Just-In-Time Manufacturing & UNEX

Just-in-time manufacturing originated at the British Motor Corporation in Sydney, Australia in the mid-1950’s, was later adopted in Japan, and became more prominent in the US in the 1970s when Toyota adopted the methodology. Just-in-time manufacturing, or JIT for short, was renamed lean manufacturing in the 90’s, and is still called this today.

Just-in-time manufacturing, also known as just-in-time production or the Toyota production system (TPS), is a methodology aimed primarily at reducing flow times within production as well as response times from suppliers and to customers. Items are manufactured to meet demand, not in advance. In other words, manufacturers make only what is needed, when it is needed and in the amount that is needed. Other names for just-in-time manufacturing include the Kanban System or the Supermarket Method.

 

The  concept was described by Henry Ford in his 1923 book, My Life and Work: “We have found in buying materials that it is not worthwhile to buy for other than immediate needs. We buy only enough to fit into the plan of production, taking into consideration the state of transportation at the time. If transportation were perfect and an even flow of materials could be assured, it would not be necessary to carry any stock whatsoever. The carloads of raw materials would arrive on schedule and in the planned order and amounts, and go from the railway cars into production. That would save a great deal of money, for it would give a very rapid turnover and thus decrease the amount of money tied up in materials.”

But the concept really took off with Toyota and remains foremost in the minds of many manufacturing businesses as a way to eliminate waste, which is the main concept of lean manufacturing, while streamlining operations, lowering operating costs and improving customer service.

Toyota has six rules to describe how this works:

• Later process picks up the number of items indicated by the kanban at the earlier process.
• Earlier process produces items in the quantity and sequence indicated by the kanban.
• No items are made or transported without a kanban.
• Always attach a kanban to the goods.
• Defective products are not sent on to the subsequent process. The result is 100% defect-free goods.
• Reducing the number of kanban increases the sensitivity.

UNEX manufactures lineside storage solutions which can store and flow products from the initial demand point bin. UNEX also makes manufacturing supermarkets which can store and flow products from the inventory control point bin. UNEX’s manufacturing supermarkets provide lineside shelving where workers pull components from as needed for manufacturing. Miniature stock locations are located close to the assembly line, allowing the lines to be replenished quickly and easily.

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source http://www.unex.com/just-in-time-manufacturing-unex/

Warehouse Space- When Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Warehouse space is becoming a premium in today’s fast-paced e-commerce world. There just isn’t enough warehouse space available to store products to meet online customer demand. This is partially due to the fact that very little development occurred a decade ago because of the economic downturn, and the market just hasn’t been able to build enough warehouse inventory fast enough to keep up with demand.

It all comes down to space and time. The race for space is all about augmenting storage capacity, increasing labor productivity and speeding throughput.

As our industry faces the pressures of omni-channel commerce, including exponential increases in the number of SKUs handled and percentage of item-level picking required, DCs and warehouses are busier than ever.

How do you know how much warehouse space you really need? Are you sure you’re optimizing the warehouse space you already have? Can you adapt existing space or equipment to maximize utilization and efficiency? Can you add space by expanding up or out? Should you lease additional supplemental space? Or should you start planning for new construction that’s designed to anticipate future needs? How would this new expansion affect your picker’s travel time and pick rates?

Building a new facility is expensive. Expanding an existing one is time-consuming and costly. A warehouse that is too crammed with products is inefficient.

The answer is that instead of worrying about finding a new warehouse location, you could try to optimize your existing warehouse space using UNEX Span-Track. Span-Track is designed to eliminate dead zones in the warehouse – empty pallet rack space – by maximizing space utilization within existing pallet rack.

Using Span-Track, you utilize the entirety of your pallet rack depth by loading SKUs behind the facings. Instead of lining a shelf with one SKU, you can load all those SKUs behind each other and let them flow forward to your order pickers, allowing more SKUs in less space. This will help maximize space utilization while reducing travel time and distance between picks.

