In-plant milk-run systems are transportation systems, where materials are delivered from a central storage area to several points of use on defined routes and in short intervals. Milk-run systems generally enable frequent deliveries in smaller lot sizes with short lead times and low inventory at the points of use. In real milk-run systems, the number of deliveries per interval varies due to, e.g., variations in the production program. To enable efficient and stable milk-run system operations, these systems therefore must be able to cope with peaks in the number of deliveries. We develop different strategies for handling these delivery peaks and evaluate them with respect to delivery cost, lead time and service level using real material consumption data from two large companies from the automotive industry.
To provide efficient and flexible material transport, inplant milk-run systems are used by many companies. However, the large number of influencing factors makes in-plant milk-run systems complex, while dependencies and blockages, e.g. overtaking or stopping, require a dynamic approach to examination. Thus we developed a generic simulation model focusing on traffic situations in in-plant road systems, and defined meaningful performance figures, e.g. capacity efficiency and cycle time. The application to a system of industrial practice enabled us to derive recommendations for planning inplant milk-run systems. Space for overtaking, the number of trains passing or supplying a stop as well as the directions a stop is approached from were found to be main influencing factors.
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