Autor: Michael Kelterborn

In order to meet the demands of a more flexible supply of small lot sizes, many companies use in-plant milk-run systems. Despite the increasing distribution of milk-runs, a standard has not been established yet and the planning is often carried out without a suitable methodology. Therefore, a methodology was developed that supports the integrated design of the technology, the process and the controlling of an in-plant milk-run system as well as an integrated evaluation of alternatives.

In the automotive industry, picking areas - so called supermarkets - are used to supply the production with material. By supplying the material in small quantities and with high frequency supermarkets are an important enabler of just in time production. A new method is presented, which allows a quantitative evaluation of order processing time and physical workload. Using the method, design alternatives as well as existing supermarkets can be assessed quantitatively at a favorable cost-benefit ratio.