Material Handling Innovation- Just a Buzzword?

Every year, the material handling industry goes through a plethora of words designed as marketing speak to describe some aspect of the industry. Last year’s word (or phrase) was “game changer.” Before that, the words of the day were sustainability, disruptive and complexity. Today the word is “innovation” or “innovative.”

Every vendor thinks they are innovative or have created the greatest innovation of the decade. We are all looking for the next great thing that will change the market forever. In Clayton Christensen’s book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, he distinguishes between two types of innovation: sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining innovations make products better through additional features; disruptive innovations “change the product by redefining the value proposition.”

James B. Rice of MIT wrote in a column in Supply Chain Management Review that “most supply chain innovations—and we suspect most materials handling innovations—aren’t truly revolutionary. Rather, they’re a clever combination of some existing technologies that have been applied in such a way that it has an impact on how things get done. What’s more, the innovation is brought to scale.”

The real opportunity for innovation in material handling is not just in new products, but in new processes that are more efficient, helping workers become more productive and cutting costs.

 

But do you really need the latest, innovative, automated system in your warehouse for picking orders?

Consider the return-on-investment (ROI). In an article in Logistics Viewpoints, industry analyst Steve Banker discusses the ROI of material handling equipment, saying, “If it currently costs us $7.32 to perform all the activities associated with receiving, put-away, picking, and loading pallets onto trucks, would extensive material handling allow us to drive that cost down to $5.17?” Banker goes on to discuss the risks of warehouse automation and that building a multi-million warehouse may not solve your problem of slow sales.

When upgrading or optimizing your picking operations in your warehouse, make sure you balance the risks with rewards. Can you work with suppliers to reduce lead times instead of adding some type of automation? Can you decrease the number of warehouses you have by making better use of space, cutting costs that way? Can you rationalize SKUs within the warehouse to lessen picking options and lower space utilization? Can you successfuly introduce sustaining innovation into your operation? You can, and you can start by contacting UNEX.

UNEX’s Pickologists offer order picking solutions like our patented Span-Track carton flow system that makes the best use of storage, increases pick rates and drop in easily to make installation a breeze. Span-Track is real game-changer! Oops, I mean innovation!

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source http://www.unex.com/material-handling-innovation-just-buzzword/

Replenishment- The Sticking Point in Order Fulfillment

Is there anything sadder than an empty-handed picker? Order picking – the most labor-intensive component of the order fulfillment process – can grind to a halt when product is unavailable to meet picking station demand. Getting caught short creates a cascade of scheduling problems at the picking station, and the obstacles accelerate further down the line. Costs go up, productivity goes down, and employee morale and momentum suffer.

On the other hand, getting too far ahead of pick demand without the right equipment just gets in the way and causes its own set of issues, including dangerous and disorganized work areas, awkward and unsafe retrieval motions, and wasted travel time and effort.

Why is the replenishment function so often the sticking point in order fulfillment’s product flow?

The process of moving product from storage locations to pick points requires a delicate balance of quantity, frequency and efficiency. Weak replenishment models increase labor costs and reduce productivity. An objective analysis can help you establish SKU-specific minimum/maximum rules that allow you to:

• Stay ahead of demand.
• Minimize the number of replenishments (commonly called touches) needed.
• Optimize the size and placement of pick faces.
• Streamline replenishment processes to ensure seamless active picking and inventory management, including compliance with FIFO and LIFO requirements.

The goal is to identify and implement slotting systems that support a logical, yet flexible, balance of replenishment methods. The ideal solution will suit the rhythm of your operation, including seasonal variations, as well as anticipate the requirements of future demand.

Finding and maintaining replenishment equilibrium takes real-time data, careful analysis and adaptable technology and equipment. UNEX can design a customized solution for you that boosts your storage density while keeping products at the point of pick, reducing the number of touches required to replenish each pick face and allowing pickers and stockers to work simultaneously without interruption. Our solutions allow you to stay ahead of demand without increasing dangerous and wasteful clutter in your work areas.

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source http://www.unex.com/replenishment-order-fulfillment/

Lean Assembly & Work Cells

The secret to a lean assembly work cell is the ability to eliminate waste from extra motion required to move materials to and from different locations and departments and wasted time due to inefficient communications, rework and collaboration.

 

In a traditional assembly shop, the floor is divided into multiple departments with groups of similar machinery or processes. This type of work cell design does not align with the lean assembly mantra; instead manufacturers and assemblers create work cells where parts are assembled, then moved down the assembly line when the part is complete.

Let’s say we are building doors for automobiles. Within each work cell, a particular piece, such as the door handle or window would be assembled. Each finished product travels through a series of workstations until the entire piece is complete. The process enables single-piece flow; therefore, there’s minimal movement of product and fewer redundant activities from cell to cell, eliminating wasted time and movement. Benefits include the reduction of staging and waiting between departments and elimination of unnecessary transportation, which both shorten the time between processes.

To create a lean assembly workstation in your assembly operations:

• Optimize each workstation for a particular group of parts that the cell will manufacture by minimizing the variety of SKUs used. Limit requirements for changeover to ensure only value-added elements are included in the process. This minimizes wastes within the operation from overproduction to excess inventory to over processing, defects and motion.
• Ensure workload is balanced and cell not overrun with equipment and people. Develop a plan for the physical layout of the cell by modeling people, parts and machines, then create the best strategy for the work to be done. Consider lean methodologies when creating the physical layout taking into account movement, redundancies, trash and other things. Make sure that the work completed by one cell flows easily to another cell in a timely and efficient manner that supports lean operations. Keeping workers, parts and machinery within close proximity of makes the process easier to monitor and manage.
• Train workers to work on all of the equipment and perform all the activities in the cells. This builds in agility and flexibility into the process and ensures continued production should a worker be out for the day. When workers are cross-trained, communication is clearer so that defects can be identified quickly and the root cause identified and removed.

The goal of lean work cells is to minimize transit time, which improves productivity; simplified workflow, putting the workstations close to each other so work flows in a linear manner from one place to another; and eliminated wait time with each assembled piece moving quickly and efficiently throughout the entire assembly operation. These wastes, left unchecked, can be costly to your operation.

One more thought, and one that is probably extremely important to your business – being agile in your assembly operations means your operation will be more adaptable, allowing your business to make quick changes based on customer and market demands.

UNEX provides lineside assembly racks used to hold parts for assembly operations that improve efficiencies and increase productivity.

UNEX Flow Cells are ideal lineside storage solutions, allowing users to consolidate storage on the line and reduce the footprint of lineside storage.

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source http://www.unex.com/lean-assembly-work-cells/