Implement Lean Material Flow in Your Industry
The most effective lean solutions are tailored to applications for your specific industry. Geolean experts regularly design and develop material flow systems to serve these targeted needs.
Lean Applications Across Industries
All sectors of the supply chain and manufacturing industry rely on the movement of materials to fulfill their responsibilities and meet their goals. Geolean’s experts understand the significance of material flow to your bottom line.
When you partner with our experts, we pair lean principles with firsthand industry knowledge to deliver top-tier solutions. We can recommend standard, ready-to-order structures, or we can custom-engineer material handling solutions for your specific industry, facility, and application.
Industries We Serve
Aerospace
Aerospace OEMs and tier suppliers must manage complex product requirements while maintaining compliance with stringent quality systems, such as ISO 9001 and AS9100. This pairs with the need for continuous process improvements and adherence to safety standards from NASA, FAA, and JAA. Geolean has extensive expertise in lean manufacturing in the aerospace industry.
Automotive
The automotive industry is shifting toward forklift-free facilities to meet directives from manufacturers, adding pressure to manage part proliferation, product options, and market competition. Geolean specializes in helping OEMs and suppliers adapt by implementing lean automotive manufacturing systems that support successful product launches and improve operations.
Appliance
Appliance manufacturers and suppliers experience unique challenges, including high assembly density and the need to integrate stamping and forming processes within the same facility. Managing in-house operations includes overseeing complex demands for inventory management and synchronized pull systems. Geolean designs solutions to overcome these obstacles.
Agriculture
Agricultural equipment manufacturers must navigate a wide product range, high seasonal production variation, and a diverse market spanning consumer to professional needs. Geolean’s lean agriculture solutions—including flow racks, cart systems, and more—streamline component handling, boost efficiency, and support compliance with quality standards, including ISO 65.060.01.
Logistics
Logistics operations—including 3PL, warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution centers—must balance automation with people-driven tasks to manage complex workflows. Reducing excess transportation and handling is critical to optimizing performance and maintaining high-quality processes. Geolean designs lean logistics solutions to enhance efficiency.
Heavy Truck
Heavy truck manufacturers have to balance high-volume fleet builds with low-volume unit builds, requiring a material flow system that works seamlessly in both environments. They often rely on forklifts due to the size and weight of parts. Geolean’s lean solutions help eliminate forklifts—creating efficient material flow, maximizing space, and reducing unnecessary handling.
Industry Applications
Cart Solutions
Flow Racks
Workstations
Kitting
Parts Presentation
Packaging
Cart Solutions for your Industry
Kit Carts
Ideal for lean manufacturing in the aerospace industry, kit carts can be custom-designed to enable efficient material flow in automotive and aerospace operations. They meet the high quality, high precision part and usage needs of these industries.
Minomi Carts
Minomi carts are designed to deliver parts directly to operators without external packaging, with protective features built into the cart itself. This design is ideal for appliance manufacturers and suppliers, where space is tight and fast cycle times are critical.
Sequence Carts
Sequence carts are designed to deliver parts in a specific order for lean automotive manufacturing, ensuring smooth material flow without the need for forklifts. They also help automotive manufacturers streamline production while adhering to forklift-free facility directives.
Tugger Carts
Tugger carts can replace forklifts for efficient material flow in both the heavy truck and agricultural equipment industries. These carts are ideal for moving parts from point A to point B, whether raw or packaged, in a safe and streamlined manner.
Cart Systems
Full cart systems are a flexible and safe alternative to forklifts in logistics, designed to handle a variety of material handling needs. By limiting forklift use, businesses can reduce safety risks with modular carts—such as a series of tugger carts or flexible mother daughter systems.
Flow Racks for your Industry
Warehouse and lineside flow racks
Standard warehouse and lineside flow racks are used to present parts to the operator’s point of use. For picking totes, flat front racks improve density and ease of use. For picking parts, stagger and tilt racks improve pick windows and operator ergonomics. All racks can be customized to your tote or box sizes along with available footprint to create FIFO flow and manage inventory levels.
Under Pallet Flow Racks
Under pallet flow racks enhance material flow in warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution operations. They allow for high-density storage of lower-volume SKUs, product organization in First In, First Out (FIFO) order, and streamlined inventory management for lean logistics.
Workstations for your Industry
Subassembly Work cells
Subassembly work cells enhance lean manufacturing in the aerospace industry. They create an ergonomic environment for assembling components, support inbound and outbound material flow, and enable custom part presentation.
