material flow
Material flow is an essential part of logistics and covers the entire value chain from the extraction of raw materials through processing and processing to the distribution of products to end users. This also includes processes that affect the transport, storage, residence and testing of products. Processes within a company fall into the area of internal material flow. The transport of materials and goods can be carried out using various means such as pallet trucks , forklifts, storage and retrieval machines or conveyor systems.
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Difference between logistics and material flow
Although logistics and material flow have similar areas of responsibility, there are crucial differences. While logistics deals with the planning, management and control of material and information flows both inside and outside a company, material flow deals specifically with technical, economic and organizational transport. The system elements of material flow include control technology, information flow means and conveyor technology .
material flow analysis
Optimizing the material flow in a company requires a thorough material flow analysis. This involves recording transport processes, procedures and storage in order to identify weak points in the material flow. On this basis, suitable measures can be taken to eliminate deficiencies. A well-founded analysis also enables cost savings.
Steps in Material Flow Analysis
- formulate goals
- Define system boundaries and interfaces within the material flow
- Define expected results, metrics and representations
- create a database
- Examine the system on site and carry out an inventory
- evaluate data
- Document results and present them graphically (e.g. using a Sankey diagram)
- present results
The material flow analysis records the current state of the material flow between suppliers and customers and identifies optimization potential for reducing lead times and reducing unnecessary inventory. The analysis provides companies with important insights into transport and storage as well as identifying weak points, which can ultimately lead to significant cost savings.
Further aspects of material flow
Material flow is crucial for manufacturing companies because it forms the basis for the manufacture of products. The efficient movement of material between the various steps of the value chain is crucial for the company's success. A material flow analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the processes and procedures in the material flow, which is of great importance for optimization. Definitions of material flow from various sources consistently emphasize that it represents the chaining of processes. This process extends from the extraction of raw materials through processing and processing to the finished product and includes delivery to the end consumer.
Difference between internal and external material flow
The material flow can basically be divided into an internal and an external material flow, which has an impact on the material flow analysis and planning. The external material flow is often handled by logistics service providers in conjunction with other customer orders, while the internal material flow is the company's own responsibility.
Material flow – waste or necessity?
In the original Lean Production theory according to Taiichi Ohno, a distinction is made between seven types of waste. These types (transport, inventory, motion, waiting, over-production, over-engineering and defects) can be easily remembered using the acronym TIMWOOD.
The 7 Types of Waste (Muda)
Two types of waste alone, transport and motion, depend very much on the layout design, and the type of waste transport relates directly to the material flow. Since several processes are carried out at different workstations in a factory, transport is definitely necessary. Whether it is necessary to the extent depends on the layout design. Material flows often go right through production, and the parts travel countless kilometers from the start of processing to the finished product. By redesigning the layout, the material flows can be optimized very well and the transport effort can be reduced by around 10-30%. So it is not a question of whether it is waste or necessity, but rather: "How can I design the material flow to avoid waste?"
How is the material flow recorded?
Recording material flows is actually very simple, but in practice it is often a major challenge. In theory, every company has defined the processes via its ERP system and the corresponding work plans and knows from where to where the materials, parts or products have to be transported. The means of transport and transport batch sizes are also stored via corresponding logistics modules. However, if you then look at the actual transport processes, you often find that the planned processes usually do not match the actual processes.
The increasing use of forklift control systems and driverless transport systems can of course largely close this gap. But what about all the other processes that are often carried out on an event-related basis?
data collection procedure
These processes should be carried out step by step :
- For an initial recording of the material flows, a mapping based on the processes planned in the ERP system or using the existing work plans is sufficient.
- If information is still missing or the values are not plausible, this can be clarified by manually recording the data or by interviewing employees.
- If you want to know exactly, there are now indoor tracking systems that record the paths of pallets or forklifts.
The first two steps are usually sufficient for planning the processes and layouts.
Important information for recording material flows
- Specifying the source and sink for the material flow (turning -> milling)
- Indication of the number of transports per time (14,200 transports per year)
- Indication of the means of transport ( forklift )
- Number of transport aids per transport (one pallet per transport)
- Number of parts per transport aid (100 parts per pallet)
If only the information on the source and sink is available, this is referred to as a qualitative recording of the material flows. If the other information is recorded in the same way, the material flows can also be quantified. In this case, this is also referred to as transport batches.
Methods for representing material flow
When it comes to representing material flows, there are different options depending on the objective:
- Process graph: The simplest option is to depict the material flow in a process graph. This is very easy and quick, but can also be quite complex. It is advantageous to divide the material flows into products or production areas. However, since this type of representation is a formal model, it is difficult to establish a connection to the actual layout.
- Transport matrix: Even more abstract, but easy to process in terms of data technology, is the representation of the material flow in a transport matrix. In this, all transports between the respective sources and sinks are added together, recorded and mapped. It is almost impossible to show a connection to the layout in this way, but this type of representation of material flows offers an ideal basis for optimizing transports using appropriate methods and algorithms.
- Flowchart: A flowchart is a graphical representation of the flow of materials and can provide detailed information about the process steps, storage locations and transport routes. It is particularly useful for visualizing the flow of materials within a plant or facility.
- Sankey Diagram: A Sankey diagram is a special type of flowchart that shows the flow of materials or energy in a system. It allows for easy visualization of the losses and energy consumption in a material flow process.
