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Month: December 2022

Hines acquires six Dutch logistics assets

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Hines, the global real estate investment, development, and property manager, has advised its Hines European Core Fund (HECF) on the acquisition of six fully occupied logistics assets in the Randstad area in Aalsmeer, Honselersdijk and Rijnsburg in The Netherlands.

The business parks, on which the assets are located, are majority owned and managed by Royal FloraHolland (RFH), the world’s largest floricultural marketplace and a major contributor to The Netherlands’ world-renowned role within the flower industry. In 2021, the value of The Netherlands’ flower and plant import and export market reached €7.3bn, with a further €865m of flowers imported and distributed through business parks such as those operated by RFH.

The acquired buildings, spanning 92,000 sq m, are fully leased to six occupiers operating within The Netherlands’ floricultural trade market, each on a long-term lease. The properties are in the heart of the densely populated Randstad area, the economic heartland of The Netherlands, which accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s GDP and has a population of over 8.4m. The assets are clustered near the three major Dutch flower auction sites, giving occupiers excellent access to high concentrations of wholesale and retail flower vendors and purchasers.

Hines builds on investment

Andy Smith, managing director and country head – The Netherlands at Hines, commented: “The portfolio aggregation of these fully leased properties builds on our investment, development and management platform in Dutch logistics. The agricultural and floricultural logistics market is undergoing substantial consolidation, transformation and modernisation while remaining among the most resilient segments of a turbulent economy.

“We are proud to support our tenants in their continued success and we look forward to maintaining and improving the quality of these business critical assets through long term value creation via our property management initiatives.”

Simone Pozzato, managing director and HECF fund manager, added: “Our European core-fund,  HECF, completed the first phase of its aggregation of six fully occupied last-mile logistics assets in the highly sought-after Randstad area in The Netherlands, via four off-market and one direct market acquisitions, achieving a considerable portfolio size, at an attractive entry yield.

“Our ability to source and aggregate opportunities off market through our strong local teams has enabled us to decisively spot value and quickly close in prime occupier locations. To add further value on behalf of our investors, we will also seek to provide property management services and implement strategic ESG improvements aiming to reduce carbon emissions and increase efficiency.”

In 2022, Hines has completed €797m of logistics transactions across Europe, in markets including Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, The UK and The Netherlands. Hines’ European logistics AUM now stands at €3bn.

 

£24bn of goods held up by SC issues

Posted on by David Priestman

A report from Barclays Corporate Banking reveals that goods with a total value of £23.6bn are awaiting completion in UK manufacturers’ warehouses because of supply chain delays.

The study – ‘Chain reaction’ – focuses on manufacturing businesses with over 10 employees and looks at the impact of supply chain issues. Barclays’ research shows that over seven in 10 (72%) businesses are currently holding items in their warehouses awaiting completion because raw materials, ingredients or component parts have not yet been delivered from suppliers. On average, this ‘unfinished business’ is worth over £1m to each company impacted.

Products in the steel and metals sector are most severely affected, with £9bn worth of goods incomplete – equivalent to almost a fifth (19%) of the sub-sector’s annual turnover. The most affected consumer goods sector is food and drink, with delays in sourcing ingredients causing a £3bn backlog. A high value of plastic products (£2.6bn) and electronics (£2bn) are also awaiting completion.

The trends are reflective of supply chain disruption that has challenged the manufacturing sector since the pandemic and three in five (59%) firms say they are still facing supply issues. This has been exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the UK’s exit from the EU. Customer relationships are now being impacted: two-thirds (65%) of manufacturers say their customers are having to wait longer for products, with 15% describing the hold-ups as ‘significant’. To offset rising costs such as energy and transportation, over half (55%) of manufacturers are planning price increases for their own products, of 37% on average.

Industry is innovating

The industry is innovating to solve these challenges. Most commonly, businesses are increasing their storage capacity (39%) to prepare for the fact raw materials are taking longer to source. Meanwhile, a third (33%) are “near shoring” to move their supply chains closer to home and 32% have “friend shored” to work with suppliers in countries that have a strong trading relationship with the UK. To spread their bets, 37% of manufacturers have increased the number of different suppliers they work with.

To maintain cashflow and liquidity, over two-fifths (42%) of manufacturing firms are optimising their working capital cycles and the same amount are accessing additional bank funding. 38% are seeking a cash injection from private equity and a third (32%) are selling off assets to raise funds.

