"You do that too?"

Often times, I hear the title to this blog post from contacts I have that know my firm's reputation as an AEP service provider. Many in the transportation industry, at least here in the Midwest, think of my firm TranSystems as a civil engineering company that plans and designs roadways, bridges, railroads, corridors, etc. And while that is true (and we do it quite well I might add), we have other sectors or lines of business that we are growing and can provide a great service to our clients.
 

One of those service sectors is under our Supply Chain Management line of business. Specifically, it’s related to simulation modeling for manufacturers or distributors. TranSystems has hired industry experts that have experience in dealing with such issues while working in the industry. Now that those experts are now OUR experts, they have the ability to work with our clients to help them answer several planning level questions including:

1. Layout Configuration:
1. Are each of the individual assembly areas adequately sized and designed to meet throughput goals?
2. Can the layout of the facility and material handling requirements provide needed throughput without any constraining bottlenecks?
2. Are there any areas within the system over or under-designed to meet throughput goals? 
3. Validate that the system can meet all production requirements including receiving, transfers between assembly areas and cycle time targets.
4. What labor requirements will be needed for each of the functional areas?
5. Is there a phasing plan that needs to be considered to meet short and longer term goals?

Ultimately, what they will be working towards is to develop a simulation model of what the process will look like both within the particular facility or within and between multiple manufacturing and distribution facilities. This can help with understanding staffing requirements, transportation costs, labor costs, shipping/receiving costs, infrastructure improvements and so on. It can prove to be extremely valuable to clients, saving them many thousands of dollars by developing an efficient supply chain model.

For more information, give me a call or drop me a line and we can discuss further. 316-518-8661 or jrlackey@transystems.com