The Automation Project Ends at Go Live. That Is the Problem.
Go-live day gets the champagne and the case study. The research shows the real test, and the real risk to people and performance, starts the day after.
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Same System, Two Countries: What I Learned Harmonizing Two Warehouses Across a Border
What does it actually take to replicate a working warehouse operation across a border? This is the story of harmonizing two distribution centers in Sweden and Denmark, and why the hardest part had nothing to do with technology.
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How the pace of change has transformed organizations
In six years, the number of major changes the average employee experiences at work quintupled. History tells us this acceleration did not happen overnight and it shows no signs of stopping. Think back to 2016. Your organization may have gone through one or two significant changes that year perhaps a restructuring, a new IT system, […]
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Lean and good leadership an unbeatable combination in warehouse production
Discussions on Leadership and Lean I have had several interesting discussions both on LinkedIn and via email from blog readers concerning my articles on leadership and lean. Below are some clarifications on how I think about these topics. Why You Should Implement Lean I have received comments where people believe that lean is unnecessary and […]
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It is time to clean away Taylorism mentality in warehouse production
Knowledge is an extremely important competitive advantage in all kinds of business. However, many companies make the big mistake of concentrating knowledge and competence on a few people at the top of the organization. This is unfortunately very common in organizations within warehouse logistics. For example, companies build up the warehouse in a number of […]
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Keep your warehouse flow as simple as possible (KISS)
U.S. Navy created in the sixties KISS “Keep It Simple, Stupid” a design principle. The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore, simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. The KISS principle of course also applies warehouse logistics, regardless of whether […]
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Big data for analytics and prediction in warehouse production.
In order to increase efficiency and/ quality, you need to analyze the current workflow and working methods. For that, you must be able to collect and work with clear and reliable data. This is one of the reasons I propagate for an established WMS. The analytic tools is definitely features to look at when investing […]
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Stop micromanaging the warehouse
As I have written in previous articles, a warehouse requires good leadership to be successful. In particular, if the warehouse largely is manual. A manual warehouse is not like a manufacturing line where the pace is set from the line. In a warehouse, the management team set the pace and do the follow up often […]
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Lean thinking, why do many warehouses fail with the implementation of lean?
I am surprised not more warehouses implements lean in their organizations. It has been proven many times how effective it is. If you not are familiar but want to know more about lean, I recommend you to read, ”Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation” James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones. […]
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How to avoid sub-optimization in warehouse production
There are many ways to increase efficiency in warehouse and getting the most of your resources. What many companies forget is avoiding sub-optimization in the whole warehouse, instead they focus on each department individually. A good option is floating job positions. The management can for example make weekly schedules where employees have new workstations on […]
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