DEVELOPING A WAREHOUSE OPERATING SYSTEM FOR A PLASTIC PACKAGING MANUFACTURER

Abstract

This thesis develops a warehouse operating system for a plastic packaging manufacturer. The warehouse of focus stores raw materials and work-in-process. The study emphasises on designing inventory policy and warehouse management concerning layout, slotting and supporting tools. The design intends to promote effective inventory control and ease of warehouse operating procedure. The inventory control design involves determination of inventory policy which is capable to best satisfy demand for production and comply with supply condition. The lot-for-lot policy is, thus, introduced to the case study. The policy focuses on just-enough order quantity and timely arrival of raw materials. The adoption of policy is presented in two cases; one with expected emergency order from customers and the other with certain order and no emergency case. In terms of warehouse management, layout and slotting are redesigned to provide increased accessibility of items and, therefore, warehousing efficiency. The redesigned slotting provides enough space for each item which is slot with reference to its frequency of movement. The design also enables first in first out warehouse system and safety of storage. Furthermore, supporting tools are implemented in the case study aimed at better worker satisfaction. The inventory policy evaluation is based on performance of inventory control considering stock-outs and value of holding inventory. The warehouse management evaluation is also conducted using Pallets x metre as an indicator of accessibility. The results indicate that the proposed inventory policy leads to an absence of stock-outs and a reduction of holding inventory by 52.19%. The accessibility of items in the warehouse is also improved by 34.80%.