Distribution Center material flow control: A line balancing approach

Abstract

Distribution Center (DC) operations entail several steps and processes to deliver the product/service to the customer. With processes that entail several steps, it is expected that flow issues will arise. One of the most troubling issues in DCs is the material flow balance, especially in DCs with semi-automated facilities. In such facilities, there is so much reliance on the machines to do the work more efficiently. However, if we do not understand the logic of the machines and the flow, the process become inefficient and we create more bottlenecks and unbalanced production flow between input and output. The objective of this paper is to highlight the DC flow issues in semi-automated flow. More specifically, the paper focuses on the issue of running daily production/material flow based on the number of available people and not the output number required per day. We applied the line balancing approach as one of the lean manufacturing strategies in managing flow. We developed a line balance tool to help practitioners control the production flow more efficiently.