New Layout for Distribution Center

This thesis is commissioned by F9 Distribution Oy. Aim of the thesis is to design warehouse layout for the distribution center of the company that is capable to store as many goods as possible without reducing speed of processes in production. Safe working environment is also important factor in new layout-design. Thesis offers several ways to expand warehouse layout for the company in the future. New layout-designs were created based on data of types of locations and their fill rate, number of different product codes current and upcoming and their measurements, analysis on safety of working environment and suitability of different warehousing systems for company’s warehouse operations. Furthermore, information about layout planning and warehouse optimization was acquired from various sources. Lean method was used to point out waste in current layout and created layout options. AutoCAD drawing software was used to simulate various layout solutions to find out suitable solutions for the company. Project was completed within time range. Result of the project were expanded warehouse layouts, which utilize automated solutions on warehousing of the company in the future. This included but not limited to changes as more vertical lift systems and specified racking for huge televisions

Improving materials management in electronics manufacturing

The aim of this thesis is to determine how in-plant materials management in electronics manufacturing can be improved and to show how a strategy for improvement can be developed for Celestica Limited's Kidsgrove plant. The literature was reviewed to bring out the current issues and topics of interest in materials management. An industrial analysis, through company visits and case studies, was carried out. A number of "best practices" were identified from the literature and the case studies. The "best practices" identified were prioritisation methods, outsourcing of value added services, shop floor control systems, focused stores, tailored logistics, use of computers, trace ability, use of technology or automation, automatic identification, maintaining data integrity, internet-enabled supply-chain, JIT or hybridised JIT-MRP, Kanban, linking and communication of MPS's, application of technology, kitting and recording actual usage of material. [Continues.

The analysis of Erlanger Hospital’s suture inventory management operations

This paper evaluates the impact of using mechanical engineering and operations management principles to an inventory management system in Erlanger Hospital. Erlanger Hospital is a local, nonprofit hospital system in Chattanooga. Erlanger serves as a tertiary referral hospital and a Level I Trauma Center in the region. Therefore, they are heavily depended on during times of crisis or emergency [2]. This study focuses specifically on reducing the loss and ultimate waste of sutures across Erlanger’s surgery wing. A criteria for the appraisal of using mechanical and manufacturing engineering to improve the current system is established based on existing data regarding the stock of sutures in the surgery wing. The current system is analyzed and evaluated for potential opportunities to reduce the number sutures wasted, thus saving money and time for the hospital. The results of this study are summarized in a white paper for customer use

Lean and quality management integration: improvement program implementation in a service company

Lean Thinking is an important pillar in the success of any program of continuous improvement process. Its tools are useful means in the analysis, control and organization of important data for correct decision making in organizations. This project had as main objective the design of a program of quality improvement in Eurico Ferreira, S.A., based on the evaluation of customer satisfaction and the implementation of 5S. Subsequently, we have selected which business area of the company to address. After the selection, there was an initial diagnostic procedure, identifying the various points of improvement to which some tools of Lean Thinking have been applied, in particular Value Stream Mapping and 5S methodology. With the first, we were able to map the current state of the process in which all stakeholders were represented as well as the flow of materials and information throughout the process. The 5S methodology allowed to act on the wastage, identifying and implementing various process improvements

Two stage Indian food grain supply chain network transportation-allocation model

This paper investigates the food grain supply chain, transportation allocation problem of Indian Public Distribution System (PDS). The different activities of Indian food grain supply chain are procurements, storage, movement, transportation and distribution. We have developed a mixed integer nonlinear programming model (MINLP) to minimize the transportation, inventory and operational cost of shipping food grains from the cluster of procurement centers of producing states to the consuming state warehouses. A recently developed chemical reaction optimization (CRO) algorithm is used for testing the model which gives the superior computational performance compared to other metaheuristics

Impacto de las Herramientas Lean en el consumo de energía

Lean principles are mainly used for increasing productivity, reducing lead time, and eliminating waste. Energy impacts can also be assessed by using the lean principles. The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of Lean Manufacturing tools on energy consumption, with the base assumption that they should help decrease it. The methodology assesses and documents the energy utilization as a part of VSM. A pilot application in an industrial setting is presented.  Los principios de Lean Manufacturing se usan principalmente para mejorar la productividad, reducir el tiempo de entrega y eliminar desperdicios. Los impactos en consumo de energía también se pueden estimar usando principios de Lean. El objetivo de este artículo es el de medir el impacto del uso de herramientas de Lean Manufacturing en el consumo de energía, partiendo del supuesto de que su aplicación debería reducirlo. La metodología evalúa y documenta la utilización de la energía como parte de la elaboración de Mapas de la Cadena de Valor. Finalmente se presenta una aplicación piloto en una empresa industrial

A holistic conceptual model for managing construction logistics in building projects: the case of Iran

Logistics, as a factor that affects the total cost of a product, has attracted attention in many industries. However, construction is behind other industries, such as manufacturing and food, in terms of obtaining value through application of effective logistics management. Some specific characteristics of the construction industry, such as fragmented supply chain, indirect employment, temporary location and matchless products, have prevented organisations utilising logistic management in their projects. In construction, logistics is about the mobilisation of different types of resources to feed the project with the required materials and components at the right time, in the right place, right quantity and right quality. To do so, a new approach to construction logistics should be undertaken that respects the special characteristics of this industry. This research aims to develop a conceptual model based on the current practice of construction logistics in building projects. This model, in addition to complying with the special characteristics of the construction industry, is also adapted to the economic, cultural, technological and environmental specifications of the building sector in Iran. The complexity mindset is adopted in this research which allows considering a construction logistics system as a whole and the system may assert an aggregate behaviour. This approach is called holism and investigates the performance of complex adaptive systems. The study is focused on the Iranian construction industry as the main source of data collection. To achieve the aim and objectives of the research, a literature review was followed by qualitative and quantitative data collection. This research adopted the complementarity approach that uses qualitative and quantitative strategies in a way that complement each other. In the qualitative phase, twenty four open-ended interviews were conducted with construction practitioners who work in the building sector in Iran. Gathered data was analysed using NVivo. This involves codifying the textual data to find themes, categories and relationships. The results of the first phase were rich and exploratory and explained opinions, norms and attitudes. Based on the results of the first phase, a questionnaire with ten sections was designed to investigate different aspects of construction logistics from wider perspectives by conducting a survey on a large sample. The data gathered from the second phase were analysed in a descriptive manner to provide statistical information about the present practice of construction logistics in the Iranian building sector. The final product of this research is a holistic conceptual model that has four subsystems: (a) environmental factors (b) operational factors, (c) commercial factors, and (d) managerial factors. Each subsystem has several agents that are different functions of logistics in a building project. The environmental factors include project size and location, peak working seasons, resource conservation and weather conditions. The operational factors discuss technological matters, construction methods, new materials, waste and transportation. The commercial factors encompass the supply chain, finance, economic conditions, material costs, estimation, supplier selection, packaging, purchasing, inspection, and material quality. The managerial factors cover material management, warehousing, material handling, information management, scheduling, delivery, organisation, personnel, knowledge, culture and site layout designing. All of these functions are integrated under the topic of construction logistics model. The model also illustrates the relationships among agents of the system. The developed model, in addition to technical factors, has paid attention to soft factors such as culture, economy and knowledge. The model is adaptable to changing environments and elements may be added or deleted from the system whenever required

Usability of Real Time Data for Cold Chain Monitoring Systems

One in every nine people on earth do not have enough food to lead a healthy life, according to The World Food Programme. That\u27s nearly 800 million people. In addition to that, billions of tons of perishable food products are wasted during transportation and logistics before it reaches the end consumers as thousands of people die every day due to hunger related causes. Perishable foods, medicine and other goods impose severe challenges on inventory management. Businesses debate on whether to keep limited stock just to meet demand and fear losing additional customers or keep excess stock and face the risk of expiry of goods. Unlike the transportation of other goods, perishable food products and medicines undergo tremendous degradation in quality as a function of environmental conditions over time. Perishable food products are usually stored in frozen and refrigerated condition at the distribution centers, supermarkets and during the transit in order to preserve the quality of food and extend the shelf life. Even though, temperature controlled supply chain in the food retail sector has become commonplace, there is one major limitation of the current practice in the chilled food chain management. The printed \u27sell-by-date\u27 is not a true indicator of the quality of the product as it does not reflect the temperature variations during distribution at the different stages of the food supply chain. The food quality is severely compromised when actual environmental conditions deviate from the expected conditions. This research proposes the use of real-time sensor data to support supply chain decisions and describe a model for gauging and improving usability on the real-time sensor data. Data reported through the wireless sensor networks could help in predicting the shelf-life of perishable food products and preventing them from spoilage. Use of sensor data would encourage data driven decision making rather than intuition. The findings would encourage businesses operating in the cold chain environment in exploring value added innovation opportunities through internet of things use cases and improve the usability experience and competitiveness of their supply chains via warehouse workers and truck drivers

Modular Crates – A Holistic Design Approach for Optimizing Cube Size in Industrial Packaging

Global market is a field where all industries strive to provide personalized product for every customer demand in order to compete with their competitors in the business battlefield. Product personalization varies with customer to customer which increases the product variety. When the product size variability is vast, producing packages for every individual product is not only difficult but also increases the design time, production time, total manufacturing cost and inventory cost. For the present scenario, Industrial packages does not opt customizability for variable product sizes. Customized package for personalized product is achievable only by redesigning the existing distribution package with modularity and adaptability functions which helps to reduce space wastage on logistical distribution and warehousing ultimately leading to proper cube utilization. In this paper, by analyzing the production feasibility and manufacturing strategy, new innovative re-engineered industrial package designs with customizability functions are developed and are evaluated by introducing a matrix called Collaborative Design Performance (CDP) Matrix. From the matrix and order penetration point (OPP) analysis, it is evident that the re-engineered designs adopt process commonality and postponement in an effective way