Introduction

Material handling can be defined as: art and science of conveying, elevating,
positioning, transporting, packaging and storing of materials Starting from the time, the
raw material (such as fibres for spinning unit or yarns for weaving/ knitting unit and
fabrics for processing or garmenting units) enters the mill gate and goes out of the mill
gate in the form of finished products; it is handled at all stages within mill boundaries
such as within and between raw material stores, various section of production
department, machine to machine and finished product stores. A material may be
handled even 50 times or more before it changes to finished product. It has been
estimated that average material handling cost is roughly 10-30% of the total
production cost depending upon product to process. By saving in the material handling
cost, the cost of production can be reduced considerably.
Material handling involves the movement of materials, manually or mechanically in
batches or one item at a time within the plant. The movement may be horizontal,
vertical or the combination of these two.
Material movement adds to the cost but not to the product value. The ideal mill would
have an absolute minimum of materials handling and more use of mechanical material
handling equipments. The shortage of labour and increasing wages cost demand the
most efficient use of labour. Proper material handling offers benefits for:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.

improving productivity
increasing the handling capacity
reducing man-power
increasing the speed of material movement
reducing materials wastage
promoting easier and cleaner handling
eliminating idle time of machines, equipment and workers
reduce fatigue incurred by the workers
increasing safety and minimising accidents
locate and stock material better and in less space
minimising production cost, etc.

Principles of Material Handling

In general, principles of material handling are as under:

i.

Minimize the movements involved in a production process.

ii.

Minimize the distance moved by adopting shortest routes.

iii.

In order to speed up the material movements, employ mechanical aids in place of manual
labour.

iv.

For moving optimum number of pieces in one unit; use the principles of containerization,
unit load or palletization.

v.

Appropriate, standard, efficient, effective, flexible, safe and proper sized material
handling equipments should be selected.

vi.

In order to minimize back tracking and duplicate handling; change in sequence of

production operations.

vii.

If possible, utilize gravity for assisting material movements wherever possible.

viii.

To reduce damage to the materials during handling and economize material handling
process; design trolleys, packages, containers and drums etc.

ix.

Handling equipments are so arranged that these should minimize distances moved by
products and at the same time handling equipments should not interfere with other
machine or operation.

x.

To avoid any interruption in handling; material handling equipments should periodically

be checked, repaired and maintained.

Functions of Material Handling Section

There are basically two functions of material handling section:
1. To select production machinery and assist in plant layout so as to eliminate as far as possible the
need of material handling. For examples: in a spinning mills chute feed cards, open end spinning
machine, auto-doffing ring frames and autoconer etc. reduce the material handling activities hence
material handling cost.
2. To choose most appropriate material handling equipment which is safe and can fulfill material
handling requirements at the minimum possible overall cost. For example: Air conveyor pipes in
within the blow-room and between blow-room and cards, big size plastic container trolley for
handling ring frame bobbins, cones and fabrics in a textile mill.

Selection of Material Handling Equipments

There are two most important aspects for analyzing or solving a material handling problem:
engineering aspect, and economic aspect.

Engineering aspect

Engineering factors include: the condition of existing building and plant layout, production
processes and equipments, nature of materials and products to be handled, usefulness and
effectiveness of existing material handling equipment.

Economic aspect.

The economic factors include the cost of material handling equipment, operating costs, repair and
maintenance costs and taxes etc.
The choice of particular equipment depends upon specific requirements or the condition of an
industry. For selection of Material handling equipment, the following factors should be taken into
account:
i)
ii)

iii)

Type/shape of materials to be transported: The size of material, its shape, weight,

delicacy and its chances of getting damaged during handling etc. should be considered.
Mill building and layout: The route of material movement, width of doors and aisles,
inequality in floor levels, height of the ceiling, strength of floor and walls, columns and
pillars etc. to a great extent influence the choice of a material handling equipments.
Machine production: Different machines have different outputs per unit time. The
material handling equipment should be able to handle the maximum output.
2

iv)

v)

vi)

Type of material flow pattern: A horizontal flow pattern will need trucks, overheads
bridge cranes, conveyors etc, whereas a vertical flow pattern will require elevators,
conveyors, pipes etc.
Types of production: The selection of the material handling equipment depends a great
extent on type of production such as: mass production and batch production. Conveyors
are more suitable for mass production on fixed routes and powered trucks for batch
production.
Other factors: Some other factors also considered during selection of material handling
cost are: cost of material handling equipment, handling costs, life of the equipment and
amount of care and maintenance required for the equipment.

Material Handling Equipments

A wide range of material handling equipments is available in the market; which are suitable to the
most of the industrial requirements. Material handling equipments are classed as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Industrial trucks: manual and powered

Cranes: overhead bridge crane, jib crane and gantry crane
Hoists: chain type manual, electrical and pneumatic,
Conveyors: belt conveyors, roller conveyor, drag conveyor, bucket conveyor, pipe line
(pneumatic) conveyor, chain or cable conveyor
Monorail
Slides and chutes
Lift
Tractors and trailers etc.

In the textile mills, there are many types of materials viz. raw materials, purchased components,
material in process, finished goods, packing material, maintenance and repair supplies, scrape and
waste etc. These materials are of various size, shape and specific features. For this purpose, mostly
special and some general type material handling equipments are used in textile industries.
A. Material handling in spinning units
Types of material handling equipments used in the spinning mills are as under [Table 1]:

S.
No
.
1
2
3
4
5

Process
From supplier to
mill
From truck to store
Raw material store
to mixing section
Mixing to blow
room line

10

Blow room to card

Carding to draw
Frame
Draw Frames to
Speed Frame
Speed frame to
ring frame
Ring frame doffing
Ring frame to
winding

11

Winding to packing

6
7
8
9

i.

Material
Cotton/polyeste
r in bale form
Bale of raw
material
Bale
Loose cotton
Laps or loose
cotton
Sliver cans
Sliver cans
Roving bobbins
Ring bobbins
Ring bobbins
Cones

Material handling
Equipment
Truck or train or ship
Manual 2, 3 or 4 wheeled
truck
Manual 2, 3 or 4 wheeled
truck
Special designed trolleys or
lattice or suction
Specially designed trolley or
Air pipe conveyor and chute
Manual trolley or cans fitted
castrol wheels
Manual trolley or cans fitted
castrol wheels
Manual trolley/Tapa or special
designed trolley
Doffing trolleys
Specially designed plastic
trolley
Big size plastic trolley or
special designed trolley

From truck to mill stores

In the most of the textile spinning mills, raw material i. e. cotton or polyester or viscose in the forms
of bale and other supplies are carried to mills by means of motor trucks. After arrival of trucks,
cotton or manmade fibres bales are manually pushed down on the floor.
These bales are transported with the help of 2, 3 or 4-wheeled industrial trucks/trolleys for storing in
godown one by one. This consumes time, requires more workers.
Sometimes Forklifts (Figures 3) can be used to unload bales (2 or 3 at a time) directly from trucks,
transport and stack them in godowns.
ii.

From raw material store to different departments

From godowns, bales are manually transported to the mixing department using single bale trolley. 2,
3 or 4-wheeled industrial trucks/trolleys manual or powered are utilised for handling the bales of raw
material such as bales of cotton/polyester/viscose etc. Some times, mills can use platform trucks, by
which a single operator can transport up to 3 bales at a time and deliver them at the appropriate place
in the mixing department. If mixing department is situated at an elevated place, forklifts can be used.

Conclusion
Although in the market a large variety of material handling equipment available in which some are
very conventional and some are modern. Modern material handling equipments are economical,
safer and can handle more material in unit time than conventional equipments.
The material handling departments basically perform two functions: eliminate the need of material
handling as for as possible by choosing appropriate production machinery, and choose most
appropriate material handling equipment which is safe, efficient and economical.
The selection of material handling mainly depends upon: Type of material to be handled, mill
building, layout, speed & type of production (mass production or batch production) and material
flow pattern.
There are two most important factors for analyzing or solving a material handling problem:
engineering factors, and economicfactors.

Lean Warehouse Operations

Background
Warehousings historical core responsibility has been the storage of goods. However, the scope and
core responsibilities of warehouse operations have evolved to deliver high level inventory
management, swift receiving & shipping dock management, accurate and flexible customized pick &
pack services, and state of the art storing and safekeeping solutions for all the goods.
Best practice warehouse operations enable companies to meet the strategic delivery needs by
improving materials flow, order pick & pack, replenishment, dock operations and maintenance of a
swift information flow from source to delivery point, thus facilitating the coordination of the entire
supply chain to get purchased materials in the right way, to the right place, and in the exact time they
are expected by the next link in the supply chain up to and including the final consumer.
Because of the development of an increasingly integrated global economy market with production
facilities scattered around the globe, warehouse operations are becoming the key factor to cope with
demand variations, and inventory management is a critical component of a companys financial
performance, warehousing has become a vital cog within supply chains because it holds so much
potential for improving lead time and cost reductions.

Challenges
The biggest challenge on todays warehouse managers is to increase productivity and accuracy,
reduce cost and inventory while improving customer satisfaction, which ultimately means, optimized
goods rotation, less frozen capital and efficient use of all the resources assigned.

In an integrated supply chain environment, where often enough warehousing is considered as a nonvalue adding activity, applying Lean can ensure the company has the right visibility of the valueadding activities carried out at the warehouse in order to gain a competitive edge by:

Delivering low-cost and on-time service to distribution centers, productive facilities and/or
points of consumption through improving efficiency and productivity while reducing costs,
and improving quality and accuracy in preparation of orders.
Improving stock control to prevent production or service disruptions due to lack of material,
picking disruptions due to lack of replenishment, loss of sales opportunities, and unnecessary
purchases.
Improving the information flow, traceability and service rates between the warehouse and the
rest of the cogs in the supply chain.
Managing the constantly increasing complexity of the market by improving flexibility and
showing high change-adaptability to meet the customers' fluctuating demands due to
seasonalities, rise of new sales channels, etc.

Focus Areas
Waste in warehousing processes represents tremendous savings potentials and thus it should and can,
using the right Lean tools, be identified and minimized. While in most warehouse operations picking
activities generate more than 55% of the costs, Lean principles, kaizen methods, and reengineering
approaches can be applied in every step of warehouse operations. The right Lean Solutions can
improve product quality, reduce lead-time and reduce working capital.

Areas of waste often identified in a warehouse environment:

Transportation / Conveyance: Unnecessary internal transport that results in added cost and
lower productivity such as storing fast moving inventory in the back of the warehouse.
Inventory: Any activity that results in excess or lack of inventory or placed in a different
location where required. Poor visibility or inaccurate information over the existing inventory
in the warehouse management systems will impact the preparation of orders and ultimately
result in stock being unavailable for sales or shipping, thus increasing the frozen assets in the
company.
6

Movement: Unnecessary movement of people, such as walking, reaching or stretching, due

to inefficient layouts, lack of ergonomic workstations, manual picking that involves more
than just one 'touch' per item to prepare the order and make it ready to be shipped or picking
trails not optimized.
Waiting: People, systems and material delays due to wasteful processes. Waiting for picking
lanes replenishment, material or shipping approvals, waiting for data or waiting for correct
materials and services to arrive due to poor replenishment planning.
Overproduction / Overprocessing: Stocking and delivering products before they are needed.
Storing palletizing goods which shortly will be unpalletized.
Defects: Activities that cause rework, returns or adjustments, such as customer guidelines
which require too many manual operations, or delayed customer instructions which are
received after the order was prepared, billing mistakes, inventory discrepancies, or materials
missing, damaged, defective, wrong or mislabeled.
Space: The use of space that is less than optimal, such as low or excessive fill-up rates of
trailers, containers or cartons, inefficient use of warehouse space, racking systems not aligned
to the kind of product and expected flow.

Lean Solutions
Designing and implementing Lean warehouse operations can have a great impact on the total supply
chain output. By approaching the waste focus areas mentioned above with Lean solutions, some of
the opportunities that come up to reduce lead times in warehousing include:

Handling time reduction in order picking, put away, palletizing and shipping.
Reliability of information to coordinate the rest of the supply chain.
Reduction in truck and containers loading and unloading times.
Reduction in time spent checking and looking for inventory.
Increased flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions and customer specifications.

Lean Solutions must cater the challenges in following ways:

Pull:

Enable FIFO at the batch level

Reduce inventory level throughout processes
Avoid overproduction
Increase visibility of bottlenecks in the process

One piece flow:

Enable FIFO to a single product/service level

Create traspanency of the real process lead time
Reduce lead time
Reduce inventory levels throughout process
Increase quality
Reorganize the processes in the right sequence

Takt:

Process transparency
Balanced distribution of the workload across resources
Process flexibility
Ability to plan resource capacity and/or improve forecasting
Optimal efficiency in resource utilization

Zero Defects:

Enable problem root cause analysis and solving

Prevents problem snowballing through the process
Increases quality
Enables an open cukture of problem solving vs. finger pointing

Lean Logistics: Loading Dock Schedule

1. Calculate the takt time for your docks (Takt Time = Available Time / Demand). IE: If one 40
hour weeks demand is 120 trucks, youd reduce it to 2400 minutes / 120 Trucks = Takt Time
of 20 minutes / truck.
2. Determine the process time for loading/unloading a truck. This determination may require
some time studies on the docks. Variation is typical; use a time that would accommodate at
least 75% of your volume. For our example well use 60 minutes. Note that the variation can
be an opportunity to improve upon after a schedule is in place.
3. Calculate the number of resources to allocate to the new dock schedule. Take your Process
Time divided by your Takt Time (PT 60 min / TT 20 min = 3 resources). This means you
need 3 dock doors, 3 fork trucks, etc.

4. Set rules for carrier pickup/delivery times and communicate to carriers. These should include
necessary what if scenarios, who to call, and how early/late arrivals will be handled.
Typically early routes will need to wait before they can approach the dock, and late routes
will need to be rescheduled with no demurrage penalty incurred at the dock.
8

5. Begin planning inbound or outbound loads within those constraints and communicate it to
carriers. Slot incoming/outgoing shipments into the 60 minute time slots on the dock
schedule. Communicate those pickup/delivery times with carriers.

6.1 Time Motion Study

We have developed a time equation in order to have a more accurate picture of the details regarding
companys complex and diverse activities related to logistics (loading/unloading of trucks). We also
believed that such details would convince the organization about the signicant opportunities for
prot improvement that will not only streamline the processes but also aid in efficiency.

6.2 Receiving Incoming Goods (ITN)

A time equation was developed for the receipt of incoming goods, a seemingly simple process that
still had many tasks, each with different time drivers. Different tasks were described that occurred
when a truck with incoming goods arrived at the receiving dock of the ware house.

6.2.1 Container arriving at Cotton Warehouse

It was noticed that when any container arrives at gate then it is often not
allowed to enter in the operational premises until it got clearance from inside. It
is noticed that the container often waits at gate area for around 20 to 30
minutes. (Average : 25 Minutes)
From gate to weigh dock it took around 10 to 15 minutes (Average: 12 minutes).
Please note that from gate to weigh dock the time also depends upon the
availability of dock, which often increases total off loading time for trucks.
From weigh dock the container then arrives at the off loading dock in an average
time of 8 minutes, depending availability of off loading docks. At

a time two

trucks can be parked at a dock (From weigh dock to off loading dock, average
time : 8 minutes )

In this whole procedure certain documentation work is carried out and weighing dock personnel
systematically handle the receipts of weights among other things.

