By using Enterprise Dynamics the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim achieved an optimization of the use of its buffer capacity in the logistics process. The simulation of the storage areas in Ingelheim showed the company several ways to increase its performance and led it quickly to the most efficient result.

The pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer (1861-1939) in Ingelheim am Rhein. What began with 28 employees in Nieder-Ingelheim has developed into a global company. Boehringer Ingelheim now ranks among the most research-intensive companies and employs over 44,000 employees in 145 affiliated companies in Germany and abroad. Approximately 23.5 percent of the 13.2 billion Euros worldwide realized revenue in 2011 was re-invested in research & development. This includes the use of innovative methods such as material handling and logistics simulation.

To optimize its material flows in the logistics operations of the high-bay warehouses, Boehringer Ingelheim uses the simulation software Enterprise Dynamics Logistics of INCONTROL Simulation Solutions since 2011. Our turnkey software could quickly convince the decision-makers at Boehringer Ingelheim to use simulation for the long term as a powerful, cost effective and environmentally friendly method for analysis and optimization purposes in production and storage. By means of a project in close cooperation with INCONTROL two planning strategies were elaborated and analyzed using simulation to determine their specific performance and efficiency. The results of the simulation study were reported and presented to Boehringer Ingelheim in order to support their decision support.

Additionally, Boehringer Ingelheim has purchased an Enterprise Dynamics License and is now, after an extensive training, able to conduct further experiments and to create simulation models on their own.

We thank Boehringer Ingelheim for the expressed confidence and with pleasure we look forward to a successful and long term business relationship.