Such measures are leaving the industry confident in the medium-term. Two-thirds (66%) of companies think supply chain challenges will improve over the next six months and 86% are confident about growth next year.

Businesses have also doubled down on their commitment to sustainability despite supply chain pressures. Almost two-thirds (64%) of manufacturers say carbon reduction has become an even bigger priority in the past six months, despite nearly three quarters (73%) saying their environmental goals have become less attainable.

Goods trapped in warehouses

Amidst the business optimism, however, Barclays’ report also lays bare the threat that rising costs and supply chain disruption could pose long-term if circumstances do not improve. On average, UK manufacturers only expect to be able to sustain their operations for 15 further months if current conditions continue.

Lee Collinson, Head of Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics for Barclays Corporate Banking, said: “The British manufacturing sector has faced a perfect storm of challenges this year, with rising costs, the war in Ukraine, labour shortages and ongoing Covid lockdowns in China hitting supply chains hard. As a result, billions of pounds worth of goods are trapped in warehouses unfinished, and this may hit industry turnover in the early part of next year.

“However, manufacturing firms have done what they do best and engineered new solutions to limit the impact of the issues they face. As a result, many businesses will enter the new year with a degree of cautious optimism and confidence.”

The findings in summary:

  • Goods with a total value of £23.6bn are currently awaiting completion in UK manufacturers’ warehouses as key parts, ingredients and materials are delayed due to supply chain issues
  • £9bn of steel and metals products, £3bn of food and drink, £2.6bn of plastic goods and £2bn of electronics are unfinished because of supply logjams
  • With six in 10 businesses facing supply chain difficulties, manufacturers are investing in more storage space and moving suppliers closer to home to ease challenges
  • 64% of manufacturers have faced rising costs because of the recent weakness of the pound
  • Trade barriers are a concern for almost one in three manufacturers. They are a particular issue for the electronics industry (43%) and the automobile industry (41%)
  • The top interventions that manufacturing firms would like to see from government are industrial energy transformation (37%) and a more aggressive energy price cap for the industry (32%)

Linde Motion Detection assistance system wins industry award

Posted on by David Priestman

This year’s winner of MM Maschinenmarkt’s “Best of Industry Award” in the Warehouse Equipment category is not a vehicle, but an assistance system. The “Linde Motion Detection” solution from intralogistics specialist Linde Material Handling protects pedestrians by registering movement behind a stationary forklift and preventing it from starting up. In this way, both operational safety and a productive operating process are taken into account, so that forklift drivers, warehouse staff and fleet operators all benefit at the end of the day.

From the time the competition was launched in 2016, there have never been more contestants participating in the “Best of Industry Award”. A total of 190 entries in 24 categories were received by MM Maschinenmarkt, a trade journal that is part of the Vogel Communications Group based in Würzburg. This year, the winners were decided exclusively by online voting, which ran for five months. During this period almost 20,000 votes were cast. Innovations and further developed solutions that were launched on the market between June 2021 and March 2022 qualified for submission.

Assistance system prevents truck from moving

“The fact that accidents, some of them serious, occur time and again in in-house transport is a truism,” said Bernd Maienschein, specialist editor of MM Logistik, at the online awards ceremony on 12th December. “Linde Motion Detection focuses in particular on movement behind the truck. When the system detects movement, it automatically prevents the truck from reversing and warns the driver via the display. Optionally, this warning can also be given acoustically.

“The vehicle can only be driven once the hazardous situation has been resolved and the accelerator pedal has been actively returned to its initial position. This safety measure triggered by Linde Motion Detection results in fewer accidents and – not to be overlooked – higher productivity in terms of the work equipment,” the editor adds.

“We are delighted that the Linde assistance system was chosen as a winner and see this as confirmation that we are on the right track with our efforts to improve safety in in-house material flow,” Fabian Zimmermann, Product Manager Safety, commented enthusiastically on the award. “This recognition from customers and industry experts motivates us to continue on our chosen path. It makes it clear just how crucially important the topic of safety is to operations. Many thanks to everyone who voted for Linde Motion Detection.”

