Andel on Handling: The system you can't live without
Tom Andel, Editor in Chief -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/1/2009
For a magazine like Modern, manufacturers have always made great copy. But in the economic times we're living in now, these stories are even more compelling. The Big Three and bailouts aside, most manufacturers have to rely on their wits, not only to stay competitive, but to survive.
This issue of Modern features the stories of two manufacturers, each of which have combined materials handling strategies with amped-up customer service capabilities to succeed in business. Both are global and specialize in aftermarket parts.
Our cover subject, Mazak Corporation, a maker of machine tools, ships 1,000 aftermarket parts orders a day, and most are same-day. Our Modern Thinker, Don Weidendorf, on page 50 is manager of information systems and warehouse operations for Interstate McBee, which sells to diesel engine distributors and repair shops.
Where these two companies differ is as interesting as what they have in common. For Mazak, the creative mix of automated materials handling solutions was key to achieving service levels. For Interstate McBee, it was the creative selection and use of space.
Mazak equipped a 45,000 square feet portion of its 500,000 square foot plant with vertical lift modules, pallet storage serviced by an automatic stacker crane, and pick-to-light technology, doubling its current service capabilities and positioning itself for the business upturn it anticipates.
Interstate McBee's 18,000 part numbers go through a number of different manual handling processes to prepare for customer delivery. Some go out as discrete parts, others are assembled into kits. Kitting is a fairly new service offering for Interstate McBee, but today kits go into 40% of the company's finished items. Kits require more labor and more careful storage. That's why the company relies on racks and zone picking—rather than automation—to meet its service goals.
"If we had vertical storage systems, we would have to look at a new WMS," Don Weidendorf told me. "I spent a year of my life on nothing but this [relocation] project. For us to go to another WMS or ERP would take another year or two of my life. In the meantime, the business has to operate."
But just by moving from the constraints of their old building to a more spacious one that was a steel plant in its previous life, and going from discrete order picking to zone picking, Interstate McBee was able to meet its customers' service requirements without applying new automation.
For Mazak, on the other hand, automation not only increased its storage density, but it helped make operators significantly more productive. Now five workers do the work that nine used to handle. They went from 111 to 200 orders per day per person. And same-day shipments improved from 95% to 97.5%.
Yes, automated materials handling can save a company that has the right business case—and the discipline to apply it. But the same can be said of a properly engineered manual system. Discipline is defined as a system of rules governing conduct or activity. That's the only materials handling system anyone needs.
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