Other things you can do include:

• Store packing materials in above-door racks to free up floor space in the dock area
• Add a mezzanine, which creates an elevated storage platform for additional storage and the floor space below is fully accessible for additional storage
• Optimize pick faces by storing similar SKUs in the same pallet rack so workers don’t have to search for products
• Speed picking with tilted storage units that follow the FIFO methodology

When a new facility is not in your budget and there is no room for expansion, using Span-Track can improve space utilization by up to 20 to 50%. Using the existing space in your warehouse more efficiently can speed throughput, while keeping costs low.

Contact UNEX Pickologists today to find space within your existing warehouse. After all, bigger isn’t always better.

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source http://www.unex.com/warehouse-space-when-bigger-isnt-always-better/

A Mother’s Day Supply Chain

This weekend is Mother’s Day, a world-wide tradition of honoring mothers on the second Sunday of May with flowers, cards and other gifts.

Here are some Mother’s Day statistics of interest:

• Total number of moms in the U.S.: 85.4 million
• Total amount of money spent on Mother’s Day Cards annually: $671 million
• Total amount of money that will be spent for mothers on Mother’s Day: $20.7 billion
• Total amount of money spent on flowers for their mothers on Mother’s Day: $1.9 billion
• The average amount American consumers will spend on mom for Mother’s Day: $168.94
• Percent of Mother’s Day gifts bought online: 28.5 %

No matter what you get your mother for Mother’s Day, whether it’s a card or flowers or candy, stores have had to gear up their inventory levels to avoid any stock-outs of products. Plus, companies that deliver flowers, or other gifts, have to be ready for the increased number of orders and tight delivery windows.

How do retailers know how much inventory to carry or how much inventory to store in safety stock? Using historical data, retailers can uncover peak demands and better understand seasonality. The goal is to have the right amount of inventory at the right location at the right time so that you don’t have any left over or excess inventory that you will need to put on sale.

The next big problem with seasonality is the need for storage space in the warehouse, or storefront, where you will fulfill orders from. Renting more warehouse space can be expensive – especially when you can use products like UNEX Span-Track to consolidate SKUs and reduce storage space by up to 20%.

UNEX will work with you to evaluate your current storage capabilities and uncover ways to improve space utilization, freeing up valuable space to store seasonal products. Using our carton flow solutions, you will use your available space as efficiently as possible.

UNEX is a one-stop shop for all your order picking and storage needs, offering solutions that maximize space for optimal storage. Our Pickologists will help you get better organized so you can keep up with seasonal demand.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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source http://www.unex.com/mothers-day-supply-chain

Order Picking Solutions: Mix & Match to Improve Customer Service

Order picking is one of the main processes within a warehouse – and the most labor intensive. Most warehouses use a variety of order picking solutions within their operation, including carton flow, static storage, and pallet flow. As order picking is one of the most costly activities for a warehouse, supply chain managers today are focusing on improving these processes and lowering costs, while improving customer service levels.

Choosing the best order picking solutions for you depends on any number of requirements such as cost, complexity, ​the number of customer orders, size and number of items, etc. Every business has its own unique requirements and a mixture of order picking solutions may be the best way to fulfill orders.

For example, carton flow racks have a high order picking rate of up to 150 picks an hour, but combined with a pick-to-light system that uses lights to show workers what items and how many to pick, you can increase pick rates by three-fold. UNEX Span-Track has over 30 different end-treatments for Span-Track, allowing you to add a pick-to-light bar or an end-treatment that can integrate labels so that pickers can easily distinguish locations and make the right pick every time if using pick-to-voice. UNEX flow racks allow warehouses to store a mix of fast-moving and slow-moving items in the same rack – allowing pickers to quickly pick a variety of items from the same area.

UNEX provides a variety of end styles for Span-Track, like our “pushback” track that sits on top of step beams with stops on the front and rear, making it ideal for applications where product is loaded and picked from the front. High profile ends sit on rack beams and can overhang the structure, allowing tracks to extend past obstructions. High profile knuckle overhangs the structure with an angled front end for increased efficiency. Low profile knuckle track has an optional angled front end for increased efficiency in each picking applications. These solutions are available in both roller and wheel formats, and can speed flow, improve FIFO storage, and allow multi-sized products to be positioned within the same shelf level.

