Logistics for the future - with optimal internal material flow

A properly planned material flow can help a company in many ways by reducing costs, increasing profit and optimizing production.

Internal material flow refers to the movement of goods and raw materials between different departments and workstations in a company. Effective planning of internal material flow is critical to smooth production and supply chains.

The most fundamental strategies include:

• FIFO (First In First Out): This method allows the company to process products on a first in first out basis. This means that the oldest products or materials are processed first out of the warehouse. The advantage of this strategy is that it requires minimal inventory in the warehouse while ensuring that all products remain fresh.
• JIT (Just-In-Time): This method is very similar to FIFO. However, the main difference is that processing always starts immediately after a new product or material is delivered to the warehouse. This way, there is no need to incur additional inventory costs and there are no delays in processing items.
• Kanban: This method is very popular among companies with high volumes of items or products. It is based on a system of visual signal boards that help monitor inventory at any point in the company and place new orders in a timely manner.
• Pull-System: This strategy is based on a system of control points throughout the process of internal material flow. At these points, analyses are performed to determine whether replenishment is needed. This can ensure that there is always enough raw material and that there are no unnecessary inventory costs.

Each of these methods have their advantages and disadvantages and can be applied depending on the situation. However, there are other options for in-house material flow that need to be explored to find out which solution is best for your business. To figure this out you need to consider several factors: the type of material or goods; the number of products already produced; space requirements; cost efficiency; and, of course, the time frame for the execution of the project.

To optimize the internal material flow in your plant, you first need to answer some basic questions: Where is each workstation located? Which workstations are connected to each other? On which routes do the goods need to travel? What resources (such as employees or equipment) are required at each workstation? You can then use this information to design your layout so that material flow and operations are as efficient as possible.

Here are some tips:

• Place key workstations near each other. This reduces travel time and makes it easier for departments to work together.

• Avoid unnecessary movement of goods and raw materials. This saves time and resources.

• Incorporate technological solutions to further improve material flow. For example, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or barcodes can be used to track the location of goods in the warehouse or on the shop floor.

Effective material flow is critical for smooth manufacturing and high productivity standards. Therefore, it is important that companies carefully plan their material flow to avoid bottlenecks and delays. Our ipolog software supports you in optimizing the material flow and intralogistics in your company!

Bundling internal transports efficiently and thus guaranteeing high-frequency supply at optimal capacity utilization - this is the main focus and goal of our ipolog software.

The software offers a worldwide unique advantage in the planning of logistics. ipolog enables a holistic model of production logistics in relation to assembly and achieves collaborative planning across departmental boundaries.

The internal material flow is of great importance to a company, as it reveals weak points, significantly reduces costs and increases productivity. It also enables resources to be better utilized, thus increasing the quality of the end product. In addition, a good internal material flow can increase the flexibility of the company and also meet customer requirements.