After focusing on the holidays in December and working through the early January rush period, we are back in the saddle and focused on process improvement in Phoenix!
A Continuous Improvement team addressed the issue of creating new Class II items when an item has too much product to fit only in a bin-pick position. Too often, such items were being held for 1-4 days waiting until someone had time to change the status and find a bulk rack position for the product. This was causing inventory discrepancies as orders would be released but no one could find the product.
Several solutions were attempted over the past year, but nothing seemed to make an impact. A team of associates in Phoenix met and divided responsibilities for the process, making some adjustments to the process along the way. Now all Class II items are processed and put away in bin and bulk racks before the next production shift begins. Manual stock-outs have dropped by 40% in the two weeks since. What a wonderful improvement!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, November 30, 2007
Kaizen - Bulk Floor Stack Aisle
Continuous Improvement is alive and well in Phoenix! November 26-29 found a team in Phoenix working on a new Kaizen, an effort to improve processes in the Bulk Floor Stack Aisle of the warehouse. The primary objectives were to improve productivity, reduce mispicked product, and reduce damage to products. Each or these objectives will be measured with a specific before and after metric, to insure the desired improvements are realized.
Savings from this effort are estimated (conservatively) to be $2,400 per year, all coming from productivity improvement. But, savings could actually be much greater if increased associate satisfaction and customer satisfaction is considered. How much gain some from keeping one strong associate that might otherwise have left the organization? What if one customer renews a contract because of good accuracy? The soft savings could roll up to be much, much higher.
A number of LEAN tools were used by the team, including RASIC, 5S, Standard Operating Procedures, and Leader Standard Work. The team created and SOP for both stock putaway and stock selection on the aisle. In addition, Leader Standard Work was created and implimented for both the eceiving and production leads.
The team's biggest fear? Will our hard work be sustained in the weeks and months to come? Since both the receiving and production leads participated on the team, it is really in their hands! Will they train properly? Will they follow their standard work? If so, their hard work will be sustained far into the future!
Savings from this effort are estimated (conservatively) to be $2,400 per year, all coming from productivity improvement. But, savings could actually be much greater if increased associate satisfaction and customer satisfaction is considered. How much gain some from keeping one strong associate that might otherwise have left the organization? What if one customer renews a contract because of good accuracy? The soft savings could roll up to be much, much higher.
A number of LEAN tools were used by the team, including RASIC, 5S, Standard Operating Procedures, and Leader Standard Work. The team created and SOP for both stock putaway and stock selection on the aisle. In addition, Leader Standard Work was created and implimented for both the eceiving and production leads.The team's biggest fear? Will our hard work be sustained in the weeks and months to come? Since both the receiving and production leads participated on the team, it is really in their hands! Will they train properly? Will they follow their standard work? If so, their hard work will be sustained far into the future!
Improving Special Order Process Flow
During the week of November 5-9, a CI Project team in Phoenix worked on the development and installation of some improvements to the processing of special orders. A cross-functional team was assembled to address the issues, including misplaced product, missing paperwork, and searching for the items needed.
The team developed a simple Standard Operating Procedure and implimented it, all in the same week! As a result, special orders are processed in a standard way, everyone knows what to expect, small orders are filled and processed immediately, scheduled orders are filled and staged on a cart waiting for their scheduled delivery day, and large furniture items are filled and staged in a special warehouse area set apart and assigned for those orders.
In three weeks following the event, there has been a significant reduction in the time required to process the orders, no more searching to find the product or the paperwork! Most importantly, there hasn't been a single customer complaint about a late or missing special order! Congratulations on a CI well done!
The team developed a simple Standard Operating Procedure and implimented it, all in the same week! As a result, special orders are processed in a standard way, everyone knows what to expect, small orders are filled and processed immediately, scheduled orders are filled and staged on a cart waiting for their scheduled delivery day, and large furniture items are filled and staged in a special warehouse area set apart and assigned for those orders.
In three weeks following the event, there has been a significant reduction in the time required to process the orders, no more searching to find the product or the paperwork! Most importantly, there hasn't been a single customer complaint about a late or missing special order! Congratulations on a CI well done!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Kaizen - Truck Loading Process
Phoenix conducted their very first Kaizen event in October 2007. The team included eight members, including office, delivery and warehouse associates. The group was guided by our Region Logistics Manager as her "graduation" exercise for her LEAN Champion certification. Her mentor, our corporate Sensei, attended and participated in the event as well.
Our challenges with loading trucks were causing a real "pain point" for both the loading team and delivery drivers. As noted in the "before Kaizen" picture to the left, drivers were having a difficult time with no aisle in the truck, the truck loaded differently every day, labels not facing out, loose cartons stacked where they could fall easily in transit, floor stacked cartons crushed under the truck racks, and general chaos and disorder. It was taking a long time for drivers to leave for deliveries each day so overtime was higher than desired. Cartons were not always on the truck when the driver reached the destination, so extra trips were often necessary.
The Kaizen team met for three days, plus a few training hours just prior to the event. They worked Oct 16-18 from 11:00P-7:30A, a terrible shift to work, but necessary to observe the work being done and to test new processes. They worked well as a team, checking regular titles at the door, and pulled together to make this Kaizen event a complete success! The expected results include reduced loading time, reduced driver overtime, and reduced undelivered cartons for customers. In the early stages following the event, all of these outcomes are being noted!
