Many companies prefer to maintain known deficient operations than to make changes that involve time, investment, new integrations and, of course, training. They can stay like this for years, even escalating bad practices when they get high demand and need to upgrade the operation. And if we are sure of one thing, it is that the operation always collapses.
Today we want to talk to you about why you cannot afford a poor materials flow, that the only thing that will be blocking your growth and putting your quality guarantee to the limit.
What are the risks of not having optimized the material flow process?
Here we name some of the most frequent risks for having a bad flow of materials. Take out a pencil and paper, write down if your operation has any of them!
- Insecurity for workers. Without a correct flow, the operation becomes a zone of chaos, hindering ergonomics, and consequently, nullifying the safe zones.
- Loss of materials. Not having the correct flow can lead to a greater amount of material loss, since it will be easier for them to be lost in the warehouse, or if they are perishable products, they expire due to not having a correct control.
- Process errors. Having constant errors in the operation will make you lose more productivity, since it entails rework for not finding the correct product and having to look for it in the warehouse.
- Waste of time. This goes hand in hand with the previous one, because having little control, rework or material search must be carried out, so the operator loses time that he could use for another process.
- Uncontrolled inventories. Having a poor flow of materials will be reflected in the inventory, as there will be discrepancies between what the system shows against what is physically available.
How to optimize your material flow?
To optimize the flow of materials and have correct processes, the following is required:
- Real-time data analysis. This will allow you to know in exact time the location of each product within the warehouse and its movement. A robust system will give you the most advanced visibility.
- Automate processes. It will allow you to have a precise control of the flow of materials, and if you integrate a WMS to it, you will be able to have the information in real time, in addition to each process within the warehouse being more productive and efficient.
- Take advantage of time and space. Having an intelligent layout where the production, receipt, picking and storage processes are well identified will help you make the most of each space. You must take into account the type of product and flow of items per unit of time, this will help you determine the handling that the products will have, which is inherent to internal processes.
Once we have these processes identified and applied, we will achieve:
- Control processes.
- Increase productivity.
- Increase quality.
- Standardize processes and procedures.
- Eliminate errors.
At G.I.Eicom we can help you develop a correct flow of materials so that you can respond to the high demands of companies and consumers. Contact us, we can help you develop a project according to your needs.
