Track: Inventory Management

Abstract

Industry 4.0 did not just bring new requirements for today’s industries, it also brought new technologies to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. In this work, an e-Kanban system for internal logistics and production is developed and implemented in the automotive industry. The system functions according to the kanban methodology, where the consumption usage of a part triggers its replenishment. The development of the presented e-Kanban system took into consideration the limitations and improvement opportunities of previous works where authors developed their own e-Kanban systems. Before the e-Kanban system’s application, a simulation using the EKS© software was performed to obtain the number of labels and stock levels needed for the calibration of the e-Kanban system. The system was then applied, and the results show a 19% stock reduction and a 22% reduction in inventory costs. Additionally, the system proved to respond to the factory’s necessities and allowed for real-time control of production and inventories.