Tag Archives: Material Flow

Why Are Job Shops Always Such a Chaotic Mess? Part 2

May 26, 2020Material FlowJob Shop, Material FlowChristoph Roser

Ford Piston Shop 1917 — Ford piston shop 1917

Job shops are a mess. Period. The increased and uneven levels of inventory cause a host of other problems. In my last post I described how these inventory imbalances are caused by irregular material flow, how subsequent safety buffers increase inventory even more, and how this causes staff to change their workplace irregularly in a job shop. In this post I will continue the long list of ills in a job shop with staff changeover losses, extra searching and organizing, fluctuating lead times, and general un-plannability of job shops. Continue reading Why Are Job Shops Always Such a Chaotic Mess? Part 2 →

Why Are Job Shops Always Such a Chaotic Mess? Part 1

May 19, 2020Material FlowJob Shop, Material FlowChristoph Roser

Job shops have a strong tendency toward chaos. Even well managed plants struggle to maintain order in a job shop. This is due to the inherent nature of a job shop, and there are no good solutions to manage job shops. The only good way to improve a job shop is to turn it into a flow shop. I will talk more about such changes later in this short series, but first let me explain why job shops are always a mess. Continue reading Why Are Job Shops Always Such a Chaotic Mess? Part 1 →

When NOT to Pull!

April 21, 2020PullInformation Flow, Material Flow, PullChristoph Roser

Pull production is a highly useful tool in manufacturing, logistics, services, and other industries. However, there are instances where pull may be not the best option. These instances are rare, but they do exist. In this blog post I will list different cases when pull may not be the best option. Continue reading When NOT to Pull! →

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 →

Storage Strategies – Stacking Options

February 11, 2020InventoryMaterial FlowChristoph Roser

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 →