Gravity Flow Rack’s Material Handling System for Just-In-Time (JIT) Production

Effective and efficient material handling (MH) system is crucial in any Just in Time (JIT) production system. A Gravity Flow Rack (GFR) system is one of the very well adopted MH system and very practical in order to optimize the effectiveness of the JIT production system. This paper presents a review on the actual implementation of a GFR system at an automotive component’s assembly line in an accord to improve its existing MH system. The main purpose of this implementation is to reduce the material transfer activities while reducing the occupied space; hence reducing the overall production cycle time (CT). The implementation outcomes show significance improvement on the productivity and not to mention the material handling’s time. It is proven that the GFR system is still relevant and can be regarded as one of the most effective tool in JIT production. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Centre of Humanoid Robots and Bio-Sensor (HuRoBs), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA.