Open bins are great for storing all your parts great and small, but they have their setbacks. Whether it be cross-contamination, confusion of which screw is which or running out of stock try these top tips on improving your system.
1 – Colour Code your Store Rooms
Use different coloured bins for different areas of your site.
Got 5 screws that look the same but are very different? Put each type in a different coloured bin for easy identification.
Colour code critical or fast moving parts, yellow for slower and green for slowest.
2 – Keep Items Bagged
One of the biggest problems when dealing with small parts is cross contamination. The best way to avoid your nuts and bolts being mixed up is to keep items bagged.
This also allows for easy identification if someone accidentally drops a bag and keeps parts from rolling away and becoming FOD.
3 – Employ a KanBan system
Stock-outs! Who knew that single rivet could be so important, but it is and your whole project is now on hold. The best way to avoid stock outs is to employ a KanBan system.
There are lots of systems out there to use, but if you want to keep it really simple just have two bags of product in the bin; people take from the first bag and then when it is gone there is reserve stock.
Have a bin for empty part bags so at the end of the day the stock manager can go through and easily know what to order.
4 – Divide Your Bin
If you are concern that the two bag systems will result in two lots of stock being used at once then divide your bin.
You can buy dividers for your bin which means there is only a small amount of reserve stock at the back of the bin for people to use while the goods are reordered.
5 – Invest in Stock Indicators
Take your KanBan system to the next level and add a stock indicator. Avoid having to trawl through looking at every bin to check stock levels by using a stock indicator.
They work by having two or sometimes three settings, in stock, out of stock and pending refill. These means the stock controller can easily see what products need refilling and what is already down for restocking.
If you have a two bag system on the go then stock outs will become a thing of the past. To make things even easier there are now stock indicators with RFID,
If you are interested in implementing any of these ideas all our stock control solutions including a brand new product will be on the show the MRO Dallas – email us at info@hurstgreenplastics.com for more information.