What is In-Plant Logistics?
In-plant logistics covers movements of raw materials, components and sub-assemblies – either from/to stocking points to /from line-sides, within the manufacturing plant for turning them into finished goods, as well as managing finished products after they come out of the production line. Our In-plant services include a range of activities within our customers’ facilities-receipt, in-plant warehousing, line-side feeding, painting, packing and dispatch.
ProConnect Integrated Logistics has been actively involved in sub-assemblies as well as managing finished Goods after they come out of the production line. Another service of the division is overtaking company-owned assets and operating them in optimal ways thus increasing utilization, reducing costs and improving processes.
3 important factors of In-Plant Logistics:
- Infrastructure – In the context of in-plant logistics, infrastructure refers to the physical facilities, such as the plant, and the layout. Usually, a fair amount of attention is paid to the physical building at the time of plant start-up, as it constitutes the single largest one-time cost to the company. Unfortunately, activities such as layout and material flow planning are typically initiated only after the building is complete.
- Organization – The way in which the plant is organized can, and does, have a significant impact on the material flow. The trend is toward smaller, decentralized plants. The ordering of material and the responsibility of ensuring that the assembly of that product is done in a timely fashion would be with that individual sub-plant. There would still be some centralized functions such as finance, product design, marketing, etc.
- System – The ‘system’ refers to the storage and handling systems that are used. The equipment required needs to be based on the needs of the activity. A few words of caution are in order with regard to equipment. But where required, sophisticated technologies from Warehouse Management Systems, ERP barcoding and RF technology has been used successfully to provide almost 100 per cent accurate data on inventory, manpower and order location. The value of these systems cannot be undermined.
In-plant Logistics processes includes:
- Production outsourcing
- Design of storage and handling solution
- Storage and distribution
- Packing
- Container management
- Returnable asset management
- Transportation management
- Scheduling and dispatch
ProConnect’s expert team undertakes the entire in-plant operations with the right infrastructure. Click here to know more.
– D. Sampath