Synchronisation of material flows in mass-customised production systems: a literature-based classification framework and industrial application

Abstract

The mass customisation strategy is needed by manufacturing companies to face the increasing variety and unpredictability of products required by customers. However, mass customisation may increase the complexity of managing manufacturing and production logistics activities, for example due to reduced product batch sizes. The synchronisation of material flows within the factory is emerging as a way to address this complexity, as it enables an effective and efficient implementation of mass customisation. Indeed, the fourth Industrial Revolution introduces new digital levers, which can be combined with traditional managerial levers to achieve the synchronisation of material flows within the factory. This study contributes to the rising stream of research on this topic. A systematic literature review was conducted, leading to the development of a classification framework of the levers supporting the synchronisation of material flows. The identified managerial levers are: storage of materials, feeding policy, and scheduling. The digital levers are: materials tracking, process tracking, data analytics, and assistance systems. The developed framework was operationalised in four industrial cases and applied as a tool to map their levers related to the synchronisation of material flows.

Keywords:

• Mass customisation
• production logistics
• cyber-physical production system
• synchronisation

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ermanno Rondi, former CEO of Incas SpA, for providing valuable input for the development of this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alessia Napoleone

Alessia Napoleone is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Maritime and Transport Technology at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. She graduated in Management Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, and obtained her PhD from the same university with a thesis on the core characteristics of reconfigurable manufacturing systems and their implications for management along system’s life cycle. In her current research, she is interested in the development and implementation of reconfigurability enablers and characteristics for competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience in complex production-logistics systems; the integration of digital and smart technologies for production-logistics reconfigurability, as well as life cycle management of cyber-physical systems.

Emilio Moretti

Emilio Moretti is an Assistant Professor of logistics at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, where he currently undertakes research on logistics. His primary research interests include parts feeding systems design and management, automated warehousing systems, and global distribution network design. He has authored scientific publications in international journals and conference proceedings.

Marco Macchi

Marco Macchi is Full Professor at the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano. His teaching and research activities regard industrial technologies, asset lifecycle management, operations and maintenance management, smart manufacturing. Serving the scientific community, he is currently the Chair of the technical committee IFAC TC 5.1 Manufacturing Plant Control; he is Member of the IFIP WG 5.7 Advances in Production Management Systems; he is co-leader of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on “Product and Asset Lifecycle Management” at the IFIP TC5 WG 5.7 Advances in Production Management Systems; he is a fellow of the International Society of Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM). Concerning his role in scientific journals, he is Member of the International Editorial Board of Production Planning & Control: the Management of Operations, and he is Associate Editor of the Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing.

Marco Melacini

Marco Melacini is a Full Professor of Logistics Management at the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), where he teaches the courses logistics management and international distribution at the Masters of Science in Management Engineering. He is the Director of the Observatory on Contract Logistics and part of the board of the PhD in Management Engineering at the Politecnico di Designing global trade and logistics channels 199 Milano. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) of IJPDLM, the author of more than 100 papers at national and international level, and has been involved in more than 30 research/technology transfer projects.