AS/RS

1. Storage and retrieval operations: In certain operations individual items must be selected

from the group of item stored in the bin or basket. Sometimes called ‘pick and load’ operations,

this type of procedure is common for order picking of service parts or other items in wholesale

firm, tools in a toolroom, raw materials from a stockroom, and work-in-process in a factory. In

small assembly operations such as electronics, carousels are used to accomplish kitting of parts

that will be transported to the assembly workstations.

2. Transport and accumulation: These are applications in which the carousel is used to

transport and sort materials as they are stored. One example of this is in progressive assembly

operations where the workstations are located around the periphery of a continuously moving

carousel and the workers have access to the individual storage bins of the carousel. They remove

work from the bins to complete their own respective assembly tasks, and then place their work

into another bin for the next operation at some other workstation.

3. Unique applications: These involve specialised uses of carousel storage systems.

Examples include electrical testing of components, where the carousel is used to store the item

during testing for a specified period of time; and drawer or cabinet storage, in which standard

drawer-type cabinets are mounted on the carousel.

Storage carousels are finding an increasing number of applications in manufacturing operations,

where it’s relatively low cost, versatility, and high reliability have been acknowledged. It represents

a competitive to the miniload AS/RS and other AS/RS configurations for work-in-progress storage

in manufacturing plan

perations management:

1. BRUEGGER’S BAGEL BAKERY

Bruegger’s Bagel Bakery makes and sells a variety of bagels, including plain, onion, poppy

seed, and cinnamon raisin, as well as assorted flavors of cream cheese. Bagels are the major

source of revenue for the company.

The bagel business is a Rs.3 billion industry. Bagels are very popular with consumers. Not

only are they relatively low in fat, they are filling, and they taste good! Investors like the bagel

industries because it can be highly profitable: it only costs about Rs.10 to make a bagel, and they

can be sold for Rs.50 each or more. Although some bagel companies have done poorly in recent

years, due mainly to poor management, Bruegger’s business is booming;

It is number one nationally, with over 450 shops that sell bagels, coffee, and bagel sandwiches

for takeout or on premise consumption. Many stores in the Bruegger’s chain generate an average

of Rs.800, 000 in sales annually.

Production of bagels is done in batches, according to flavor, with each flavor being produced

on a daily basis. Production of bagels at Bruegger’s begins at a processing plant, where the basic

ingredients of flour, water, yeast, and flavorings are combined in a special mixing machine. After

the dough has been thoroughly mixed, it is transferred to another machine that shapes the dough

into individual bagels. Once the bagels have been formed, they are loaded onto refrigerated trucks

for shipping to individual stores. When the bagels reach a store, they are unloaded from the trucks

and temporarily stored while they rise. The final two steps of processing involve boiling the bagels

in a kettle of water and malt for one minute, and then baking the bagels in an oven for

proximately 15 minutes. The process is depicted in Figure 1.

Quality is an important feature of a successful business. Customers judge the quality of

bagels by their appearance (size, shape, and shine), taste, and consistency. Customers are also

sensitive to the service they receive when they make their purchases. Bruegger’s devotes careful

attention to quality at every stage of operation, from choosing suppliers of ingredients, careful

monitoring of ingredients, and keeping equipment in good operating condition to monitoring output

at each step in the process. At the stores, employees are instructed to watch for deformed bagels

and to remove them when they find them. (Deformed bagels are returned to the main plant

where they are sliced into bagel chips, packaged, and then taken back to the stores for sale,

thereby reducing the scrap rate.) Employees who work in the stores are carefully chosen and

then trained so that they are competent to operate the necessary equipment in the stores and to

provide the desired level of service to c