Using Lean Tools in Warehouse Improvement: A Case Study from Electronics Retail Sector
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 7-16-2024
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of lean tools in the improvement of warehouses in terms of reducing costs and waste in a warehouse. After the determination of waste, specific lean tools were used to reduce waste and improve the performance of the warehouse. To evaluate the warehouse efficiency, value stream mapping, benchmarking, and activity profiling were used. The combination of these three tools facilitates the identification of waste in the warehouse that would have been challenging to identify using only one tool. As a solution to reduce lead time and non-value-added activities in the warehouse, various lean tools including 5S and visual management were implemented. The main critical issue in applying lean is to sustain the work and to sustain the idea of continuous improvement, hence employees’ training was key in improvement. A future state map was conducted after applying lean tools, it was concluded that the lead time has decreased by 25%, and non-value-added activities time was reduced by 33% in various operations such as loading, receiving, storage, inspection, and order picking.
Recommended Citation
Mostafa, N. (2024, July). Using Lean Tools in Warehouse Improvement: A Case Study from Electronics Retail Sector. In 7th European Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Conference, https://doi.org/10.46254/EU07.20240268.