 

Small-Items Sweet Spot

Posted on by David Priestman

Storage of small items in ecommerce distribution centres often makes usage of cube ASRS. AutoStore integrator Element Logic launched to the UK at IMHX 2019. At this year’s show, we found out how it is helping businesses of all sizes optimise their ecommerce picking operations.

Starting at Element Logic as UK sales manager in September 2019, Gavin Harrison came to IMHX 2019 with the clear aim of building the Norwegian AutoStore system integrator’s UK market. Now boasting a staff of 20, the company has come a long way. Three years ago it had no UK AutoStore reference sites; today Harrison says it has more than any other AutoStore distributor in the UK.
Initially dominant in AutoStore’s homeland of Norway, a 2021 buy-out by a private equity firm has seen Element Logic’s ambition lead to it picking up household-name customers. For example, its Manchester project for the THG’s online cosmetics business was the biggest single AutoStore grid in the UK, featuring 300,000 bins, 380 robots and 69 ports.

THG sits in the sweet spot where AutoStore’s strength lies – single-unit picking of small items. The pandemic helped to feed Element Logic’s growth opportunities thanks to the boom in online shopping. Furthermore, pickers using AutoStore are physically unable to be closer than two metres apart, meaning staffing levels were unaffected by social distancing constraints.

“It’s been a whirlwind journey, because prior to 2019 there were only a couple of AutoStores in the UK,” says Harrison. “Today in the UK, there are maybe 15 to 20, so it’s still considered a new technology even though it’s been around for 15+ years. Ten of those are ours, with customers varying from businesses such as the husband and wife family-owned football kit business Direct Soccer. They’re an SME up in Dundee, and invested in a system back in 2020, and have now grown and extended it.”

The difference in size between Direct Soccer and THG is considerable, yet AutoStore makes a positive difference to both businesses. Harrison says Element Logic can make a case for automating a warehouse with as few as 10 to 15 pickers: “We can condense that down to two or three, and therefore show good ROI. We design the system based on where you are at the moment, not where you’ll be in the future. Businesses can then just expand the system. As it can be leased, businesses don’t take a CapEx hit.”

A USP of AutoStore is that it can be installed in brownfield sites as well as new-build, as it fits around irregularities such as columns and low roof heights. This allow a business to stay in its existing facility, rather than move to a new one. It only requires a flat floor, has a low point load, and runs off standard household single-phase power.

Small items density

Element Logic can condense AutoStore it into a small area, making it suitable for urban micro-fulfilment centres. “For us, there’s actually no difference between a big site and a small site apart from the amount of aluminium and robots that are there. Because we already work with SMEs, a micro-fulfilment centre for a big company is going to be exactly the same as small grid for a small business. This has been a really easy shift for us to make, whilst still using all the experience and knowledge we have previously acquired.”

AutoStore’s strengths play right into the hands of eCommerce businesses selling in sectors characterised by rapidly-changing trends, as it intelligently reconfigures stock positions to deliver fast-movers to pickers at high speeds. It also deals very capably with returns , previously a huge challenge in fashion where rates of up to 40% are common. “We have some very ambitious growth targets,” Harrison concludes. “I would hope that by the time the next IMHX rolls around [in 2025], we should be double where we are now and maybe more. Let’s see how the market responds.”

BW Retail replaces manual picking with Descartes solution

Posted on by David Priestman

Descartes Systems Group, a global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, has announced that Michigan, US-based BW Retail, a leading ecommerce marketing, fulfilment and data analytics service provider, replaced manual pick, pack and ship practices with Descartes’ integrated ecommerce warehouse management and shipping solution to efficiently scale fulfilment operations and improve customer satisfaction.

“BW Retail has grown rapidly to become an industry leader in end-to-end ecommerce retail brand management and logistics operations. As we expanded from one warehouse in Michigan to additional locations in Georgia and Ontario, Canada, things we used to be able to do manually we no longer could,” said Christopher Ball, Chief Executive Officer at BW Retail. “We needed to have more real-time visibility into fulfilment across our facilities and to reduce efforts to manage inventory. With over one million shipments annually today, the Descartes solution has been essential to our growth, helping us gain greater control and improve the efficiency of our operations.”

