Material flow planning

• Establishment and compilation of a digital data set for material flow planning (logistics master data for all relevant materials, parts, and products, and their requirements for material flow)
• Capturing and specification of the requirements of the areas to be supplied (production, assembly, customisation, order picking, supermarkets, and packaging)
• Development of standardised material flow concepts for individual material groups and work areas according to lean principles
  
  • Direct supply to the workstation (manufacturing cell/assembly/line/packaging station)
  • Supermarkets
  • Sequencing, order-based portioning, and kitting
  • Concepts for supply and presentation of items/parts at workstation (manufacturing cell/assembly/line/packaging station)
• Planning detailed material flow processes at the part number level by combining the logistics master data and the material flow concept for the entire range of parts (Plan for Every Part ‘PFEP’)
• Development of optimised concepts for in-house containers for internal transport and warehouse logistics
• Identification and planning of suitable transport means and handling equipment such as forklift systems, tow trains, floor rollers (E-Frames, U-Frames, T-Frames, and B-Frames), automated forklift and tow train systems, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and storage and presentation equipment
• Creation of material flow diagrams (Sankey diagrams) to visualise and optimise internal material flows
• Determination of the necessary personnel resources for intralogistics material flow using suitable methods such as MTM and REFA
• Review of structural compatibility and optimisation of space requirements, workforce deployment, and technical equipment
• Digital support of the material flow through automated equipment, sensors, and actuators to visualise the material flow via dashboards and support control
• Support in specifying, tendering, selecting, and procuring equipment and devices (tow trains, floor roller systems, racking, handling equipment, and containers)
• Implementation support
• Project management
    

• Elimination of process waste, e.g., non-value-adding handling steps, waiting times, empty runs, and unnecessary transports
• Optimised workforce deployment and better utilisation across the entire internal material flow
• More efficient use of space and increased space efficiency
• Optimised use and higher utilisation of handling, transport, and auxiliary equipment (e.g., forklifts, tow trains, AGVs)
• Early identification and elimination of material flow bottlenecks already in the planning phase, such as overloaded routes, internal traffic flows, congested buffer areas, or overburdened logistics and production preparation areas
• Increased transparency across all intralogistics processes
• Enhanced flexibility of internal material flows

Systematic planning and optimisation of lean material flows in intralogistics enables efficient, waste-free supply of workstations and significantly contributes to reducing direct labour costs while increasing flexibility.
By using standardised, demand-oriented material flow concepts – specifically tailored to material and product groups – you can reduce supply lead times and coordination efforts. At the same time, your internal logistics system is enabled to adapt agilely and flexibly to fluctuating market changes.

Leverage our in-depth expertise and proven best-practice approaches from numerous projects in manufacturing, logistics, and retail. Design your material flows with us to be lean, digital, automated, and future-oriented.