Many lean purists believe that all warehouse functions are nothing but pure waste. Unfortunately, efficient and effective logistic operations in the global economy create significant competitive advantages and simply cannot be ignored. The Lean warehouse is necessary and plays a crucial role in the entire supply chain. The use of facilities for inbound material logistics and outbound finished goods distribution are the bridges that connect all the imbalances and lack of flow in the entire stream. Leaders inside the warehouse must be knowledgeable about Lean warehouse techniques. By using lean principles, warehouses will see a remarkable improvement in organization and product flow as well as their ability to meet the demands of customers.

Creating a Lean warehouse is not something you accomplish overnight. It takes vision, planning, strategy, tools and tactics. You need to develop team members into problem solvers and then provide a leadership infrastructure to support their efforts. Identifying and solving problems may seem simple enough, it can prove to be elusive for some leaders.

The results achieved through your Lean warehouse efforts can be powerful. Improved customer fill rates, decreased inventory levels, decreased inventory carrying costs, improved inventory accuracy, increased asset and team member utilization are all benefits of a Lean warehouse. The concept of standardization is a key Lean warehouse principle. Creating standardization of processes is to create tasks are easily repeatable with planned zero waste. The creation of standard work allows your warehouse team to understand processes from the point of view of inputs, procedures, timing and outputs.

The visibility of material flow, inbound logistics, internal warehouse flow, and outbound logistics are crucial to the Lean warehouse. We need to understand the flow of material and support the perfect order, which is the right quantity, at the right place, at the right time in the right quality. The lean concept of visual management allows leaders to understand the score of the operation so they can make decisions in real time that impact the overall flow of material to the customer. This concept is counterintuitive to many warehousing operations. Most warehouse operations simply react to what orders show up at the facility on any given day.

The goal is to create a Lean warehouse, where problems are visible and where we fix problems at the root cause. Accomplishing this will create the Lean warehouse and drive powerful business results.

The post Lean Warehouse – Improving Efficiency In Warehouse Operations appeared first on 6sigma.

Lean concepts are well known in manufacturing, but progressive managers of warehouses and distribution centers are starting to understand what lean can do for them. Warehouses and distribution centers are extensions of manufacturing operations. When leaders understand this principle, then using the same lean principles makes perfect sense in achieving total alignment within an organization.

Check out this informative video on the Lean Warehouse by Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute.

The post [YouTube Video] Learn More About Lean Warehouse Principles appeared first on 6sigma.

Below is a video showing what a Sortation Conveyor or Sortation System can do:

In general, a Sortation Conveyor in a Sortation System accomplishes the following:

• Unit + On-Floor/Overhead
• Sortation conveyors are used for merging, identifying, inducting, and separating products to be conveyed to specific destinations
• Stationary or movable arms that deflect, push, or pull a product to desired destination
• Since they do not come in contact with the conveyor, they can be used with almost any flat surface conveyor
• Usually hydraulically or pneumatically operated, but also can be motor driven
• Simple and low cost
• One or more rows of powered rollers or wheels or chains that pop up above surface of conveyor to lift product and guide it off conveyor at an angle; wheels are lowered when products not required to be diverted
• Only capable of sorting flat-bottomed items
• Pop-up rollers are generally faster than pop-up wheels
• Sliding shoe sorter (a.k.a. moving slat sorter) uses series of diverter slats that slide across the horizontal surface to engage product and guide it off conveyor
• Slats move from side to side as product flows in order to divert the product to either side
• Gentle and gradual handling of products
• Trays or slats provide combined sorting mechanism and product transporter
• Can accommodate elevation changes
• Tilt tray sorters usually designed in continuous loops with a compact layout and recirculation of products not sorted the first time
• Tilt slat sorters carry products on flat-surface slat conveyor and can handle wider variety of products compared to tilt tray
• Either continuous loop, where individual carriages are linked together to form an endless loop, or train style (asynchronous), where a small number of carriers tied together with potential for several trains running track simultaneously
• Each carriage equipped with small belt conveyor, called the cell, that is mounted perpendicular to direction of travel of loop and discharges product at appropriate destination
• Automatically separates single line of products into multiple in-line discharge lines

The post Sortation Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.

Similar to a Chute Conveyor, Wheel Conveyor, Roller Conveyor, and Chain Conveyor, Slat Conveyor, Flat Belt Conveyor, Magnetic Belt Conveyor, Troughed Belt Conveyor, Bucket Conveyor, Vibrating Conveyor, Screw Conveyor, and Pneumatic Conveyor, Vertical Conveyor, Cart-on-Track Conveyor, and Tow Conveyor, a Trolley Conveyor or Overhead Trolley Conveyor is another transport equipment designed to move material efficiently from one location to another.
[contentblock id=30]
Ideally an Overhead Trolley Conveyor is great for,

• Unit + Overhead + No Accumulate
• Uses a series of trolleys supported from or within an overhead track
• Trolleys are equally spaced in a closed loop path and are suspended from a chain
• Carriers are used to carry multiple units of product
• Does not provide for accumulation
• Commonly used in processing, assembly, packaging, and storage operations
• Overhead Trolley Conveyors and Engineering using Trolleys as means of conveying. Includes I-Beam and Drop Forged Chain Conveyors.

The post Trolley Conveyor System appeared first on 6sigma.

