Milk Run Operation

We recently began our lean transformation and brought in consultants to help us along the way. They encouraged us to reduce production batch sizes so we can be more flexible and react more easily to shifts in customer demand. To enable that, they recommended we bring in materials from our suppliers more frequently and in smaller lot sizes. These consultants also suggested milk-run routing as a preferred transportation method so we dont experience substantial increases in transportation costs. We tried a few of these and I honestly think they are causing more problems than they are solving. Sometimes the trucks are running empty, sometimes we are running out of trailer space and expediting material, and other times they are simply late and causing impacts to our production line.