Diplom-Is Norway
Diplom-Is Optimises the Supply Chain
1 min read
Logistics Master Plan
August 2012
Tine Heimdal in Trondheim functions as a central warehouse for other dairies and handles a large volume of internal transportation daily, including raw materials, finished products, empty containers, and packaging. Langebæk was asked to review the logistics set-up.
Tine Heimdal’s Situation
Tine Heimdal, located south of Trondheim in Norway, processes block cheese, sliced cheese, and grated cheese. Whole cheese arrives in plastic crates and needs to be stored before being processed. As a result, there is substantial internal transport of raw materials, finished products, empty containers, and packaging on a daily basis. Tine Heimdal also serves as a central warehouse for other dairies, and both case picking for wholesalers and breakdown picking for smaller retail customers are carried out.
Langebæk was asked to take a fresh look at the logistics set-up to streamline internal transport and optimise the picking area and picking costs. Tine had already considered potential solutions, so part of the task was to validate Tine’s own ideas.
Analysis and Solution
All internal transports were mapped and quantified to identify the dynamic requirements of today in comparison with future expectations. The requirements for sizing the picking area were made visible through order and frequency analyses at the item level for both wholesaler and breakdown picking. In addition, the layout was analysed for alternative arrangements of areas in relation to other flows and processes.
Result
The optimisation process was carried out with significant involvement from key employees, who participated in both the analysis, idea, and solution phases to ensure ownership and incorporate their knowledge of practical matters.
The result was an optimised layout with a consolidated picking area, which reduced the need for restocking and transportation. For internal transport, three solution options with increasing levels of automation were proposed. A review of the layout also showed that a reallocation of refrigeration and freezer capacity could create more pallet spaces and eliminate the need for external storage.
Tine Heimdal now has a foundation for selecting a strategy and is assured of an operational action plan with a reasonable payback time for internal logistics through to 2015.
