Kitting or the organizing of components in self-contained bins, has already proven itself as an effective means to achieve air-tight inventory control and is practically made-to-order for managing a critical element of the Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing process: the supply chain. Yet, despite its advantages, kitting remains largely misunderstood and underutilized in the manufacturing process, a victim of traditional thinking that says inventory control is a matter for the shop floor. Integrating kitting into existing MRP/ERP structures is pushing inventory control into a new phase - one where shop floor information can be readily used by the front office where the planning happens.

The advantages of using kitting by itself have resulted in companies saving considerable amounts of money in inventory," says Ulrich Wettstein, founder of Global Kitting Systems, a leading manufacturer of component tray and bin systems used in product assembly. "Incorporating kitting into your manufacturing does require a change in thinking. However, it is a key concept that can enable manufacturing to take a giant leap forward into the new paradigm and optimize the digital solutions already in place."

The shop floor has long been a potential black hole in the manufacturing chain, because tracking inventory once it hits the production line is difficult, especially with the traditional "bag-and-bin" method. Besides the potential exposure of the components to pilferage and damage, there is no efficient method to track hundreds of parts in bins. Kitting resolves this problem by providing only the components that are needed, in the amounts that are needed, where and when they are needed, the essentials of JIT.

Right now, a worker is given a bunch of bags and then it's up to the worker to identify a missing component and remedy the situation. Portable kitting allows the thinking to be done ahead of time and up-front instead of on the production line, so that the whole process can be planned out and more easily implemented. You want your workers to be doing the assembly, not trying to figure out how it's suppose to be done," Wettstein explains.

JIT manufacturing begins with supplier partnerships as part of the supply chain management process. Inventory is kept at a minimal levels by only acquiring materials as they're needed to fulfill placed orders for the end product. Suppliers can utilize kitting as a value-added service by packaging their components for shipment and delivery. One company that is utilizing this concept quite successfully is Harley-Davidson, who receives all their parts in various sized containers to reduce the volume of received disposable packaging materials and protect them during handling and transit.

Kitting is admirably suited for supply chain management because of the efficient delivery of parts, as Harley-Davidson discovered. Even if supplier partnerships cannot be formulated to have parts shipped already kitted, manufacturers can do their own kitting as the parts are received.

Inventory control is one of the key components of JIT manufacturing. Kitting enables more efficient inventory control and facilitates streamlined best manufacturing practices. Money is not wasted on lost, damaged or over-stocked inventory and there is an accurate accounting of current inventory for improved sales forecasting models which are key to a business's success.

Speed-to-market is critical in a world in which businesses must have quick turn-around on product orders. When utilizing a near real-time inventory control approach, kitting enables accelerated response times between order placement and production. It also offers improved quality control on the assembly line, because there is assurance that all of the proper components and the method of assembly are clearly provided to the workers.

Global Kitting's portable Partfolio is an example of a kitting system designed to segregate and hold components to facilitate product assembly, provide ESD protection to sensitive electronic parts during shipping and storage and be shipable from inventory to the assembly line, even if that line is thousands of miles away. The kits are easily stored in inventory and can be shipped to the workstations when needed whether the assembly production lines are located in another country or in the same building. Motorola pre-kits units that are sent to manufacturing facilities in other countries for assembly, and other parts distributors package their components in kits that are then supplied to OEM manufacturers.

Wettstein explains how kitting can integrate into inventory and assembly line operations with some simple basic planning. "When you set up a specific assembly, you take a Partfolio, divide up the trays into bins and assign each component of the assembly to a bin. The number of components that are put into each bin would correspond to the number of finished assemblies for the production day. When the kitter is finished, you have all your parts organized into a portable bin that can go wherever your production line is."

Kitting is the most logical solution to work into an organization's MRP solution. It simplifies inventory control processes, and can help control the actual assembly sequence by utilizing manufacturing software that provides assembly instructions based on the kit to the assembly worker. The instructions can be printed out or shipped to the workstation in a digital form over the LAN or the internet.

Within minutes of an order being placed, the Partfolio for that product can be called up and delivered to the assembly workstation as per the instructions for that board. Bar-code labeling that includes the assembly name or identification of the product that is placed on the outside of the Partfolio can make this process a snap. Each kit could be tracked from inventory to the shop floor, and the instructions called up with a simple scan of the bar-code label once the kit is at the workstation.

New designs are incorporated more easily into the production system with kitting, as Wettstein explains. "When a new design comes along you can find out if you already have one that's very similar and you can save yourself quite a bit of money in only having to add the parts that different from the ones already kitted. If assembly "B" has five components different from assembly "A," then you put the extra components in one of the unused trays in the Partfolio for assembly "A" and change the assembly instructions for the new board. In other words, the same Partfolio can be used to make both boards and the maximizing the work you've already done in creating the kits and just changing your instructions so that they're assembled correctly."

Pre-kitting can be utilized if there is a base number of products produced that have a number of components in common, and the product variety is achieved by varying the rest of the components. The pre-kitted assemblies can be shelved and then the additional components added to make a complete kit before actual delivery to the assembly line.

Kitting works for single workstation environments, where a single worker completely assembles the product, and in the production line method where each worker is responsible only for assembling a specified component, or number of components.

For production lines, you may need more kitted units, but you can store a lot more material for a lot more boards in it and handling is minimized," comments Wettstein. "If you do this in a clever way a lot of components can be shared between assemblies, certainly nuts and bolts and screws."

Intelligent manufacturing processes driven by the integration of kitting inventory control software are just around the corner, just in time for organizations who need to be first-to-market.