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!
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
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
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
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
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
Storage Strategies – Stacking Options
If you are in production, you have material. You probably have too much, except for the one thing that’s missing. In this blog post I will give an overview of the options for storing material. Hopefully this will give some inspiration. Please note that this is not on how to manage the material, merely on how to store it. This is the start of a small series on how to store material. Continue reading Storage Strategies – Stacking Options
Flexible Manpower Lines 4 – How-To do Flexible Manpower Lines
This is the final post in this series on flexible manpower lines. Since we completed the example line in the last post, I will give you a brief theoretical run-down on how to divide the work among multiple people. I will also show you some easier-to-manage but maybe not-quite-as-efficient alternative options, the bucket brigade and the rabbit chase. Continue reading Flexible Manpower Lines 4 – How-To do Flexible Manpower Lines