• Unit + In-Floor + Accumulate
• Uses towline to provide power to wheeled carriers such as trucks, dollies, or carts that move along the floor
• Used for fixed-path travel of carriers (each of which has variable path capabilities when disengaged from the towline)
• Towline can be located either overhead, flush with the floor, or in the floor
• Selector-pin or pusher-dog arrangements can be used to allow automatic switching (power or spur lines)
• Generally used when long distance and high frequency moves are required

Some of the benefits of a Tow Conveyor include:

• Unattended, clean, Transport
• Large or big batch material movement

Depending on you operation, a Tow Conveyor might be the right solution.

The post Tow Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.

• Unit + In-Floor + Accumulate
• Used to transport carts along a track
• Carts are transported by a rotating tube
• Connected to each cart is a drive wheel that rests on the tube and that is used to vary the speed of the cart (by varying the angle of contact between the drive wheel and the tube)
• Carts are independently controlled
• Accumulation can be achieved by maintaining the drive wheel parallel to the tube

The post Cart on Track Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.

• Unit + On-Floor + No Accumulate
• Used for low-frequency intermittent vertical transfers (cf. vertical chain conveyor can be used for continuous high-frequency vertical transfers
• Carrier used to raise or lower a load to different levels of a facility (e.g., different floors and/or mezzanines)
• Differs from a freight elevator in that it is not designed or certified to carry people
• Can be manually or automatically loaded and/or controlled and can interface with horizontal conveyors
• Utilizes gravity-actuated carrier to lowering loads, where the load overcomes the magnitude of a counterweight
• Can only be used to lower a load
• Alternative to a chute conveyor for vertical “drops” when load is fragile and/or space is limited
• Can be manually or automatically loaded and/or controlled and can interface with horizontal conveyors

Below is a video of a Vertical Conveyor in action:

The post Vertical Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.

• Bulk/Unit + Overhead
• Can be used for both bulk and unit movement of materials
• Air pressure is used to convey materials through a system of vertical and horizontal tubes
• Major advantages are that material is completely enclosed and it is easy to implement turns and vertical moves

There are 2 types of Pneumatic Conveyors: Dilute Phase and Carrier System.

Dilute Phase Pneumatic Conveyor

For liquid material,

• Moves a mixture of air and solid
• Push (positive pressure) systems push material from one entry point to several discharge points
• Pull (negative pressure or vacuum) systems move material from several entry points to one discharge point
• Push-pull systems are combinations with multiple entry and discharge points

Carrier System Pneumatic Conveyor

Carriers are used to transport items or paperwork (e.g., money from drive-in stalls at banks) or at an ATM machine at your local bank.

The post Pneumatic Conveyor Systems appeared first on 6sigma.

Ideally,

• Bulk + On-Floor
• Consists of a tube or U-shaped stationary trough through which a shaft-mounted helix revolves to push loose material forward in a horizontal or inclined direction
• One of the most widely used conveyors in the processing industry
• Many applications in agricultural and chemical processing
• Water screw developed circa 250 BC by Archimedes

The post Screw Conveyor Systems appeared first on 6sigma.

The post Vibrating Conveyor Systems appeared first on 6sigma.

• Bulk + On-Floor
• Used to move bulk materials in a vertical or inclined path
• Buckets are attached to a cable, chain, or belt
• Buckets are automatically unloaded at the end of the conveyor run

Below is a video of a Bucket Conveyor in action:

The post Bucket Conveyor System appeared first on 6sigma.

Troughed Belt Conveyor Examples

Similar to a Chute Conveyor, Wheel Conveyor, Roller Conveyor, and Chain Conveyor, Slat Conveyor, Flat Belt Conveyor, and Magnetic Belt Conveyor, a Troughed Belt Conveyor is another transport equipment designed to move material efficiently from one location to another but has a guard on each side of the conveyor.
[contentblock id=30]
Ideally,

• Bulk + On-Floor
• Used to transport bulk materials
• When loaded, the belt conforms to the shape of the troughed rollers and idlers
• Used in scrap handling and recycling operations. The roller bed with deep troughed construction can carry culled or broken glass, cans, wood chips, aluminum, steel, plastic stampings, etc.

Below is a video of a Troughed Belt Conveyor in use:

The post Troughed Belt Conveyor in Warehousing appeared first on 6sigma.

The post Magnetic Belt Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.

Ideally,

• Unit + On-Floor + No Accumulate
• For transporting light- and medium-weight loads between operations, departments, levels, and buildings
• When an incline or decline is required
• Provides considerable control over the orientation and placement of the load.
• No smooth accumulation, merging, and sorting on the belt
• The belt is roller or slider bed supported; the slider bed is used for small and irregularly shaped items
• In 1957, B.F. Goodrich, Co. patented the Möbius strip for conveying hot or abrasive substances in order to have “both” sides wear equally

Below is a video showing how a Flat Belt Conveyor works:

The post Flat Belt Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.

Ideally,

• Unit + In-/On-Floor + No Accumulate
• Uses discretely spaced slats connected to a chain
• Unit being transported retains its position (like a belt conveyor)
• Orientation and placement of the load is controlled
• Used for heavy loads or loads that might damage a belt
• Bottling and canning plants use flat chain or slat conveyors because of wet conditions, temperature, and cleanliness requirements
• Tilt slat conveyor used for sortation

Below is a video showing an application of a Slat Conveyor:

The post Slat Conveyor appeared first on 6sigma.