| In recent years, warehousing operations and distribution centers have undergone substantial changes. One industry that has exploded in recent years to help meet these evolving needs has been that of third party logistics (3PL) suppliers. The focus of this study is on a UPS SCS 3PL operation known as Multi-Client. It is the company's belief that there are opportunities to cut costs through the application of a more efficient slotting methodology and area layout. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the current layout of clients and shipping stations to gage a baseline of the distances traveled and the resulting costs. Alternative slotting methodologies and area layout will be considered and a similar analysis will be performed on the proposed layouts. A comparison of the results for both the baseline and the new layouts will be used to determine the opportunity for improvement. Analysis for the baseline and alternative layouts will be performed using FactoryFLOW. The first layout will involve locating all three shipping stations in the rear of the building to allow for improved product flow through the facility from front to back. The second layout will incorporate a simple index-based methodology for determining client storage locations. The third layout will be a combination of the first two. Based on Alternative One results, the total distance traveled in a year can be reduced by approximately 20,566,000 ft. per year at a cost reduction of about {dollar}17,848 per year. Based on Alternative Two results, the total distance traveled in a year can be reduced by approximately 38,574,000 ft. per year at a cost reduction of about {dollar}33,120 per year. Based on Alternative Three results, the total distance traveled in year can be reduced by approximately 586,230 ft. each year at a cost reduction of about {dollar}507 per year. |
