Toyota production system in milkrun based in-plant supply

Abstract

The optimization of manufacturing related logistic systems and processes is a key factor of the economical operation. The Toyota Production System (TPS), as precursor of the lean philosophy, is a well known tool to support the operation of manufacturing processes. However TPS includes the logistic processes of supply chain, but a wide range of TPS applications can be found in in-plant supply, especially in the field of automotive industry. After a careful literature review, the authors describe the impact of TPS on milkrun based in-plant supply. Next, a general milkrun morphology is presented, by the aid of which it is possible to describe typical in-plant supply processes. An evaluation method is also described to analyse the cost efficiency of the typical supply methods.