10

When container arrives at discharge / off loading dock, the ITN (Internal Transaction Number) copy
is collected from the driver and details are verified against the system from document number.
Warehouse personnel physically supervise the offloading procedure and record any damages.
The input of the general information about the truck takes about 2 to 3 minutes to enter.
Each arrival also requires 5 to 7 minutes of administration time either to communicate
information or to deal with any specic problems.
The truck unloading time which depends upon the volume and size of container; for e.g.,

unloading time of 40 feet type of container is given as follows:

Unloading Time
Size
Time In HH:MM
40 Ft

1:10:00

A very important point of concern here is that only 6 40 feet trailers are unloaded daily
means average dock is used 7 hours time for unloading in a day. Means dock idle time is
approximately 5 hours which is a significant idle time and it must be curtailed through
efficient operational handling. We are considering working time of 12 hours.
Also in case of off loading the container, when the container is waiting to be off loaded so
that it leaves the primeses in 15 minutes.

6.3 Reasons for Idle Time

It is estimated that the idle time for a container is approximately around 5 hours. Some of the reasons
for this delay are as under:

Issue of narrow path to the movement of trailer.

Space issue at the premises
Operational Handling issues
More time taken in documentation and clearance of vehicles
Time taken in Verification
Unavailability of helpers deputed in unloading
Only One dock for parking of one truck
Manual unloading
No automation
11

 Movement of cotton from dock to inside warehouse.

We subdivided the order receipt process into the different tasks. Each task added a time component
to the order-receipt time equation. Clearly, the process of receiving incoming goods could not be
driven simply by the number of purchase orders. The process required multiple drivers to represent
all the factors inuencing actual processing time for a given order.

6.4 Time Motion Variables for Incoming Goods

Drivers for off loading activity

Sub Tasks
Waiting at gate
From Plant gate to Weigh Dock
Input of General Information
Administration Time
Weigh dock to unload dock
Unloading Time 40 ft

Average Time Consumption

per task
In Minutes
25
12
3
7
5
70

Variable
s
X1
X2
X3
X4
X5
X6

Unloading Time Breakup

Dock Assignment
Palette Placement
Unloading Time per palette
Palette movement from DOC to
Warehouse
Palette movement inside container
Total

X6
X1
1
X1
2
X1
3
X1
4

10
mins
1 min
7 mins
3 mins
1 min

Scenario 1 - Refurbish
After Complete Unloading
Some Idle time for Empty Container
Vehicle checking and order processing (Time in start loading)
Warehouse To Dock
Dock to Container
12

Y
1
Y
2
Y
3
Y

08
mins
08
mins
3 mins
1 min

Palette Movement inside container

Loading Time per palette
Full loaded truck (Documentation and Sealing)
Weigh Bridge
Plant gate premises

4
Y
5
Y
6
Y
7
Y
8
Y
9

Scenario 2 - After complete unloading container leave empty from

X1
Documentation and Administrative Work
5
X1
Weigh Bridge
6
X1
Plant Gate premises
7

1 min
8 mins
65
mins
20
mins
15min
s

the plant
20 mins
10 mins
15 mins

6.5 Time Motion Equation Revieved Goods

Goods received time per container (40ft Container)
= X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X5 + X6 + P * (X11 + X12 + X13 + X14)
Goods received time per container (50ft Container)
= X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X5 + X6 + P * (X11 + X12 + X13 + X14)
Scale: 60 Minutes = 1
The equation enabled the time per delivery receipt to be calculated on the basis of the specic
characteristics of the incoming order. The time equation shows how the receiving time varies,
depending on the known parameters associated with each incoming order.

6.6.1 Plant Reporting Time

A full container arrives at the plant for off loading purpose, when it reaches the plant it needs
clearance from plant personnel to enter the plant premises. When it is allowed to enter the premises

13

then checking and verification at the entrance gate also takes some time, the time analysis from
parking to gate and then finally to dock is given as follows.