Descartes’ ecommerce warehouse management solution helps ecommerce services providers, like BW Retail, direct-to-consumer brands and ecommerce retailers gain significant efficiencies across order fulfilment processes to improve the customer experience. It helps retailers ship the right items on time, prevents overselling of existing inventory, and provides full transparency into warehouse operations. The cloud-based solution is pre-integrated with major ecommerce platforms, like Channel Advisor, Shopify Plus, Magento and others, to accelerate implementation and time to value.

Descartes solution integrates with WMS

Descartes’ multi-carrier shipping solution is integrated with its ecommerce warehouse management solution to seamlessly execute the entire ecommerce fulfilment process, improving accuracy and productivity, reducing order lead-time, and minimising shipping costs. The quick-to-deploy solution allows businesses to grow their shipping volume through advanced automation capabilities, a powerful business rules engine, and a robust set of APIs for rating, shipping and tracking. The solution also connects ecommerce companies to their parcel and LTL carriers of choice using negotiated rates or using rate discounts available through the platform.

“We’re pleased to help BW Retail improve fulfilment performance across its growing operations with our ecommerce warehouse and shipping solution,” said Troy Graham, VP Business Development at Descartes. “For ecommerce service providers and retailers alike, the combined solution drives fast, accurate warehouse and shipping workflows and this type of operational excellence in fulfilment translates into a great customer experience.”

G-forces “could spark cost-of-returns crisis”

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Christmas presents are likely to be accelerating at rates greater than a Formula 1 driver as they make their way to our front doors this season. Packages ordered online have been recorded at G-forces akin to motor races and rocket launches by sustainable packaging provider DS Smith, who have uncovered that extreme G-forces could result in a staggering £3.2bn returns bill this Christmas.

To help understand the tough environment that packages must withstand to reach consumers in perfect condition, DS Smith is experimenting with accelerometers, which track the speed of a package through its journey and provide data that can then explain the damage it sustains.

The DS Smith research has shown that a typical online parcel undergoes G-forces measuring up to an astronomical 50G. This is more than five times the level of G-forces that would cause an experienced astronaut to lose consciousness (at 9G) and 10 times more G-forces than are typically experienced on a rollercoaster (at 5G).

The details of the experiment come as almost half (49%) of British shoppers reported receiving a damaged delivery in the last year, resulting in 83 million broken deliveries. Those who had received a damaged item said that on average the item cost £38.40 – adding up to a potential £3.2bn worth of damaged goods sent each year.

The cost of G-forces

Consumers have less tolerance for broken parcels and the increase in the cost-of-living is prompting more people to return lower-value items. Britons reported that the average value that a damaged item would need to be for them to return it has decreased from £22 last year to £18 this year, suggesting that there will be an increase in the number of returns.

Compounding the problem for businesses, and as an increasing number of brands consider charging for returns, 38% of UK shoppers say they expect free delivery and returns.

Gavin Mounce, E-commerce Design Manager, DS Smith comments: “While clearly part of everyday life, ecommerce is still a relatively new form of shopping and we have found through our research that the conditions that packages are exposed to are volatile. Packages need to be ready to travel at astonishing speeds, and that means businesses need to be ready to protect products en route.

“Our Innovation and Design teams are testing how fast packages are travelling and how they are impacted, and we then use that information to work on different designs. We use circular design principles to not only reduce damage but reduce the amount of material used so that packages protect their contents and are as sustainable as possible. We want new ideas, so we will be looking for partners to work with us on this.”

Locus picks 230m units during holiday peak

Posted on by David Priestman

Locus Robotics, a leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfilment and distribution warehouses, announced that its LocusBots picked more than 230 million units during the peak holiday shopping period on behalf of its global retail and third-party logistics customers – more than doubling the total number of items picked in the same period in 2021.

“Despite early predictions of lowered volumes, Locus customers once again picked a record number of items using LocusBots during this critical holiday shopping period,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “It is now clear that scalable, cost-efficient robotics automation is an operational must-have as volumes continue to increase and the labour shortages persist. Locus is proud to help our customers again meet the seasonal challenge with robust, enterprise-scale automation solutions that position them for success today and in the future.”

During this same period, LocusBots averaged 3.3 million units picked per day, representing a 2x increase over 2021.

A record $281bn online global sales took place from Thanksgiving Day (24th November) through Cyber Monday this year according to Salesforce.com and Adobe Analytics Data, with total US online sales over $68bn, representing a 9% increase over 2021.

