Movement waste, or motion waste as it is sometimes called, is a non value added step that in most cases can be avoided with just a little analyses and some creative thinking. Most of us spend more time then we realize trying to battle this monster. It's the reason we keep our car keys by the door, or our spices by our stoves. Placing items we use on a regular basis in locations where they are most easily accessible helps to keep us stay as efficient as we can in our homes and in our workplace. The same principles must apply in the warehouse. It's no secret that on average a clerk will spend 60 to 70 percent of his or her day simply walking the warehouse floor performing various tasks. Unless you have the room in your budget to invest in a system of convoys or robots to bring products to the packing or shipping stations, this will remain a fact, for now anyway. But we can take a hard look at where we are locating our inventory. As professional warehouse mangers we must keep a watchful eye on current trends in our inventory. But that is only half the battle. I'm not just talking about putting your "A" inventory closest to the shipping station, I'm talking about hunting down movement waste in all processes concerning the warehouse.
Take a look at your clerks work station for example. Watch them work. Do you notice they are turning around several times a day to grab packing material? Is there room just above their heads to store this material with the addition of a shelf?
I once had a left handed clerk. His automated tape machine was on his right side. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 times a day, he had to reach across his body to push the buttons and grab the tape as it was dispensed. The tape machine was bolted to the packing station and looked like it had been there for the past 100 years. After watching him work for 30 seconds I asked him if he would like to move that machine to his more dominate side. He let out a big sigh and said that would be wonderful. Just imagine how much more enjoyable his job was from just that simple elimination of movement waste.
If your not sure how to find movement waste start by doing some time trials. The first step is to observe. Map out a possibly problematic process and see how it looks physically mapped out on a white board or something of the sort. Highlight any potential areas where waste may be accruing. Next, get out on the floor and watch the process in real time. Record how long it takes to complete your current process on at least ten different occasions at to establish a baseline. Gather intelligence. Talk to your clerks who are preforming the process and get their prospective. Remember it may look good on paper but your clerks can give you real life feedback so be pragmatic about reducing movement waste.
Now that you have identified where the movement waste is coming from have a brainstorming meeting with your team about how to eliminate or reduce some of that unwanted waste. Use your team, you don't have to do this all on your own. Their input is invaluable and important but remember, above all, to be creative when seeking improvements.
If new or additional equipment seems to the solution, be sure and do a cost analysis to prove that any new purchases will result in a positive ROI. (Return On Investment) Trust me, if you do the leg work on this it will be a much easier sell to the operations manager.
Your solution could be as easy a just moving some things around. Just because you inherit a process from a predecessor, that doesn't always make it the right process. Happy hunting!
Like what you read? Find my past blog post here:
http://thepallet-jack.blogspot.com/
Feedback is always welcomed!
My name is Matt Austin. I am a Professional Warehouse Manager. I greatly enjoy all areas of warehouse process improvement, and sharing ideas. Please feel free to contact me with any warehouse situations you may be experiencing for some outside perspective. Thank you for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment