EOQ Slide Rule June 30, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Uncategorized , add a commentOnly engineers and scientists born before say 1956 will appreciate the beauty of this Economic Order Quantity Slide Rule.
More Kanban Calculations May 22, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Definitions, Lean, Lean Sigma , add a comment
First listed various formulations of calculating kanban quantities in July 2006. Here are a few more …
Entropy and the death of peaceful order May 20, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Lean, Lean Sigma , 2comments
Had dinner last night with Richard Zuber, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Honeywell. He was a student of mine some years ago at AlliedSignal before the Honeywell merger. Richard posed a question as to why so many organizations that have mastered demand smoothing and flow eventually revert back to month end madness, chaos and noise. He’s seen good applications of heijunka and demand segmentation fail. Why?
Logistics Network Modeling May 19, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Logistics, Supply Chain , add a comment
New trade agreements, shifting customer and supplier locations, changing labor and freight rates, fuel costs, new products and markets all conspire to make your current logistic network obsolete. Gone are the days when a warehouse distribution network would be reconfigured every ten years or so. Today aggressive supply chain executives keep a constant eye on the architecture.
Before you can optimize you need to get organized and think about all of the variable that contribute to your costs and service levels. A supply chain logistics model allows network design to minimize inventory carrying, warehousing, transportation costs while meeting customer lead time and on time requirements. Have too many warehouses? Where to open a new distribution center to serve an emerging market? Distribution Center lease coming up for renewal? Long transit time from low cost country sources worth the carrying and distribution costs?
You need data, a modeling tool, and a plan. Six Steps*
Slotting – Cubic Velocity Calculation April 12, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Definitions, Logistics , add a comment
Cubic velocity calculation is used for storage equipment selection. The formula consisting of the average quantity ordered, the product’s dimensions, the desired pick location, the number of days on hand, and the pick unit of measure (full case or piece).
Multiply the average quantity ordered by the product’s cubic dimension to calculate the cubic velocity per day.
Then, to define the equipment location size required, multiply the days-on-hand inventory target by the cubic velocity per day.
Based on the resulting cubic velocity needed to support the days on hand in the picking area, you can identify the equipment required. Equipment types include modular drawers, bin shelving, standard shelving, carton flow racks, decked racks, pallet racks, and pallet flow racks, floor stack, etc. Once you match the cubic velocity with the equipment type, you can organize the equipment within the layout in zones for efficient picking.
Slotting defined April 7, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Consulting, Definitions, Logistics, Supply Chain , add a comment
In warehouses, distribution centers, or even stores the placement of each item can be a science, sometimes it’s an art, often it just is what it is. Stuff goes wherever it will fit, entropy kicks in and randomness takes over. Then before you know it there’s little rhyme or reason as to which items go where.
Product Slotting is defined as finding the optimal location of product in a warehouse or distribution center for the purpose of improving material handling efficiency. Sometimes called inventory slotting, profiling, or warehouse optimization slotting identifies the most efficient placement for each item. Product slotting depends on a variety of factors such as picking volume and frequency, receiving and put-away volume and frequency, package dimensions and weight, picked package size, storage package size, material handling equipment used, layout of the facility, labor rates, etc.
Inventory Reduction – Now Selling – 20 Ideas April 6, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Consulting, Lean, Logistics, Quality, Reviews, Supply Chain , add a comment 
- Cut the package size, customers may want less right now.
- Increase the package size, customers will take what they can get.
- Have a 2 for 1 sale.
- Bundle a slow mover with something else.
- Change the safety stock service level from 98% (or where ever you have it) to 95%.
- Reduce the number of A items.
- 2%10 net 60.
- Double up your cycle counting.
- Start and Inventory Reduction process if you don’t already have one, retool the one you do have.
- Encourage more vendor consignment stock.
- Add some technology and reduce transaction delays.
- Find closer suppliers.
- In-source some of your suppliers.
- Switch from make-to-stock to make-to-order, or finish-to-order.
- Move inventory and material control to your production people.
- Blow up the warehouse and move parts to point-of-use.
- Switch to 3rd party logistics. Have a 3PL but don’t see the benefit, the fire them and get a new one.
- Create a logistics function; consolidate and leverage.
- Forward Cycle Count – count items needed in the near future, find the stock outs before they bite you.
- Pull a few Kanban out of circulation, wait and see what happens, pull out some more, if it gets ugly put one back.
Lean String Theory March 27, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Lean, Logistics , add a comment
Before the widespread use of computers the location of warehouses, stores, franchises were often settled by using a ’string map’. Pins were stuck in the map at customer’s locations, and string, usually thread or fishing line, looped over them, the weight on the end of each line being proportional to that customer’s deliveries. The ends of the string were knotted together. Where the knot settled was the center of pull (not gravity).
EVOP – Evolutionary Operations March 22, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Definitions, Sigma , 1 comment so far
Evolutionary Operations, first described by George E. P. Box and Norman R. Draper in in their book Evolutionary Operations – A statistical method for process improvement, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1969.
EVOP is Continuous Improvement + Design of Experiments.
Basic idea is to replace the routine operation of a process by continuous and systematic plan of slight adjustments of the control variables. The effects of the adjustments are then evaluated just as with DOE. The process is then shifted in the desired direction of improvement. In many product and service processes it is impossible or very expensive to do DOE, especially where trials can be disruptive or the process owner would let you have the necessary time, materials, labor to run your experiments. So rather than running experimental production runs you use actual production by shifting off the base point left, right, up, down all within "spec".
Cheat Sheet – Material Handling Equipment & Aisle Widths March 12, 2009
Posted by Lawrence Loucka in : Supply Chain , 1 comment so farMaterial Handling Equipment and aisle widths:
|
Type |
Clear Height |
Area to store 1,000 pallets |
Aisle width |
|
Counter-Balanced Truck |
22′ |
10,000 sqft |
144" |
|
Narrow Aisle Reach |
32′ |
6,270 sqft |
90" |
|
Very Narrow Aisle Swing-Reach |
32′ |
5,480 sqft |
66" |
|
VNA Double Deep |
32′ |
5,120 sqft |
66" |
|
Narrow Aisle Deep- Reach |
32′ |
5,120 sqft |
92" |
|
VNA Swing-Reach |
40′ |
3,420 sqft |
66" |
|
VNA High Reach Rail Guided |
65′ |
2,020 sqft |
56" |