Cyber Week 2022 continued several notable industry trends that first appeared in 2021:

  • Retailers again started peak season earlier in an effort to mitigate supply chain concerns and ensure product availability
  • Online shopping is now a central aspect of the retailers’ omnichannel shopping strategy as online spending increased 8.6%
  • Mobile shopping continues to be a favourite, growing more than 15% over 2021

Locus reaches industry first

Locus recently reached an industry-first, its 1 billion pick milestone, reflecting the exponential growth of order fulfilment volume. By way of comparison, it took Locus 1,542 days to pick its first 100 million units and just 40 days for the most recent 100 million picks. Locus robots now average more than three million picks per day around the world. LocusBots have travelled more than 20 million miles in customers’ warehouses, the equivalent of more than 670 times around the Earth or 35 round trips to the Moon.

The Locus warehouse execution platform disrupts large-scale warehouse fulfilment and distribution with an industry-leading, intelligent, and dynamically scalable robotics-driven solution. Locus delivers 2X-3X productivity by seamlessly coordinating both human labour and AMRs to dramatically improve order fulfilment efficiency and workplace ergonomics, while lowering operational costs.

With more than 230 sites under contract around the world – some having as many as 500 LocusBots per site – the Locus solution efficiently and seamlessly orchestrates the operation and management of multiple robot form factors, and provides forward-looking, real-time business intelligence, critical for optimizing productivity, proactively managing labour, and managing costs.

 

 

Lydia 9 Voice Browser certified by SAP

Posted on by David Priestman

EPG (Ehrhardt Partner Group) has announced that its solution, Lydia 9 Voice Browser is again certified by SAP for integration with SAP S/4HANA and with SAP NetWeaver.

“This certification from SAP further confirms that businesses that use SAP technology can significantly enhance warehouse performance with the aid of Lydia 9 Voice Browser,” said Tim Just (pictured), CEO Voice Solutions at EPG. “Lydia 9 Voice Browser also ensures they have complete control over their voice application. Our solution has been offering these features since 2009.”

Lydia Voice is a pick-by-voice solution that can be accessed using Lydia 9 Voice Browser. Ensuring a simple integration process, Lydia 9 Voice Browser is compatible with a range of SAP modules, including SAP Extended Warehouse Management rapid deployment solution. Customers benefit more from enhanced performance than with other integration methods thanks to its standardised design and simple system maintenance. Modifications and upgrades can be implemented flexibly and reliably.

With Lydia 9 Voice Browser, Lydia Voice can be integrated into a company’s existing SAP environment without the need for middleware. This intelligent online connectivity ensures maximum efficiency in warehouse processes. The process logic is SAP-based, giving customers a crucial advantage: all standard SAP functionalities can be utilised, and changes can be implemented by their own SAP team with a great deal of flexibility.

Lydia 9 Voice Browser offers multi-modal functionality for Lydia Voice. Users can also access infographics and enter data simultaneously via voice command, touch, scan or keyboard. Thanks to its online connectivity, the technology also offers functions such as real-time stocktaking to track current warehouse inventory, while also facilitating optimised warehouse replenishment and enhanced order-picking efficiency.

SAP Integration and Certification Center (SAP ICC) has certified that the integration software for the product Lydia 9 Voice Browser integrates with SAP S/4HANA and with SAP NetWeaver using standard integration technologies. SAP S/4HANA is the next-generation business suite designed to act as the digital core, helping customers drive digital transformation across their organisations.

 

Prologis invests in new London offices

Posted on by David Priestman

One of the UK’s leading logistics property owners and developers, Prologis UK, has recently opened new London headquarters, moving into a 5,000 sq. ft. office space on Great Pulteney Street in vibrant central Soho.

The move comes at a time when the business looks to continue servicing and developing the seven of its 22 Prologis Parks situated in the capital.

Prologis has made a number of high-profile appointments, in line with its strategic approach to prioritise development within London & the South East. The London team has welcomed five new members in 2022, with the office also homing the global Private Capital Raising team.

The new offices include desk capacity for 30 people, nine meeting rooms of varying sizes as well as a breakout space to accommodate 26. With an industry-wide need to better understand and develop the urban logistics market, Prologis’ move to its new London location supports its current prioritisation of the urban and last mile delivery and provides a new base in the capital for investors, stakeholders, and customers to meet.

