Value-Stream Design
~475 Recurring Retrieval Errors per Month to Zero at the July 2024 Report-Out
Measured for the defined material classes in scope: cartridges, bottles and lids. A large new automated warehouse was coming online, and the flow was redesigned before the layout was locked rather than after.
A "snatch-and-grab" is a recurring, unplanned retrieval of specific material classes to correct a point-of-use shortage.
The Strategic Problem
Expansion Amplifies Whatever Operating System Already Exists.
A capital project of this scale does one of two things. It relieves pressure on the network, or it hard-codes the current operating logic into a permanently larger asset. Which one it does is determined by how material is designed to flow, not by the square footage. The prevailing state included roughly 475 recurring retrieval errors a month across the material classes in scope.
The redesign connected new capacity to a more reliable material flow. The retrieval figure covers cartridges, bottles and lids only, and is stated as of the July 2024 report-out.
The Baseline
A Recurring Retrieval Error, Repeating Roughly 475 Times a Month.
One defined defect interrupted planned capacity roughly 475 times a month across three material classes. The loop below shows how a single retrieval event consumed planned capacity.
The loop shows how a point-of-use shortage interrupted planned capacity and forced an unplanned retrieval.
The Intervention
Incito Redesigned the Flow Before the Layout Was Locked.
Three end-to-end value streams were mapped under the signed statement of work, and the resulting design informed layout and automation choices before that spend was committed. On the floor, the work included a zoned redesign in Zone 4.
See
Current-state flow observed as material actually moved.
Diagnose
Failure points located against inventory and retrieval data.
Design
Future state designed around the new capacity, not transferred into it.
Implement
Design converted into a zoned redesign on the warehouse floor.
Hand over
Method transferred to client teams and embedded in the client's own supply excellence program.
The five-step deployment connected strategy alignment, three end-to-end value stream maps, Kaizen and high-impact events, a deep-dive inventory review with 3P design and automation roadmap, and the Zone 4 redesign.
How the Result Was Built to Last
Designed to Run With the Client's Own Teams.
The reduction came from redesigned work that made the old failure mode hard to reproduce, not from oversight. Four choices in how the engagement was run were designed to keep the new flow inside the client's own teams.
The people who moved, stored, scheduled and consumed the material mapped the value stream together, producing one shared operating reality.
Inventory and retrieval records grounded the diagnosis, so the future state was argued from evidence rather than preference.
Mapping happened where material actually moved, so the design had to survive contact with the floor before it earned implementation.
Client teams implemented the new flow, and the value stream mapping method was embedded in the client's own supply excellence program.
Results
New Capacity Designed Without Importing the Disruption Cost.
Executive Implication
Before You Add Capacity, Determine What You Are About to Scale.
Each of the following is a point at which the existing operating logic is either redesigned or permanently replicated.
Talk with Incito before the flow gets built into the facility.