Drivers for incoming Goods

From Parking Area to Loading Dock
Time In
Subtasks
Minutes
From Parking Area to Gate
210
Gate ( Checking and Verification )
12
Gate to Weigh Bridge
5
Gathering of Information and Admin Time
15
Dock Assignment
7
Vehicle Checking by QA (Quality Assurance)
10
Total
262

Variable
s
Z1
Z2
Z3
Z4
Z5
Z6

Now things to note here is that when a loaded container arrives at plant then it took a lot of
time to arrive at dock due to a number of sub tasks involved in the process. It is noticed that
this idle time is quite long and hence by improving this inefficiency there is a potential to
increase number of off loading activity carried out per day.
On an average the idle time from parking area to entrance gate is around three hours.
(Average: 210 Minutes)
After arriving at entrance gate the security staff carried out certain verifications and checking
of the vehicle like document verification, vehicle assessment and also jot down the necessary
information in the register maintained by the security staff. This whole process took around
on an average 12 minutes, after that the vehicle is allowed to enter into plant premises.
After entering the premises the vehicle is required to be weighed out by the weigh bridge,
some personnel at the premises directs vehicle to park at the weigh bridge. It took around 5
minutes to get the vehicle parked at the weigh bridge.
After parking the vehicle at weigh bridge the driver steps out and the weight of the vehicle is
carried out by the weigh bridge operations personnel, at this stage some paper work is also
done and then the vehicle is directed towards the loading dock. At this point in time the
whole checking and documentation process take an average 15 minutes.

14

 The loading docks is then assigned by the traffic controlling personnel at the premises after

checking and analyzing the empty dock and arrange to park the container at the designated
dock. The process took around 7 minutes.

Off Loading Process

The off loading process again is a time consuming process depending upon the container size and
type of item to be off-loaded. Usually on each container there are 4 laborers who carried out the offloading stuff.
Palette is then placed by the fork lifter in to the container and then workers start loading the stuff. At
times if the fork lifter is busy as only one fork lifter or at most 2 fork lifters are in operation at the
docking area therefore at times palette is lying on the floor until it is lifted by the fork lifter. It is also
observed that fork lifters at a time are involved in both loading and unloading process hence often
there is a delay in lifting the underlying palette.

6.6.3 Off-loading times for different containers

The off loading times for different containers is illustrated as follows. These timings are taken as an
average and it also varies according to different situations. It is also noted that off-loading times for
different containers also depends upon the item and the efficiency of labors.
Off Loading Times for Different Containers
Container Size
14 Ft
20 Ft
23 Ft
40 Ft
50 Ft
Average

Loading Time in (HH:MM)

2:00
3:16
2:45
3:45
4:15
3:12

6.6.4 Off-Loading Time Breakup

Loading Time Breakup
Warehouse To Dock

15

Z7

3 mins

Dock to Container
Palette Movement inside container

Z8
Z9
Z1
0

Off Loading Time

Total

1 mins
1 mins
8 mins
13
mins

P: Number of Palettes, P = (0,1,2,3.n)

= (Z7 + Z8 + Z9 + Z10) + P*Z10
Total time per palette loading inside the container is on average 08 mins per palette when there
are 4 labors employed per container which is the current practice
For example: If there are 14 number of palettes then the total time for off loading of a 20 ft
container is approximately 120 minutes.

6.6.5 Dock to Plant Out

When the container is fully off loaded then it is checked and verified and after the documentation
work it is properly sealed and then directed towards the weigh bridge. After going through the
procedure at weigh bridge it is then headed towards the plant gate where again documentation and
verification is done by the security staff, after that the container leave the premises. The whole
process take around 90 minutes after off loading is completed and container is ready to depart from
the plant.
From Plant to Dock out
Break Up

In Minutes

Documentation and Sealing

Weigh Bridge
Plant Gate Premises
Total

Z1
1
Z1
2
Z1
3

References
Based on Observations and DN data files received from Engro.

6.7 Idle Time Significance

16

65
20
15
100

Please note that the idle time in both cases is quite significant in both cases, although it is less when
container is departing but this really is the area which needs to be addressed in order to reduce the
total TAT (Turn around Time).
The time drivers affect the process times for the drop-off activity in different ways. Some factors
determine an additional subtask during the delivery process. Many variables influence the activity
time through interactions with other variables. This means that the variable does not have a simple
effect on drop-off time; its effect depends on the existence of one or more variables.

Now in order to develop the time motion equation for the incoming goods we summarize different
time variables in different tasks as follows.
Drivers for Outgoing Goods (DN)
From Parking Area to Loading Dock and Plant Out
Time In
Variab
Subtasks
Minutes
les
From Parking Area to Gate
210
Z1
Gate ( Checking and Verification )
12
Z2
Gate to Weigh Bridge
5
Z3
Gathering of Information and Admin
Time
15
Z4
Dock Assignment
7
Z5
Vehicle Checking by QA (Quality
Assurance)
10
Z6
Total
262
Z7
Time In start Loading
Loading Time for 14 ft
Loading Time for 20 ft
Loading Time for 23 ft
Loading Time for 40 ft
Loading Time for 50 ft
Average Loading Time

7
120
196
165
225
255
192

Z8
Z9
Z10
Z14
Z15
Z16
Z17

From Dock to Plant Out Break

Up
Documentation & Sealing
Weigh Bridge
Plant Gate Premises

65
20
15

Z11
Z12
Z13

17

Total

100

Z18

6.8 Time Motion Equation

Goods offloading time per container
= (Z1 + Z2 + Z3 + Z4 + Z5 + Z6 + Z7 + Z8 + Z9 + Z10) + P * Z10 + (Z11 + Z12 + Z13)
Where P is the number of palettes

6.9 Conclusion
From this time motion study the new performance management process had a positive and near-term
impact on profitability and on the value of the company. If we analyze it critically and evaluate
certain parameters then we could attain potential time savings that would enable to establish as an
image and as a well-run company with increasing profitability in a highly competitive market. Its
profit turnaround, at least in part, will lead in becoming an attractive acquisition candidate. The time
equations revealed some idle capacity, facilitating the reorganization of some business processes and
the preparation of the company for the planned acquisition.
The time equation that is developed will also implies that in a complex distribution company as it
made a strategic transition from a sales-driven company to a profit driven one the management idle
time will lead to significant time savings. We confronted complex contingencies in its operations.
The company provides varied services to different types of distributors. It is also operated in a
seasonal business and needed to use cost rates that accurately reflected peak and slack periods in
capacity utilization.
Our initial attempt is to capture the complex, contingent operations with an appropriate time motion
study. We adopted the time-driven approach because we want to drive costs by transactions, not just
products and customers. The new time equations will enable us to reflect complex contingencies in
resource-consumption times. Here we have translated an extensive verbal description of a process,
such as would typically be provided by a frontline employee, into a time equation that will lead us to
estimate appropriate procedures accordingly.

OBSERVATION
Tabulated below is the efficiency of dock calculated based on the dock operation

18

DOCK EFFICIENCY
Size of vehicles
50' loaded / unloaded
40' loaded / unloaded
23' loaded / unloaded
20' loaded / unloaded
14' loaded / unloaded
Total Time
Time per dock
Total hours in Month
Total Docks
Efficiency of Dock

Cou
nt
57
261
149
253
574

Time*
228
783
298
506
1148
2963
370.37
5
720
8
51%

* Recommended time

Cause
There are several reasons behind the lower efficiency of dock such as

Less number of docks

Inefficiencies in loading and unloading

Manual pallets

Improper maintenance of lifter

Time wastage in weighing of vehicles on entry and exit

Time wastage in documentations

Solution
-

Barcoding system can increase and simplify the flow of information; it can also be
linked with ERP, which can automatically update the inventory on dispatch.

19