Raw materials and WIP are stored in space-efficient
unit load buffers;
operators can pull materials as needed.
System
20 ft. long by 30 in. wide trays of long extrusions and 10 ft. by 4 ft. sheet metal on pallets stored in a unit load buffer.
Side stations present the selected metal to process workstations.
Unused material is returned to the storage pan and pallets.
Inventory is adjusted at the completion of each work order.
WIP can be fed to other departments such as machining
or returned to the use-point manager through a mid-station
to buffer the flow through subsequent operations.
Typically, subsequent operations are performed without WIP having to be re-stored.
An Automatic Guided Vehicle system (AGV)
delivers two different pallet sizes to the requesting department.
Results
Higher productivity; an individual operator can run a cell with several different processes and pull all material as required.
Time and place utility is very high.
Non-value added tasks very small.
Short cycle times support Just-In-Time (JIT) delivery to the next operation and final assembly.
Raw material and buffered in-process work share the same storage system, yet each is individually selectable for processing at a specific workstation.
Minimal inventories.
High inventory accuracy.
Online connection to host system accelerates the reorder process.
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