JIT and Supply Chain Risks Need To Be Mitigated Try Carousels & Vertical Lift Modules

The financial cry for improved performance can be found throughout the supply chain these days. For every risk there is a reward or cost. No one would argue that organizations have to identify, weigh and implement the best solutions.

The real question is can you implement smaller solutions to equal the reward with little or less risk? Utilizing simple automation in manufacturing and distribution can be a far greater and less riskier solution.

By simple automation I am referring to horizontal carousels, VLMs (Vertical Lift Modules) and Vertical Carousels integrated with pick to light systems and software… the low hanging fruit.

The applications run wide including: simple order picking, consolidation, spare parts handling, parts buffering, work in progress, MRO and many more.

These systems can be implemented in zones, areas or departments to reduce facility impact. They can be implemented in a very reasonable amount of time and sometimes in as little as over a weekend.

These systems save up to 85% of otherwise wasted floor space and can reduce labor by as much as 2/3 while improving accuracy levels to 99.99%. Factor this in with ROIs which can be reached in nine to 18 months… it doesn’t take Lean Professional to see we are talking about low hanging fruit.

So when accessing whether the next JIT or elongated supply chain “saver” is a great idea, factor in redundancy to keep your operations running and then look at simple automation. Dollars to doughnuts the financial gains you are looking for are staring at you in your facility.