Kan-do attitude: Trelleborg brings intelligence to inventory management

The notion of just-in-time delivery systems, born in the 1960s as the brainchild of Toyota's Taiichi Ohno and known as the Toyota Production System, was adopted by other Japanese manufacturers in the early 1970s and later spread to the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The inventory management philosophy brought products and raw materials into stock only when needed, providing cost savings by reducing capital tied up in inventory, as well as storage space for those parts.

Though the JIT procedures changed over time with new technology, the focus remained the same — to reduce the risk of a business getting stuck with obsolete parts when market demand changed.

Continuing the evolution of JIT delivery, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in February introduced its IntelliStok system, part of the company's Advanced Delivery portfolio. IntelliStok initially is being launched in the U.S. and Canada, "available to all companies interested in automating their inventory management processes," according to Will Bacon, ServicePlus segment manager for Trelleborg Sealing Systems, a maker of plastic and rubber automotive seals. The patent-pending program could be launched in other regional global markets in the near future, he said.

"Management of the parts needed to produce products is often a significant pain point for manufacturers," Bacon said. "To help alleviate that pain point and fully automate the inventory management process, the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Digital Solutions and Internet of Things team and ServicePlus team joined forces to develop IntelliStok."

According to Bacon, IntelliStok automatically orders replenishment stock when an inventory bin is empty. This requires the user to employ a Kanban (a two-bin or multi-bin rack for parts) inventory management system. When one bin runs empty, a replenishment order is placed. Until the replenishment stock arrives, parts are pulled from the other bin, which still contains stock.

The cost of the system can vary, Bacon said, since the wireless system is designed around a customer's specific inventory needs, and the number and sizes of parts for customers can range greatly.

The response to the IntelliStok program has been promising thus far, Bacon said.

"We are happy with the response we have received so far," he said. "As with most hardware and software implementations, it takes time for operational teams to evaluate and make decisions and implement new solutions. To date, we are in the early stages of exploration with several companies in the United States and Canada."

Less labor, more savings

No scanners, no manual counting of inventory, no placing manual orders, and no shortages or overstocks — these advantages are at the heart of the IntelliStok program, developed at a Trelleborg meeting of the minds in 2018 in Stuttgart, Germany.

"Inventory management consumes valuable resources, and, in the last year, resources in many manufacturing facilities were further constrained due to COVID-19-related absenteeism," Bacon said. "Automating the inventory management process frees up those limited resources to be deployed elsewhere in the manufacturer's organization to provide greater value to its customers."

According to Bacon, JIT inventory management had been dependent upon a Kanban replenishment card being pulled manually and given to purchasing as a visual indicator that the part (in the quantity established) had to be reordered.

All of this required detailed analysis of demand history as well as proper market forecasting, and vendor reliability along the supply line was crucial.

"To reap the benefits of a JIT system, all of these components must be managed properly," Bacon said.

IntelliStok eliminates much of this costly manual management by using weight sensors in the aforementioned Kanban bins—with a minimum of 25-30 grams and no maximum weight to the sensors—to automatically gauge when inventory should be reordered, and in what quantity.

"This eliminates the need to pull Kanban cards and manually place purchase orders, enabling those resources to be allocated to more critical activities," Bacon said.

The system can be customized to most any sized stock for almost any industry, Bacon said, whether a smaller seal or gasket is pulled from a smaller bin or a larger part is stocked on larger pallets.

"IntelliStok can be used with bins, containers, pallets or skids of various sizes," he said. "Five standard-sized sensor pads are available to fit a variety of bin sizes, but we can also produce custom-size sensor pads, and couple sensors together as needed to suit a customer's application.

"The main requirement is that the sensor pad be well-fitted to the size of the bin or container to ensure all parts in the bin sit atop the sensor pad. The only requirement is that a Kanban system be in place already or be implemented as part of the startup process."

IntelliStok checks inventory several times a day, while replenishment orders are sent once per day to Trelleborg. Bacon's team also monitors order frequency, working with customers to adjust inventory levels as needed to ensure optimum efficiency of the inventory.

Due to the pandemic, both system set-up and specific customization with IntelliStok thus far has been conducted from afar.

"Although IntelliStok units are very simple to install, the software and WiFi connection still need to be tested," Bacon said. "Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, our intent was for Trelleborg's ServicePlus team to install and test all units and provide on-site user training. However, with COVID-19-related travel restrictions and many companies limiting vendor visits, we developed installation instructions and short video tutorials to assist customers in setting up the system themselves.

"As COVID-19 restrictions ease up, we expect to see a mix of installations performed by customers and by the Trelleborg team."

Just-in-time delivery systems fall into the overall category of lean manufacturing, lowering the bottom line for customers in labor costs by the nature of such touch-free, automated management.

Moreover, and especially in the time of COVID-19, Trelleborg officials tout the system's safety as it eliminates the need for employees to touch common-use scanners.

"We are very excited to offer our customers this innovative bin-stocking management solution, which can dramatically reduce the time, steps and costs associated with ordering, while ensuring appropriate stock levels are maintained," said Linda Muroski, president of Marketing Americas and Global Healthcare and Medical at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions. "IntelliStok is one of the latest innovations in Trelleborg's Internet of Things initiative."