A Logistics manager is always looking to save time and gain in efficiency. Indeed, you are often compared to ‘Mister Busy’ Often busy, you always have a thousand things to do. You would like Logistics to operate as you do: At 100 miles an hour and without crashing! Unfortunately, things don’t always work out that way. So to improve team performance, you have decided to invest in a visual management solution. To convince management of the benefits of such a solution, you need to demonstrate its return on investment (ROI).
Visual management: A ROI centred on management.
Just like your production colleagues, you need to manage manual production lines, mobile equipment (forklifts and trucks), automated machinery, and manage operator teams. And all the while monitoring and managing activity, anticipating advance or late production, responding to Andon alarms (loading bay drivers, accident response …) and managing your teams. Difficult to be in two places at once!
Visual management allows you to follow (predefined) indicators in real time: Production rate, stoppages, support requests, changes in throughput … you get an overview of business activity which allows you to allocate resources and prioritise actions. Displaying indicators makes them accessible to your operators; you also get visibility of (production) activity and problems encountered. And visual management provides incident reports that could help you demonstrate the gains in time to senior management.
Logistics: The reality of returns on investment (ROI) in visual management
And how does it work in practice? We have encountered several examples of visual management used in Logistics. One of our customers, who supplies construction materials, implemented visual management to manage preparation and transport of deliveries. Several screens were installed at strategic locations: One outside each loading bay which displays lorry and loading bay numbers. Thus, lorries badge in on entering the site and immediately know which loading bay to go to. Inside, colleagues are equipped with a screen showing the latest information about lorries and goods deliveries. Then, forklift drivers are allocated to a lorry and loading bay based on management instructions. All information is available at a glance: Allocating and prioritising resources are made easier because the team is self-managing. The result is a gain in productivity and time savings!
Another of our customers, a major transport and logistics company, equipped its Toulouse site with tablets so that its operators could enter data about goods received, goods in preparation for delivery, those checked and entered into stock. Thus all information is updated and displayed on a centralised screen in real time, allowing all supply chain actors to anticipate potential delays and adjust their work rates. Operators are also equipped with the Andon system which allows them to alert the system quickly and be more reactive in the face of problems (anomalies, defects). The impact of such incidents on the company is thus reduced.
Prioritising and allocating tasks thus have a direct impact on overall company performance. Visual management allows logistics managers to allocate their resources better and is therefore a real operational asset. Operators are more autonomous and better able to manage their responsibilities. If you would also like to set up your digital visual management tool, do not hesitate to contact us.
