TGW Logistics plans, implements and operates highly automated fulfillment centers in sectors such as clothing, food, industry and consumer goods. The foundation company develops all components in-house - from software and robotics to mechatronic modules. "The spatial complexity of these systems is almost impossible for even experts to grasp from drawings," says Wolfgang Oberhumer, Project Manager TGW Layouter. "That's why we started looking for a 3D solution for the sales and implementation phase in 2020."

Plant planning with 3D product configurator

In a preliminary project, the P'X Industry Solution from Perspectix AG in Zurich emerged as a suitable solution. It enables the computer-aided planning and engineering of complex systems in hall-filling dimensions. In 3D system planning, lightweight 3D models from catalogs are placed in the hall layout. Product logic, parametrics and technical calculations for the design enable fast and error-free layouting. "We chose Perspectix primarily because the medium-sized provider can react very flexibly to our requirements and customization requests," recaps Wolfgang Oberhumer.

Perspectix developed a new authorization concept, area-specific locking functions and a visualization of the edited elements in real time. This allows several teams to work together on a project. The import of customer data, such as buildings, is handled via Building Information Modeling (BIM). Up to eight gigabytes of building data and up to 70,000 elements can now be imported, edited and exported in various formats such as DWG and IFC. "We are happy to respond to customer requests if we can transfer the results to our standard software," explains André Kälin. "We see this as a win-win situation for us and our customers."

The software for 3D system planning has now been rolled out in Central Europe since June 2025. North America and Asia will follow later, so that the planned 600 users will be reached in June 2026 - with the aim of doubling this number in the future. In the meantime, 200 users have already registered.

During this ramp-up phase, all projects that had already been started were completed using the previous tools. By the end of the year, 90 percent of new projects should benefit from the new solution.

The productivity comparison with the previous approach is clear: "Across all processes, we are seeing time savings of 25 to 30 percent," explains Wolfgang Oberhumer. You can read more about the P'X Industry Solution here.