Since a picture is worth 1000 words, the image on the left is the "after Kaizen" picture of a properly loaded truck. Note how easily one can move through the truck via the clear center aisle. Full pallets are shrink wrapped. Labels are facing out. The Kaizen team created an image-filled SOP, which is posted for reference at every dock door. Standards allow loaders and drivers to know exactly where to load cartons, how to load cartons, and how to handle exceptions to the norm that happen on a regular basis. The dock near the loading doors had 5S applied. A communication white board was installed and standardized for every truck. A leader standard work document was created for the Lead to use during the shift, for preparation, loading, and inspection.
Our challenges with loading trucks were causing a real "pain point" for both the loading team and delivery drivers. As noted in the "before Kaizen" picture to the left, drivers were having a difficult time with no aisle in the truck, the truck loaded differently every day, labels not facing out, loose cartons stacked where they could fall easily in transit, floor stacked cartons crushed under the truck racks, and general chaos and disorder. It was taking a long time for drivers to leave for deliveries each day so overtime was higher than desired. Cartons were not always on the truck when the driver reached the destination, so extra trips were often necessary.The Kaizen team met for three days, plus a few training hours just prior to the event. They worked Oct 16-18 from 11:00P-7:30A, a terrible shift to work, but necessary to observe the work being done and to test new processes. They worked well as a team, checking regular titles at the door, and pulled together to make this Kaizen event a complete success! The expected results include reduced loading time, reduced driver overtime, and reduced undelivered cartons for customers. In the early stages following the event, all of these outcomes are being noted!
Since a picture is worth 1000 words, the image on the left is the "after Kaizen" picture of a properly loaded truck. Note how easily one can move through the truck via the clear center aisle. Full pallets are shrink wrapped. Labels are facing out. The Kaizen team created an image-filled SOP, which is posted for reference at every dock door. Standards allow loaders and drivers to know exactly where to load cartons, how to load cartons, and how to handle exceptions to the norm that happen on a regular basis. The dock near the loading doors had 5S applied. A communication white board was installed and standardized for every truck. A leader standard work document was created for the Lead to use during the shift, for preparation, loading, and inspection.Now the hard part; Sustain! The work has been done for two routes, and it is working beautifully. We are applying the same SOP to all other routes. We expected to have the same results noted for every route in our delivery area! The associates involved with the event felt terrific about their accomplishments and drivers are appreciative of the results. Our customers may not know what we did, but they are receiving the benefit none-the-less. Our first Kaizen event in Phoenix was a wonderful success! Now we need to sustain the success and apply the principle of Kaizen and continuous improvement again and again as we follow the path of our LEAN journey!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Single Point Lesson - Loading Trucks
A new single point lesson has been prepared to outline the proper process to be used in loading a delivery truck from our private fleet. The purpose of this lesson is to load the trucks accurately, making sure all of the correct cartons are on the truck, and the truck is loaded according to our standard work document. This lesson uses pictures and words to define the process. It touches on laydown code review, having the labels visible, the placement of heavy cartons, securing large and odd-sized packages, and including all of the equipment necessary for the driver to make deliveries. As the internal customer, the delivery team will appreciate trucks being loaded to our standard every day. Our external customers will enjoy better sortation accuracy, higher on-time delivery, and less damage.Copies of this single point lesson will be laminated and mounted to the inside wall of each truck, in a place easy to see for any associate loading the truck. A teaching moment will also be provided in a team meeting and copies will be distributed to all associates certified to load private fleet trucks.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Single Point Lesson - Picking
Phoenix has created a new single point lesson aimed at improving the accuracy of our order picking in flow rack and static bin. The lesson uses pictures and words to describe the standard work for order selection. In addition, the lesson describes the correct way to place items into the order carton, improving the quality of carton packing and reducing damage in transit. Customers will appreciate the improved accuracy, quality, and general appearance of the order contents.
Copies of this single point lesson will be laminated and hung within each picking zone in the flow rack and static bin areas of the warehouse. A teaching moment will also be provided in a team meeting and copies will be distributed to all flow and bin order pickers.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Production Carton Kanban
In August, 2007, our facility ran dangerously low on cartons used in order production. In fact, some sizes did run to zero and the production team needed to substitute different sizes to complete their work. That extra effort resulted in waste and lost productivity!
To insure such a problem never happens again, we installed a production carton kanban system to maintain our production carton stock on hand. Using visual controls in the form of an MDI
board prominently displayed in the office, we have raised awareness regarding the status of our production cartons for all associates. The board displays average usage per day, average days on hand, the reorder point, the last five days on hand counts, and any cartons on order from our supplier. Each size is counted daily, which doesn't take long because the pallets are standard. The count quantity is entered onto the board daily. If an on hand quantity is below the reorder point, it is circled and an order is placed with the carton supplier. If something goes wrong, such as a count being missed or we forget to place a new order when running low, it is obvious to anyone looking at the MDI board and can quickly and easily be corrected.
Setting the reorder point properly, allowing for production time and safety stock needs, coupled with daily counts, insures we will never again run short on our mission critical production cartons!
To insure such a problem never happens again, we installed a production carton kanban system to maintain our production carton stock on hand. Using visual controls in the form of an MDI
Setting the reorder point properly, allowing for production time and safety stock needs, coupled with daily counts, insures we will never again run short on our mission critical production cartons!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
