Purpose: Automated flow line manufacturing systems are becoming more and more relevant in industry, especially in the food and beverage sector. Improving the efficiency of automated flow line manufacturing systems is the core objectives of all companies as measured by the overall equipment...

Purpose: In order-picking activities, the performance of the system can be influenced by different variables such as the order to be fulfilled, the distance to be covered or the experience of operators. Usually, this kind of activity is performed by operators rather than machines to assure...

Purpose: Vertical lift module (VLM) is a parts-to-picker system for order picking of small products, which are stored into two columns of trays served by a lifting crane. A dual-bay VLM order picking (dual-bay VLM-OP) system is a particular solution where the operator works in parallel with the...

Purpose – Logisticians in the worldwide industry are frequently faced with the problem of measuring the total cost of holding inventories with simple and easy-to-use methodologies. The purpose of this paper is to look at the problem, and in particular illustrate the inventory holding cost rate...

Transportation costs are becoming increasingly important in inventory replenishment decisions and, in practice, lot sizing decisions are strongly affected by material handling equipment, transportation flow paths, vehicle capacities and technical constraints. Companies within a global sourcing...

A growing number of manufacturers are adopting the so-called supermarket strategy to supply components to the production system. Supermarkets are decentralized storage areas used as intermediate warehouses for parts required by the production system (typically assembly lines). Such a feeding...

Traditional inventory models involve different decisions that attempt to optimize material lot sizes by minimizing total annual supply chain costs. However, the increasing concern on environmental issues stresses the need to treat inventory management decisions as a whole, by integrating...

Determining the economic lot size has always represented one of the most important issues in production planning. This problem has long attracted the attention of researchers, and several models have been developed to meet requirements at minimum cost. In this paper we explore and discuss the...

This paper describes an innovative and integrated approach to component management optimization within a production/assembly system. In a mixed-models assembly process the handling of parts and components for each work station represents a substantial variable that can greatly affect job...