Abstract (short version)
During the last decade, manufacturing companies have gone through a substantial revolution of production processes to keep pace with the dynamics of global economy. The seeking of synchronization between production and logistics has pushed traditional logistic systems for material supply to their limit and lean concepts, based on the in-plant milk run principle, have gained wide acceptance. Adopting these lean material-handling systems, based on the pull principle of the Kanban, encourages companies to reorganize intralogistics processes and design related workflows in a structured and lean oriented way.
However, the successful adoption of these systems builds upon the accuracy of the results of sophisticated planning methods.
The novel planning method, introduced in this thesis work, facilitates the adoption of these systems also in demanding scenarios where processes are intertwined with established procedures and hard constraints, whose change management is long, unwanted and often unsuccessful, paving the way towards the adoption of flexible transport technologies for material supply.
Abstract (long version)
During the last decade, manufacturing companies have gone through a substantial revolution of production processes to keep pace with the dynamics of global economy. The seeking of synchronization between production and logistics has pushed traditional logistic systems for material supply to their limit and lean concepts, based on the in-plant milk run principle, have gained wide acceptance. Adopting these lean material-handling systems, based on the pull principle of the Kanban, encourages companies to reorganize intralogistics processes and design related workflows in a structured and lean oriented way.
However, the successful adoption of these systems builds upon the accuracy of the results of sophisticated planning methods. Current planning methods rely on the core assumption that the system designer could easily influence technical choices. This assumption does not hold true especially in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), where processes are intertwined with established procedures and hard constraints, whose change management is long, unwanted and often unsuccessful. In these realities, available planning methods do not provide the sufficient flexibility required to achieve the desired accuracy, essential not to hinder the adoption project and jeopardize its success.
The aim of this work is to investigate the delicate phase of logistic system planning and, following a structured research approach based on the design science methodology, to improve current planning methods, in order to facilitate the adoption of lean material handling systems for material supply.
After a detailed analysis of the context and the architectural structure, the main project stakeholders and their goals will be identified. A thorough literature review, supported by observational case studies, will lead to the identification of the significant variables and indicators required to specify relevant requirements and determine the research gap. A new, improved method for intralogistics system planning will be designed and validated through empirical validation cycles, carried out both in laboratory and in real world case scenarios.
The improved method proposed will facilitate the adoption of lean material handling systems for material supply and foster the processes digitalization, paving the way towards the adoption of workflow management systems and more complex and flexible transport technologies for material supply.