material flow analysis
material flow analysis
A prerequisite for transport systems to be planned and implemented in a manufacturing plant is to know what actual transport capacity is currently needed and will be needed in the long run.
The transport of work in progress is seldom a matter of going from A to B moreover it is a complex system of production stations that are visited during the production process.
To get a good overview of the transportation capacity needed it is recommended to create a matrix, in which all products that need transport and the distance these components have to be transported, are accounted for.
Not only can the requirements be identified, the transport matrix is also a great tool to verify the current layout of a production plant. Ultimately the complete flow of material can be optimised.
The material flow is identified schematically:
- defining the product spectrum to be analysed,
- defining the transport unit,
- defining time unit,
- illustrating the material flow,
- conclusion.
Analogue to the material flow the distance matrix is created. Here the distance of all stops during a production process is accounted for.
The combination of these diagrams show the needed transport capacity.