For picking from pallets, UNEX Pallet Tracks allow you to pick from one side as gravity flows the second pallet forward, eliminating the need to travel and speeding the order picking process. This is a great option for really fast-moving SKUs, and provides a more efficient and ergonomic pick than a typical static pallet position.

Regardless of your warehouse environment, UNEX has the order picking solutions for your business. Contact our Pickologists today to customize the best system for your facility!

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source http://www.unex.com/order-picking-solutions-mix-match

Promat 2017: What We Learned

Promat 2017 has come and gone. Over 40,000 people attended with over 900 exhibitors showcasing new technologies. We got a chance to listen to some of the keynotes, visit other exhibitors and attend several interesting educational sessions. Here is what we learned:

Day 1 Keynote: Session on sustainable solutions lead by author Andrew Winston, with other executives discussing how to build a sustainable supply chain and use it for competitive advantage.

Day 2 Keynote: Given by Markus Lorenz, partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group on Smart Machines said, “The new breed of intelligent machines that are core to Industry 4.0 will eliminate waste in supply chains and enable new business models, but industry also needs to think about how smart machines will disrupt jobs.” Industry 4.0 is the next industrial evolution that merges the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart, connected devices, allowing businesses to weight containers as they are loaded or manage maintenance by knowing when the next machinery service is due.

Day 3 Keynote: NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson told the crowd that it is more important to over-deliver to customers than to create business strategies, which are also important. But, he said it is more important to always think of your customers first, which will lead to customer loyalty. He also stressed that every business should routinely evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

UNEX’s prototype guardrail for Span-Track wheel bed

We showcased new order picking products and prototypes in our Promat booth, including:

• Our new Flow Cell “cantilever cart,” featuring cantilever beams and handlebar. This cart is designed to make transporting awkward, bulky material through your facility fast and easy- without the need for a fork truck or other powered solutions.
• A newly re-designed Pick-Plank prototype. This solution sits in a wire deck position in pallet rack and allows order pickers to slide the rear of the device forward easily. This helps pickers improve the ergonomics of their picks, keeps the needed product at the point of pick, and helps to maximize storage density.
• A new guardrail prototype for Span-Track wheel bed. This guardrail drops and locks right on to the hex hub wheels, allowing users to create dedicated lanes while retaining the flexibility Span-Track wheel beds provide.
• A prototype AGV cart. This solution utilizes our modular Flow Cell structures for automated transport with a tunneling AGV. This solution brings dynamic storage to facilities where AGVs make their automated rounds, and is designed to handle up to 4,000 pounds of material.

UNEX’s prototype AGV cart

Other things we saw that were of big interest at Promat included:

• Virtual reality, used for training exercises, such as training operators on driving new forklifts.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate the shortest paths for forklifts or other equipment to speed fulfillment rates.
• Visual camera and depth sensor that captures load density, trailer fullness, number of packages, etc. to improve trailer loading quality at the loading dock.
• A “box factory in a box” that makes any size box on demand within 12 seconds.
• Lots of robotic applications, including one with a gripper hand for picking small objects, another that served ice cream cones and another that juggled balls.
• WCS, WMS and WES software updates that add mobility and analytics.

Our very own VP of Operations, Howard McIlvaine, worked the show as a volunteer student guide through a program sponsored by MHEDA and MHI. Howard led a group of students from college, high school, and vocational schools on a guided tour of the show, highlighting the new technologies and trends shaping the supply chain and logistics industries. This was Howard’s second year leading such a group.

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source http://www.unex.com/promat-what-we-learned

UNEX Introduces New Material Handling and Order Picking Solutions at ProMat 2017

UNEX’s Promat Booth S429 to Showcase Innovative Solutions Designed For Improving Efficiencies in the Warehouse

UNEX Manufacturing, Inc., the trusted industry leader in providing innovative order picking solutions, announces the company will be introducing new material handling and order picking solutions in their Booth S429 at ProMat 2017. UNEX will showcase prototypes of their new Pick-Plank for pallet storage and guiderails for Span-Track, along with other carton flow and lineside storage solutions that help companies to maximize space usage, increase pick rates and improve ergonomics at the point of pick.