Integrated Workspace
A custom workstation can fit the specific processes of appliance manufacturing—whether it’s for specialized assemblies like blenders or dual-sided production lines.
Mobile Workstations
In the heavy truck industry, mobile workstations provide flexible, ergonomic solutions that improve material flow by keeping parts, tools, and components within easy reach of operators.
Multi-operator Workspaces
Multi-operator workspaces in agricultural equipment manufacturing allow multiple operators to work together on large assemblies, improving efficiency and reducing bottlenecks. This lean agriculture solution keeps materials organized and accessible.
Kitting, Inspection, and Pick, pack, and ship applications for your industry
Kitting and Pack Out Stations
Kitting and pack-out stations are custom workstations designed to streamline the assembly, packaging, and labeling processes by efficiently combining materials, products, and necessary components. These stations help optimize material flow, reduce unnecessary lifting and handling, and maximize space while promoting an ergonomic work environment. By integrating these tasks into one seamless station, lean logistics operations benefit from improved efficiency, reduced errors, and faster turnaround times.
Kitting cells
Kitting cells are custom designed to streamline the combination of specific parts in the order and sequence to be supplied. The design needs to integrate flow racks, workstations, carts, and packaging to correctly support the kitting process and material flow. Correctly designed cells will help optimize material flow, reduce unnecessary lifting and handling, and maximize space while promoting an ergonomic work environment. Integrating these tasks into one seamless design for lean logistics provides improved efficiency, reduced errors, and faster lead times.
Inspection Stations
Inspection stations need to be flexible enough to support different parts and quality tasks but not overburdened with extra material. Lighting and ease of use are key considerations, as are Class A surfaces to protect parts during the inspection process. Addons like shadow boards, small bins, and laptop shelves help to reduce space while maintaining full functionality.
Pick, pack, and Ship Lines
Pick, pack, and ship activities are increasing being combined into single cells to support new business demands. Increased web sales, expanded product lines, and higher customer demand are all overloading legacy pack and ship operations. Automation is excessively expensive and adds lengthy implementation times. Kitting and inspection activities can be integrated with pack and ship functions to reduce part handling, improve quality, reduce inventory, and shorten lead times.
Tool and shadow board carts for your industry
Shadow Board Design Software
Say goodbye to tracing parts on graph paper and hoping nobody spills coffee. Advances in image rendering are available at your fingertips to make shadow board design simple and accurate. All types and varieties of tools and parts can be laid out, photographed, and turned into a board design that will incorporate depths and finger picks for easy operator access.
Shadow Board and Cart Combinations
Combine shadow boards with custom carts for superior functionality. Whether your shadow boards are holding parts or tools, they need a secure way to travel between use locations. Custom carts hold exactly what is required and nothing more, eliminating junk collection, and added features like drawer slides, locking cabinets, and different tool holding surfaces create fully mobile functionality. The benefits are easy to see.
Packaging for Your Industry
Protective Packaging
Protective packaging for aerospace is designed to safeguard delicate parts while ensuring compliance with foreign object debris (FOD) restrictions. By using high-density, custom-machined plastic and foam kit boxes instead of traditional materials like wood or cardboard, aerospace manufacturers can protect sensitive components while maintaining efficient material flow. Not only does this approach reduce damage risk, but it also supports lean manufacturing in the aerospace industry with organized, easily identifiable parts for fast assembly and less handling.
Customized Packaging
Customized packaging in automotive applications is designed to meet the unique challenges of part presentation and handling, especially in complex, high-variability environments like vehicle assembly. Standard packaging is insufficient for these operations. Lean automotive manufacturing—such as totes with custom inserts, bag frames on carts, minomi carts, and visual kit trays—help organize and streamline material flow. These tailored solutions improve space utilization, reduce handling time, and make sure parts are readily available.
Reusable Packaging
Reusable packaging offers significant benefits for material flow and lean operations in both heavy truck manufacturing and agricultural equipment industries. In heavy truck manufacturing, despite challenges posed by production volume fluctuations and high customization, reusable packaging solutions can streamline part handling and improve quality by reducing waste and lowering costs. Similarly, in agricultural equipment manufacturing, reusable packaging ensures efficient part supply and synchronization with build volume—whether used from supplier to assembly or within the facility itself to maintain smooth material flow.
Trusted Lean Material Flow Solutions
Our material handling experts are ready to design solutions for your specific processes and products. Reach out to us with questions or to request a quote.