Mathematical Model to Design a Reliable Flow of Materials using Supermarkets

To Sustain production in a mixed model manufacturing environment, techniques such as lean manufacturing, Zone Based Manufacturing are implemented to increase the efficiency of the system. Along with improving the assembly line processes, it is necessary to design a reliable logistics of materials within the facility to support the production process and gain maximum productivity. The high product mix causes variation in the demand of materials and disruptions in material flow which has an effect in the overall productivity of a manufacturing facility. To reduce the disruptions, it is necessary to store the materials as close as possible to the assembly lines. The current study elicits a framework to design a reliable material feeding system using supermarket warehouses which complements the zone base manufacturing technique to achieve a standardize flow of materials within the facility. A mathematical model with optimization approach is used to determine the key decisions such as location and number of supermarkets, safety inventory and the flow of materials within the facility. To validate the mathematical model, this study is carried out at manufacturing facility and comparison of the results of the current material flow and the output from the model are provided.