Item-specific dunnage

The consolidation center is not used for every item. Indeed, suppliers deliver directly all the items other than those explicitly identifed for the consolidation center. Returnable containers with item-specific dunnage are used for local deliveries on milk runs because (1) they save assembler time and disposal costs, (2) their number caps the amount of parts in circulation, and (3) the trucks that ride back to the supplier plant would otherwise be empty. The economics of returnable containers become less favorable for distant suppliers, whose remote or overseas locations may provide opportunities for return freight. 

Lean producers insistence on reusable containers with item-specific dunnage is puzzling to those who are not used to it, because it appears to be an unnecessary expense. Why not just use pallets and disposable cardboard boxes Single-use containers appear to be cheaper, even after including their disposal cost. Let us explore why it is not so. 

Returnable containers are made of sturdy plastics and contain item-specific dunnage that separates and presents parts to assemblers one by... 

Returnable containers are made of sturdy plashes and contain item-specific dunnage that separates and presents parts to assemblers one by one. The top shelf is slanted in the opposite direchon and used to return emphes. The main reason is that the containers used on the line side present parts to the assemblers, and the lean philosophy is that they must be designed for the assemblers convenience. In prachce, most plant managers view transporters and assemblers as equivalent, when in fact they are not. First, there are ten times more assemblers than transporters. Second, the assemblers are linked together in a chain of balanced operahons leading to shipment of a product. Each assembler is a bottleneck, so that each second added to an assembler job means one second added to the jobs of all the assemblers on the same line. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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