The Importance of Kitting In Efficient Operations

Today, companies must operate with maximum efficiency, making every process, every procedure, and every dollar count. To compete in an increasingly competitive, globalized economy, manufacturers have to become “lean, mean” machines. How can kitting help them do this?

Kitting: A Quick Definition

As manufacturers know, assembling complex parts – whether for aerospace applications, medical devices, or commercial products – involves a multitude of parts. When each of those components come in separate packages or even different shipments, it can cost valuable time, resources, and money trying to find the right parts for the right assembly at the right time.

Kitting addresses this problem with impeccable efficiency: it is the process of gathering parts and components for a particular assembly or product as a kit. The pre-assembled kit is shipped as needed, instead of packaging each piece as an order is received.

A typically “lean” concept holds that the more parts are handled, the greater the odds of error and damage. Kitting helps reduce the amount of times that components must be handled prior to assembly. The risk of defects and mistakes is significantly mitigated, if not eliminated. As a result, quality can be greatly increased.

Other benefits include:

• Reduced downtime. One of the biggest problems in a manufacturing environment is employee and machine downtime. Trying to find the necessary parts can slow the entire production line down. Kitting puts everything together, in one convenient package.
• Simplified procurement and supply chains. With kitting, ordering is much quicker and easier, and manufacturers do not have to worry about product or component compatibility. 
• Maximum output. Line employees spend their time assembling products/pieces, not searching for the right components. This reduces WIP (or work-in-progress time).
• More streamlined training. When new operators are hired, they are more quickly and easily trained because of the convenience of kitting. This can greatly reduce costs and onboarding time for new hires.
• Reduced line storage requirements. As authors of a Caterpillar case study note, the increasing variety of parts necessary for manufacturing components/products can cause storage problems on the line. This increases the risk of waste and excess raw materials. Further, traditional delivery methods force lineside storage, and this makes operator walking and searching times much higher.
• Increased customer satisfaction. Because kits help streamline operations, manufacturers can fulfill customer orders more quickly and efficiently.

Outsourcing Kitting Needs

When companies outsource their kitting needs, they can realize even greater efficiency and output. At the same time, they can avoid some common challenges of kitting, one of which is ensuring timely and sufficient supply availability.

Kitting offers a solution that can help increase efficiency from supply chain to final product, cut costs, and optimize operator output.