What does your perfect day look like?

Trailers arriving on time, all staff present, engaged and ready to work, all parcels/packages correctly sorted and packed on the waiting HGVs and out of your yard, in one smooth synchronised movement.

That WOULD be a perfect day at work, but that almost never happens.

From traffic jams to drivers over-estimating the time required, to temp staff not showing up, to equipment failure, there are a thousand and one things that could go wrong on every shift.

Having said this, your perfect day IS attainable, just not at once. Constant continuous improvement, the LEAN approach, will get you there. The core LEAN principle is about eliminating waste, in a bid to achieve faster production and lead times. Waste in this sense encompasses, inventory, defects, overproduction, waiting, transportation, motion, and processing.

Identifying where the waste occurs is the first step to getting LEAN.

A value stream map (basically a flow chart) of your processes can help pinpoint sections where inefficiencies occur leading to waste. Once the value stream map is completed, it is used as the improvement plan; constantly referring back to it will show you how far along the process you’ve gone.

While you can’t control factors like traffic on the motorway, optimising your premises to get the work done ASAP is achievable. One way is to take a leaf from the Just-In-Time model and ensure that you have the right amount of staff at the time they are needed.

Different companies have unique strategies of staying lean. The following are some of our favourites:

• One company uses a direction-based rule: Receive all materials on one side of the building, and ship from the other side. This in-one-end, out-the-other rule resulted in finished products dropped off on the receiving end, unnecessarily moved by workers through the facility, and delivered to the shipping side. To make the process more efficient, the company changed its rules so finished products were delivered on the outbound side of the facility.

• Another company classified items used in production and packaging as: Runners, Repeaters and Strangers, based on how often they are used in the manufacturing process. Depending on their frequency of use, their storage locations were changed to allow easy access.

• Another firm simply changed the path that pickers took through the warehouse. This boosted productivity by over 30%. Relating the path of workers on the shop floor to a plate of spaghetti, managers at this facility were able to see just how unnecessarily convoluted the paths were. Plotting a more efficient route involved engaging the workers; by timing them and showing them the data and suggested improvements, there was greater employee buy-in and general process improvement.

Other LEAN warehousing solutions involve ensuring space is used as efficiently as possible. At one event, managers asked workers if they used certain equipment stored in a particular section. They found that some of them hadn’t been touched in years. By reorganising workbenches and shelving, the company created an extra 2,000 square feet, that could be used for more valuable tasks.

Having implemented LEAN, sustaining it involves carrying out monthly evaluations. The evaluations are part of a LEAN method called 5S:

• Sort: Involves removing all materials that are not required for the current operation.

• Straighten: Promotes clear labelling of items so that they are readily accessible.

• Shine: Encourages staff to keep a clean and tidy work area.

• Standardise: Define the normal working protocols of the warehouse.

• Sustain: Ensure that the implemented improvements are continually carried out.

On the surface, LEAN initiatives involve reduction in a bid to save time and resources; but ultimately to facilitate company growth. Monarch Shelving Limited supply shelving, workbenches, pallet racking, trolleys, trucks; all the equipment needed to keep your warehouse LEAN and functional.

Call us today for the best prices on new and refurbished equipment of high standards.