By Reducing Management Losses, We Raised Shipments 27%

Starting Point: A Site Without a Common Standard

High performance in logistics operations is not achieved simply with more vehicles or people. Material picking, loading, site traffic and daily management must be organized correctly within the same system.

Daily operations at the facility were not managed with common standards. Untidy site conditions, unbalanced workloads and waiting in vehicle traffic slowed down the shipment process. The main problems were:

• Unclear management: Shop floor management roles and daily operating standards were missing; operational problems were addressed late.
• Unbalanced workload: Work distribution in material picking and loading was unbalanced, with non-value-adding movement and waiting.
• Disorderly traffic and space: Vehicle traffic inside the facility moved irregularly, vehicles waited before loading, and order and visual management were lacking in work areas.

Approach: Shop Floor Management, Workload and Vehicle Traffic Together

The core need was not to use more resources, but to make the existing site organization more orderly and efficient. The work addressed shop floor management, operating standards, workload and vehicle traffic together:

• The shop floor management organization was restructured; management roles and operational responsibilities were clarified.
• 5S was implemented across the facility and working standards were defined for daily operations.
• Material picking and loading activities were analyzed and employee workloads were rebalanced.
• Non-value-adding movement and waiting were reduced.
• Vehicle waiting and loading traffic inside the facility was reorganized.
• A management discipline was established that allows daily performance to be tracked on the shop floor.

Result: The Transformation Scorecard

At the end of the twelve-month transformation, daily shipment volume rose 27%; employees’ value-adding working time increased, workloads were balanced and vehicle traffic became more orderly. The project’s payback period was four months.

If you face vehicle waiting, unbalanced workloads or slow picking and loading operations at your facility, let us assess the improvement opportunities together.