Kaizen - Bin Carton Flow

Phoenix has been working to make improvements in the flow of order cartons along the primary conveyor line. In early February, a Kaizen event was held to look for opportunities and make improvements. The team had 8 members, including managers, a supervisor, a lead, and front line associates. Everyone made good contributions and the results are proving substantial.

The scope of the event was all zones from the production printer to the rough sort process. This included order printing, induction, flow rack, static bin, check pack, and rough sort. Out of scope was bulk and truck loading. In the past, cartons have been bunching up and stopping the conveyor line in spots. The event objective was to smooth the flow of cartons on the conveyor while maintaining the integrity of our production waves (pitches).

The event ran from Feb 5-8 and the early results are very encouraging. In fact, the first three days after the event demonstrated a productivity gain of nearly 4% versus the previous 10 business days! Such a gain translates to one full time person, and since we are running overtime right now, that full time person earns time and a half! If sustained through the year, such a gain will translate to more than $40,000 in annual savings!