South
American Food Manufacturer Increases Throughput
The
following case study does not include company names or locations to protect
the anonymity of our clients. For further information, please contact KOM
International.
Client / Industry
The
South American division of a multinational manufacturer and distributor of
food products.
Scope of KOM International's Mandate
The
client was experiencing high growth rates and needed to increase overall distribution
capacity to handle increased throughput volumes. KOM International designed
and implemented an expansion to the firm's finished goods storage facilities
for their Vegetable Oil and Oil Seed processing plant.
Critical Issues
New
storage space required to handle increased storage and throughput
Objectives
- Expand
facility layout and reduce warehouse expenses to enable business growth
KOM International's Recommendations
- Relocation
of the production area to a lower space that would provide improved flow
from raw materials to production
-
Introduction of pallets to facilitate handling and to reduce transportation
costs
-
Automatic palletizers at the end of production lines
-
Reuse of the existing racking in a more efficient layout configuration
-
Construction of a new dock level with truck heights to enable the use of
pallet jacks for the loading/unloading process thereby eliminating manual
procedures.
-
Drive-in racks for the storage of fast moving products and single/double-deep
racks for slow moving products
-
Site planning - reoriented building on their existing site.
Benefits
- By
increasing existing space and storage equipment, throughput capacity was
increased by 41% from 2,900 to 4,100 pallets/day
-
An increase of 80% in warehouse labor productivity due to improved operating
procedures
-
By reusing existing racks, no additional capital expenditure in racks was
necessary
-
By replacing 2 lift trucks with 2 pallet jacks, a capital savings in equipment
was achieved, as well as a reduction in maintenance costs