“To help businesses meet customer demands for ever-faster fulfillment, eliminate out-of-stocks and efficiently manage growing inventories, UNEX offers solutions to speed order picking operations, such as our patented Span-Track that reduces travel time between picks by 85 percent,” said Brian C. Neuwirth, VP Marketing and Sales at UNEX Manufacturing. “From retailers to assembly operations, our innovative solutions are the most durable, reliable and efficient, keeping clients’ processes flowing and profits growing.”

At the UNEX Booth S429, show visitors will see:

• Pick-Plank Prototype – In order to gather feedback from show attendees and gather interest in possible beta sites, UNEX will show their newly designed Pick-Plank solution that eases loading of pallets on storage shelves. The new Pick-Plank rests in a position similar to the wire deck in pallet racks, allowing manual replenishment so that a full pallet does not have to be moved from one position to another via a forklift.
• Span-Track Guiderail Prototype – New guiderails can be added to Span-Track, allowing companies to create a dedicated lane of carton flow on UNEX’s Span-Track universal wheel beds. The new guiderails are made of an aluminum rail that drops onto the Span-Track and locks into place, reducing assembly time and installation. This niche solution is ideal for companies who need the flexibility of the Span-Track wheel beds, but still want the benefits of dedicated lanes offered by the UNEX roller lanes.
• Span-Track helps companies manage their inventory with the FIFO methodology – first in, first out – which ensures products are always fresh and within date limits. Span-Track is available in a variety of options from light to heavy duty capacity and a drop-in design, allowing you to fit any pallet rack type. Multiple-sized products can be positioned within the same shelf space with the new guiderails separating products for easier slotting of items.
• Pixelbility Arcade- UNEX has designed two unique arcade cabinets using Flow Cell structures and accessories. Visit UNEX’s booth and enjoy a round of Pacman, Frogger, and more!

ProMat 2017 takes place in Chicago at McCormick Place on April 3 – 6, 2017 with over 950 exhibitors and 100 educational seminars.

 

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source http://www.unex.com/promat-2017

UNEX Manufacturing Graduates Over 15 Partners from UNEX University

UNEX Manufacturing, Inc., the trusted industry leader in providing innovative order picking solutions, announces that over fifteen distributor partners graduated from an intensive, two-day course called UNEX University. UNEX professionals passed on their knowledge of the material handling industry, the issues and challenges facing businesses in this sector, and how UNEX solutions could help solve these problems with state-of-the-art order picking and conveying systems.

“We value our distributor partners and want to share best practices and industry insights with them to help them grow their business with UNEX solutions,” said Brian C. Neuwirth, VP Marketing and Sales at UNEX Manufacturing. “The two-day agenda covered everything UNEX – describing where UNEX participates in the supply chain ecosystem, introduction to order picking and applications, and technical information on UNEX products. By the end of this training, the partners will be ready to become Masters of Pickology themselves.”

The attending distributors broke off into small groups, led by UNEX outside sales managers, to work their way through a typical carton flow application. This included measuring rack, assessing the product being flowed, designing a carton flow solution to fit the hypothetical customers’ needs, and creating a quotation for the solution. These workshops were designed to help distributors identify opportunities for UNEX solutions and give them the information they need to put together a complete proposal.

“UNEX University is all empowerment,” said Neuwirth. “We would not be the company we are today without the excellent work done by our partners in the past. By providing them with an in-depth education on all things UNEX, we strengthen those existing relationships and better prepare our partners to strike out on their own and find great opportunities to put our solutions to work.”

The technical data portion of the seminar served a similar purpose, and helped distributors understand what measurements and data are most important when discussing UNEX solutions with potential customers. Other workshops on Lean Manufacturing, Assembly and Proving ROI were included. The distributors were also given a presentation on marketing, which taught them how UNEX and these partners can work together to grow their businesses.

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source http://www.unex.com/unex-university