Prologis closer to customers

Speaking about the new office space, Paul Weston, regional head of Prologis UK, said: “Our new Soho office puts Prologis closer to our customers and allows us to have a strong foothold in an area where we are focusing a lot of our commercial attention. London is a global city, and a lot of our customers have an international presence, so establishing a new, modern location for our London team to maintain these relationships is of real importance.

“We might be known for our buildings and Prologis Parks, but our vision is people-centric. Not only does this space align with our company culture but it puts us in the middle of a dynamic, ever-evolving city that we are proud to be a part of.”

Prologis’ UK headquarters are located at Blythe Valley Park in Solihull.

 

Remote Control Services

Posted on by David Priestman

Remote control services are gaining importance for proactive problem-solving in highly automated systems. Logistics Business reports.

Remote services enable intralogistics specialists to access highly automated warehouses and carry out troubleshooting in real time. It’s not just about responding to problems: it’s also about analysing data and simulating scenarios proactively to enable customers to have maximum availability. “Remote Services are increasingly in demand because clients want greater availability,” says Georg Katzlinger-Söllradl, Director Global Lifetime Services at Austria-based TGW, which is now offering nine different modules remotely with its Lifetime Services Unit (LTS).

Two major driving factors account for customers making increasing use of remote services. First, fewer in-house employees are needed on site, which saves money. Second, companies want to protect themselves from internet crime, particularly hacking attacks.

Cybersecurity focus

Hack attacks on the supply chain have increased since the pandemic began. Some 81 percent of those surveyed in an IT study carried out in 2021 with 1,451 decision-makers reported that they were seeing more cyber threats during the pandemic. Fifty-six percent experienced critical instances of a standstill resulting in damages of more than $100,000 US.

According to the study, however, companies place a low priority on cybersecurity, despite the fact that their IT departments have recognised the elevated threat level. Katzlinger-Söllradl says that companies who have already learned the hard way or heard about such incidents firsthand are the most likely to take the topic seriously. He sees big corporations in a better place in this regard than their smaller counterparts. “However, there are also major corporations that believe you have to do everything yourself in order to save money,” he observes.

TGW can draw on the experience of more than 1,000 completed systems and offers ongoing training to its experts. A total of more than 130 specialists work in the Remote Services area. Customers who have complete systems built that include a Warehouse Management System (WMS) also benefit from the fact that TGW’s software developers are easy to contact and no third-party suppliers have to be involved. Customers reach the in-house Support Centre directly via the hotline. TGW even does first level support itself rather than outsourcing it to a provider. This enables TGW to solve about 90 percent of all problems in the software area. Only in extremely complex cases, such as combined software and hardware problems, is it necessary for technicians to be on site.

Current service modules include:
• Managed Connectivity: For remote access to be as secure as possible, the connection is based on the highest security standards. The solution here is an up-to-date Cisco Multipoint Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology. Multi-factor authentication is required to gain access.

• Expert Support: TGW’s experts are available around the clock 365 days a year to answer the hotline. They speak multiple languages and have mastered the entire scope of services, from mechatronic components to the control system and IT hardware to the software applications such as TGW’s material flow controller or the WMS. If desired, a cause analysis can be added on to each problem-solving procedure.

• Software Monitoring & Alerting: The experts take the pulse of the system at all times. This means that they can monitor all software components provided by TGW – from error statistics of the mechatronic modules to the IT hardware and software applications to the interfaces. Anomalies trigger an alarm. Depending on the agreement, TGW employees work on the problem or the customer does so itself.

• Backup and Disaster Recovery: The complete system is prepared for a worst-case scenario – with standardised and tested procedures for re- importing backed-up data versions. Backups are improved and availability checked on a regular basis.

• Data Visualization & Analytics: The operator can carry out evaluations and start certain queries via the dashboard.

• IT Management: TGW offers cost-efficient server and database management, including reports and recommendations, improvements or software updates.

• Test Environment: A variety of operational strategies can be compared without the production system ever being involved. The test system always remains at the same level as the production system.

• Patch Management Services: Experts select, test and install security-relevant patches that match the customer’s specific system. This makes it possible to close security gaps and minimise failures. Release updates of the database providers are also carried out, requiring fewer than four hours of downtime.

• Security Scanning: Specialists test for security gaps regularly and take countermeasures if necessary.

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