Optimization of stockyard layout for the pre-cast building products industry

The building products manufacturing industry supplies a wide range (2,000 to 4,000) of pre-cast concrete building products to the construction industry. Sales in the industry are highly seasonal; demand is high in summer and very low in winter. For the industry to cope with such fluctuations and maintain a fairly constant production rate, stock is built up in winter and dispatched in summer. The products stay on the yard for four to five months. Due to improper stocking of products on the yard, the industry experiences space congestion for both the storage and dispatch of products. During dispatch process, it becomes difficult to track the products for loading into lorries, long queues of lorries are formed and desired level of service cannot be maintained. To address this problem, it is seen essential to devise an appropriate stockyard layout planning system that advise management on physically stocking products in the yard by providing fluency of stock, minimizing loading time of dispatches and maximizing efficiency of stock rotation. This paper presents a review of stockyard operations, analysis of parameters affecting loading and dispatch process on the yard and strategies to optimize the stockyard layout. It is expected that a proper layout will reduce the cost of delivery of products by 5–10%.