Our Process Optimization Team was engaged as a partner and extension to our client’s team to identify process issues and improve material flow of site and entire facility to reduce the headcount, improve material handling efficiencies as well as improve site safety. The team optimized the facility layout to support business growth for the next 5 years with additional production and storage capacity.
PROJECT WINS
Optimized facility layout and flow to increase capacity and meet future sales growth.
Redesigned the internal warehouse to optimize storage space and increase pallet storage capacity by 50%.
Redesigned the 200K+ Sq. Ft. yard to improve storage and material flow, reduce congestion as well as increase safety.
Improved picking and material handling efficiencies.
Identified aged (potentially obsolete) materials.
Worked with the IT system providers to ensure the system supported the new material flow processes.
BOTTOM-LINE RESULTS:
50% improvement on pallet storage
30% improvement on manufacturing capacity
One way traffic flow to improve safety and reduce truck turnaround time
Logistics / Supply Chain Management Company – Redford, MI
OVERVIEW
A Logistics / Supply chain management company had a problem and turned to Design Systems, Inc. for help. They needed assistance with creating an optimized facility that included optimal storage locations based on daily usage and delivery frequencies and also maintain their current manpower counts. They also needed help with determining areas of congestion and seeking opportunities for LEAN processes to increase throughput and minimize operator walk time in the facility.
APPROACH
Our team took a phase based approach that was planned out and agreed upon before arriving onsite. The objective was to create a baseline assessment of current dock and storage capacity levels and verify manpower requirements. Using the data provided by the customer, the DSI team was able to create the baseline requirements and a PFEP to drive the future state improvements for efficiency. Phase two took the findings from phase one and worked with the customer to develop the future state layout that optimized floor space and the business units footprint while increasing throughput without increasing manpower.
Our Process Optimization Team was engaged as a partner and extension to the customer team to identify and improve efficiencies through facility consolidations, manufacturing process and material flow improvements.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Redesigned production layouts to optimize space utilization.
Perform dock analysis to determine optimal receiving dock locations.
Instrumental in centralization of production and consolidation of three facilities.
Incorporated sub-assembly cells for insourced work.
Optimized production using lean principles to increase throughput.
A large Detroit, Michigan based automotive parts supplier was tasked with relocating line side sequencing cells to an offline area in order to reduce the amount of material displayed next to the production line.
After establishing the sequencing cell locations, a fork lift free material delivery plan was to be developed to transport the racks of sequenced parts from the sequencing cells to line side. Design Systems, Inc. developed a facility layout that supports the relocation of the sequencing cells with a dock, material flow, and storage analysis.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Conduct circle of work assessment of new process to understand material flow within the facility.
Perform dock analysis to determine optimal receiving dock locations.
Analyze storage space to identify alternative layouts for racking locations.
Develop block and detailed layouts of the facility including offline sequencing cells, storage, and docks.
Perform labor utilization analysis based on material flow findings.
Make high level organizational structure recommendations.
BOTTOM-LINE RESULTS:
Three layout proposals of the facility with varying forklift methods
10% reduction of operators per shift
$750,000 saved in head count annually
$300,000 saved per year from elimination of different sequencing operations while maintaining or improving efficiency
Improved overall morale and productivity through identification of organizational concerns
Material Flow Engineering is the process of engineering, analyzing, optimizing, and defining the Physical Part Routing for every unique part. We see it as the movement of materials or parts within the manufacturing facility. We can handle the flow of the product or process from dockside to lineside.
Real-World Applications
Plan for Every Part (PFEP)
Visibility into disparate parts data, bringing it together in one place.
Containerization
Tailor package, container, rack design to meet your budget and functionality requirements
Material Delivery
Ensure materials and parts delivered to the worker use the most efficient route and reduce congestion.
Optimize delivery routes
Ensure your facility has the right ‘vehicle’ to transport material from receiving at dockside to placement its final destination.
The DSI Advantage
We work with our clients to determine which of our material flow services are best suited to your facilities needs. We give you the results that are required for your facility. We tailor our real-world applications to your facility.
