Internal logistics restructuring to a production growth: a case study

Abstract

For companies to remain competitive in the current market, they need to find ways to reduce as much as possible their operational costs. To achieve this, one area that is often the focus of improvement is internal logistics. This paper is focused on the restructuring of the internal logistics process in a case study company that has plans for doubling its production levels within a year. To do so, a new production supermarket and a milk run routing plan will be designed with lean concepts in mind. What makes this research different from most existing literature is the use of carts as a way of storing parts in the supermarket, instead of the common shelves. The strategy developed is able to reduce the number of workers required and is estimated to bring up to 145 000 euros in profit, depending on the future kitting time, considering a production growth of 100%.