handling systems Archives

Remote Control Services

Posted on 14 December, 202229 July, 2025 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.

Glocalisation

Posted on 10 December, 202025 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Global integrator Witron had a front and centre role in the first wave of the pandemic. What did it learn and what comes next?

When Christian Dietl reviews the numbers for June 2020, he is proud of his colleagues working in logistic centres all over Europe and North America. “During this time, we only had one major technical defect in the 75 food logistics centres around the globe which operate with our OPM technology,” reports the CEO of Witron Services. “Even though we had to keep the systems running at full capacity and beyond.”

While the inner cities of Europe were emptying and throughput in physical stores was increasing, logistics centres were running at full speed. The importance of automation was growing, as was the importance in warehouses of people. Truck drivers were no longer allowed to enter DCs and staff in logistics centres now had to handle incoming goods. “We had to restructure our teams to prevent infections. So we worked with smaller maintenance teams and really only carried out the most necessary life-sustaining measures on the machines,” explains Dietl. The teams had already caught up on the maintenance backlog in May and June. “We learned a lot about the load limits of the components and this is now being incorporated into our future concepts.”

During this time, Witron technicians developed efficient concepts to keep system performance high at all times, while at the same time having to cut down planned maintenance intervals due to time constraints. “In addition, our cross-trained colleagues on site can change their roles very quickly, from system operator to maintenance technician and back again.” Flexibility pays off. “I have always said that we have the best team because there is only ONE team at the Terrebonne distribution centre, consisting of Sobeys AND Witron colleagues,” praises Fabien Roy, Logistics Manager at Sobeys in Canada.

Even more automation

Due to consistent hygiene rules, Witron had only four sick employees worldwide in the service teams, who were very quickly isolated. “We will continue to work in the Corona mode and will
continue to rely on distance rules and set teams,” says Christian Dietl. But what comes after the crisis? Automation will be the winner of the pandemic, even for SMEs, according to Witron, in accord with many analysts and scientists. In some industries, value added supply chains will shift back to Europe, and security of supply will become increasingly important, it believes. “We are moving towards glocalisation,” explained Wolfram Senger-Weiss, Chairman of logistics service provider Senger-Weiss, in a recent interview.

A Bosch analysis further states: The challenge here will be to prevent logistics costs from rising immeasurably. This can be prevented. It also means that automation and modularisation in
warehouses and logistics centres will benefit greatly from the trend towards greater supply security. Storage capacities must be able to be built up and decreased even faster in the future.
Warehouse management, conveyor technology, forklifts, and autonomous transport systems (FTS/AGVs/AMR) must be able to react flexibly. The same applies to the service and maintenance teams. The production supply from the warehouse must be able to quickly adapt to new products or new manufacturing processes.

Adding to this is the continuing boom in ecommerce, which even in the COVID pandemic has not suffered any slumps; on the contrary, it recorded new growth figures. In this context, intralogistics experts are pursuing different strategies. Flexible omnichannel solutions are the decisive approach. What unites all approaches is the importance of automation. For Christian Dietl and his service and maintenance teams, the pandemic remains the focus. “The disease is still there, it will occupy us for even longer – socially, economically, and technologically. It’s been shown that the Witron crisis management works; our systems run reliably with high availability even under permanent high volume requirements, and the OnSite teams roll up their sleeves – supporting them around the clock with great commitment. Together with our customers, we will continue to successfully master the challenges.”

Automation Hardware vs Software

Posted on 6 November, 202025 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Integrator Witron recently promoted IT specialist Johannes Meissner to CEO of its service division WIOSS. Logistics Business talks to the 30-year company veteran about the often complicated trade-offs between hardware and software within warehouse automation.

As an IT specialist, does your appointment to the management board as CEO herald new times at Witron, away from hardware toward software?

Johannes Meissner: I was responsible for IT, but I am also a graduate engineer, specialized in communications-engineering, so I like to think I know about hardware, too! But to answer your question, in the past, we were very close to hardware and in the early days developed the controls ourselves. If our own focus on software slightly drifts away from hardware we must not lose our contact and understanding of the core. IT is not an end-in-itself. We always have to ask ourselves why and for what purpose we develop the applications, and what our interaction with physics
looks like. In the public discussion, a lot of IT hype dominates the narrative. We have observed that many companies are liable to lose their customer focus in doing this.

So, everything will remain the same then?

Meissner: Even with the movement in our development priorities explained above, we are still in the middle of the realignment of our IT structures. This means that we are working on new user interfaces, investing in usability, using web applications, building platforms, and using cloud services. It is important that we do this together with our customers. As an example: My first project was in the US – more than 20 years ago we developed a warehouse management system, which is still in use today at more than 40 locations. It has always been maintained and modernised, and it will probably work in a private cloud in the future.

Back to the hardware. In recent months, Witron has relied on Beckhoff controllers, why is that?

Meissner: We see the future in PC-based controls. We receive an open development environment and we can use our software developments.

The worlds of IT and controls are moving closer together – are high level languages also the future in control technology?

Meissner: The borders between these worlds are fading. The controller sends data into a cloud. IT, office, and shopfloor are mutually dependent on each other, which is why high-level
languages will also gain importance; also docking web applications, increasing flexibility. In addition, universities will only rarely train students in IEC 61131 development. It will not disappear, but high-level languages are gaining importance in our control world.

Which languages do you use at Witron?

Meissner: C++, C#, .net as well as languages for web and mobile applications such as Xamarin/REACT. Data languages such as PL/SQL are just as important.

Do you use open source software?

Meissner: Our current strategy is to open up Witron applications further to the outside world through additional connectivity. We are just about to take the first steps, discuss new applications
– especially in our end-to-end platform, in order to provide users of the supply chain applications with appropriate access and control options. In the future, we want to make Micro Services
available to stores, for example, which will also make our work in the logistics centre easier.

A much-discussed topic in logistics IT is middleware, when there may be several providers in the warehouse. Why do Witron and the other providers have such difficulties in developing interfaces?

Meissner: The problem is that some customers like to tinker with the middleware themselves. If we have a middleware that only creates connections between systems, then it normally works well. However, these middleware applications often get additional functions and logics added to them. The result is that it becomes confusing and sometimes even chaotic. Many users then have to
maintain three systems – our system, the competitor system, and the middleware. We first have to set up the exact processes, create and use interfaces. But often these topics are not discussed properly with the end by the user, and the result is uncontrolled growth. My experience has taught me: if you run several systems together, even via a lean middleware, the user will still not get the most out of the system.

I don’t quite understand – you want your component suppliers such as Beckhoff, Lenze, or Sick to have open interfaces. However, you as an intralogistics expert are reluctant to be more open?

Meissner: Yes, that’s right. In the next few years, we will experience open systems, provide interfaces, also in part to allow access to applications from the supply chain. The magic word is platform. But you also have to consider that, often, Witron technically manages and operates the warehouse. Direct feedback from the technical and operational operation flows into our applications in order to further optimise the system and operation. That trend will continue to increase.

But the customer wants as much data as possible, though…

Meissner: Yes, this is a complex topic. We have to connect the supply chain levels, need more connectivity, and exchange data via MQTT/RESTful http for control and analysis. Read the whole interview here.

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