Fictional Movie on US-Japan Automotive Culture Clash – Gung Ho

April 7, 2020Peopleculture, Management, PsychologyChristoph Roser

Recently I watched a few feature-length movies about automotive plants America. The first one is Gung Ho, a fictional comedy from 1986 featuring Michael Keaton. The movie shows a Japanese car maker purchasing a closed-down plant in the USA, and lots of cultural clashes that threaten to close down the plant again. While not Academy Award-worthy, it offers insights into the cultural differences between Japanese and US Industry, although often exaggerated on both sides for comical effect. Continue reading Fictional Movie on US-Japan Automotive Culture Clash – Gung Ho →

The Amazon Robotics Family: Kiva, Pegasus, Xanthus, and more…

March 31, 2020Industry 4.0amazonChristoph Roser

You surely know this little orange robot at Amazon commonly known as Kiva, which powers many Amazon Fulfillment Centers. Turns out, there are more robots in use at Amazon, some for similar tasks, some for something completely different. In this post I would like to give you an overview of all the robots at Amazon (that I know of). There’s at least six different robots in action. Continue reading The Amazon Robotics Family: Kiva, Pegasus, Xanthus, and more… →

Amazon Kiva Storage Strategies

March 24, 2020LogisticamazonChristoph Roser

Amazon uses a pretty neat and nifty way to store its materials using robots. These are commonly known as Kivas, although Kiva is only the name of the company that originally invented them. Amazon calls them Amazon Robotics. In this post I will look in detail at both the design of their storage pods and how Kivas manage their inventory. Continue reading Amazon Kiva Storage Strategies →

Where Is All the Toilet Paper? Don’t Worry, It Is coming!

March 17, 2020NoRepostNoRepostChristoph Roser

If you have been shopping lately, you may have noticed that due to the Corona virus crisis, your store is running short on some items like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, pasta, and other consumables with a longer shelf life. Even my next-door supermarket has been hit by the panic buying.

Since my semester just got postponed by four weeks for the same reason, I have lots of time to write and would like to dig deeper into the situation of the toilet-paper supply chain. Continue reading Where Is All the Toilet Paper? Don’t Worry, It Is coming! →

Storage Strategies – Mixed Systems and Review

March 10, 2020InventoryMaterial Flow, StorageChristoph Roser

In my last two posts I showed you fixed location storage and its disadvantages, random chaotic, and ABC storage. But there is more. Another option is some sort of combination of fixed location, random chaotic, and ABC storage. Let’s look at some of the variants.

Continue reading Storage Strategies – Mixed Systems and Review →

Storage Strategies – Random Chaotic and ABC

March 3, 2020InventoryMaterial Flow, StorageChristoph Roser

In my last post I looked at the disadvantages of fixed location storage. Usually much better is random chaotic storage. This is, for example, the preferred method of Amazon. This approach makes best use of the available space and generates less mistakes. When Amazon started using this, they reportedly were able to store twice as many items in the same space as as before. Continue reading Storage Strategies – Random Chaotic and ABC →

Storage Strategies – Fixed Location

February 25, 2020InventoryMaterial Flow, StorageChristoph Roser

In my last post I looked at different ways to store material. This post is a continuation, looking at where to put materials. I want to give an overview of the different options to help you choose one that is suitable for your situation. This first post looks at storage with fixed locations, and why this is usually not so hot. Continue reading Storage Strategies – Fixed Location →

Storage Strategies – Even More Stacking Options

February 18, 2020InventoryMaterial Flow, StorageChristoph Roser

There are even more storage options. Continuing from my last post, I will show you some more options to store your material. This post is with much thanks to Juan Carlos Viela for the detailed suggestions! Continue reading Storage Strategies – Even More Stacking Options →