A particularly important component of this solution is the automated test tool. This enables the NOSTA Group to test processes automatically and without manual intervention following changes to the warehouse or software. By creating test suites that represent the relevant warehouse, all relevant processes are regularly and automatically simulated. Sources of error and potential need for action can thus be identified at an early stage. Thanks to the intuitive operation and simple configurability, employees can create their own tests without the need for in-depth programming knowledge. In addition, PSIwms offers a strong multi-site capability that enables the NOSTA Group to efficiently network and manage its sites, while the system ensures end-to-end transparency through centralized control.
Result
By implementing PSIwms and the integrated automated test tool, the NOSTA Group was able to significantly increase the efficiency of its warehouse processes and considerably minimize the error rate. The central control and networking of the warehouse locations led to optimized inventory management and greater transparency. At the same time, the time required for manual tests was drastically reduced.
PSIwms offers us the opportunity to view the order data and stocks of each individual client at the various locations quickly and easily. Automated testing has become indispensable for us.
Lessons Learned
- Centralized systems reduce complexity and increase efficiency.
- Automated testing minimizes the error rate and optimizes processes.
- The flexibility of self-configuration saves time and resources.
Conclusion
The introduction of PSIwms at the NOSTA Group, including the automated test tool, has sustainably optimized the logistics processes. By reducing manual tests and increasing transparency, the company was able to achieve significant efficiency gains and considerably increase its cost efficiency. PSIwms offers the NOSTA Group a future-proof solution that is also prepared for future logistical challenges.
