While implementing our warehouse management solutions in several Slovenian companies, Oria specialists have encountered different implementation for supply of work places in the manufacturing, including a classic kanban approach, that in our opinion do not generate optimal results. The main observed drawbacks of existing implementations are:

• Untimely deliveries of materials and parts to work places; workers often wait for materials to arrive; there are delays and congestions in the manufacturing process;
• Buffer stock areas within manufacturing premises occupy valuable place for machines, transport routes or manipulations;
• It is impossible to control supply efficiency, since there are no records or data about time and quantity adequacy of inter-phase stock replenishment;
• Response times of maintenance and other teams required to service work places are long; often there is no response at all.

To overcome the drawbacks of existing solutions and a classic paper card based kanban approach, Oria has developed its own electronic kanban solution called e-klic.
E-klic upgrades functions of the classic paper card based kanban by control options and statistics of supply efficiency. It also provides generation of so called “special” calls for maintenance, cleaning or garbage disposal. The number of “special” calls is customizable.

Short presentation

e-klic operates as a stand-alone product that by scanning bar codes (i.e. status, action and/or item bar code) triggers requests for supply of materials or services to a certain work place within one manufacturing group. Captured data are sent to e-klic server that checks the requests and sends the notification to the appropriate employee that is responsible to supply materials or services to a given work place. The supply employees are equipped with wireless terminals that show data about requested materials or services (e.g. ID, quantity and location within the manufacturing warehouse for material or parts). e-klic can also send service requests (e.g. machine maintenance, malfunction type from the malfunction catalog, disposal of waste raw materials, takeover of semi-products). When e-klic is integrated with WMS, it can issue requests for supply from other locations too (e.g. high-rack warehouses, semi-products warehouses, dislocated warehouses). All captured data are transmitted via Intranet or Internet to WMS that creates the appropriate document or request and sends it to the employee responsible for a given process (e.g. warehouse worker, forklift driver, automated high-rack warehouse). Built-in security mechanisms and parameters enable optimal execution of procedures. Special attention has been paid to error prevention (e.g. scanning of wrong bar codes) since data capturing is performed by special hand-held scanners that confirm capture with acoustic and visual notification.

HW requirements

E-klic hardware has been selected with maximal rationality. Since e-klic solution is made of reliable and cost efficient elements, it provides cost efficient implementation for a large number of work places. Workers in the production line need to be equipped only with hand-held CCD bar code scanners; while more expensive hand-held terminals are required only for workers that supply materials or provide services to work places. The communication between work places and Web-based part of e-klic system is carried out over RF network made of several access points. e-klic itself runs on the central server.




The scheme of the system




Benefits

• Increase of productivity for 30%.
• 100% reliable supply of manufacturing lines.
• Reduction of buffer stock for 60%.
• Reduction of internal transport costs for 50%.
• Increase of internal transport productivity for 70%.
• Increase of added value per m2 of manufacturing/storage surface for 30%