Picking Station Design Considerations for Improved Sequence Picking - A Case Study at Volvo Cars Torslanda Article Swipe

The automotive industry continuously becomes more competitive. New brands grow stronger and there is a constant pressure to come up with new models with an increasing frequency. In addition, safety requirements on the cars, together with customers demanding a wide range of both models and variants of the models, makes the number of components for each car model larger than ever. The many models and variants, and the fact that these are assembled on the same assembly line, put demanding requirements on the material feeding process. One way of feeding the line with material is to send items to the assembly line pre-picked according to the building sequence of the cars. This requires facilities for sequence picking and the picking operations of course have to be carried out as effectively and efficiently as possible. As the amount of models and variants increases, also the extent of the picking activities increases and area efficiency in the sequence picking facilities becomes a concern. Hence, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute to increased knowledge about how an area problem in sequence picking facilities can be addressed. The thesis suggests a number of different ways in which the area efficiency of a sequence picking station can be improved. The improvement suggestions vary in effectiveness as well as in the physical changes, and the level of investment, necessary for an implementation. In addition, an item classification system is introduced. The system is thought to be used when looking for picking stations with the greatest improvement potential or when looking for picking stations suitable for a specific design change. At last, three of the improvement suggestions are evaluated trough a virtual implementation at Volvo. The focus is on area savings but also operational differences are addressed. The operational differences are addressed through a comparison of mappings of the activities performed at the evaluated picking stations before and after the change. Major contributions of the thesis are the identification of design considerations for improved area efficiency of sequence picking stations and the item classification system developed as a support for identifying picking stations suitable for specific design changes. In addition, the thesis serves as a compilation of theory with focus on picking operations and also as a source of practical picking solutions as the picking operations at six reference companies are presented.