Case 6

Situation:

The Jones Company operates a centrally located storeroom in their manufacturing complex. Every afternoon each craft foreman (Tin Shop, Electric Shop, Iron Workers, etc.) writes a requisition for common use items that will be required for the next day’s work. These common use items include nuts, bolts, screws, washers, flashlight batteries, and gloves. All specialty items are ordered separately.

During the night shift, storeroom personnel fill the orders of items requested by the craft foreman. Each morning, one or two workers from each department go to the storeroom with a four-wheel platform truck to pick up the filled order.

Question:

Although studies have never been performed to determine t he amount of time craftsmen spend waiting for supplies, it is the thoughts of the management that idle craft manpower is a problem resulting from this procedure. How can time spent traveling to and from the described storeroom be reduced, thus, eliminating or decreasing crafts’ personnel travel time?