Inbound process design and improvement of after sales parts from local suppliers and import freight

Abstract

Toyota South Africa was established in 1961 and has sold more vehicles than any other car manufacturer in South Africa. Due to the rising sales figures of Toyota the need for parts also increased which means that Toyota’s parts distribution warehouse was outdated and limited in space. Toyota designed and built a new parts distribution warehouse which is situated in Kempton Park. Production started on 2nd April 2012 in the new 42 000 square meters warehouse. This new warehouse was brilliantly designed with the best techniques and equipment available, but with a new beginning there are also new challenges. Management has identified bottlenecks in the inbound system which are due to poor planning techniques. This leads to inaccurate space requirements which result in bottlenecks and imbalanced manpower as well as handling unit alignment. Management requires an inbound system study that will focus on data management, which will manipulate current data obtained from SAP as the main source to aid them in making strategic decisions regarding the alignment of manpower, space utilization and material handling units. This document provides all the steps taken to manage the project efficiently with selected project management techniques. While executing the project, numerous quality management strategies and techniques are used to ensure reliable and high quality deliverables at the close out stage of the project. The solution will give new alternatives to their current working and operating methods so that the best methods can be implemented to exclude errors in the system and to save on operating costs and time.