Study of inbound logistics supply chain of an automobile manufacturing company

This is an application research paper where we discuss how the performance of an in-bound logistics supply chain of a large automobile company is improved by using process reengineering, time-varying waiting-line theory, and simulation approaches. The problem is generic because of the increasing demand for heavy vehicles leading to increasing production capacity and thereby huge requirements for incoming materials received through inbound logistics operations. In this case study, we discuss how the process was reengineered and shift-wise staff allocation optimised for the arrival process of incoming materials that follows a time-dependent varying queue. By using principles, such as eliminate, change, combine, and simplify, the existing operating system is redesigned and was modelled mathematically to derive optimum staffing level; and through a simulation approach, the efficacy of the system is established. Implementations of the findings resulted in significant improvements in throughput time without any additional staff to cater to the increasing workload.