Forced kitting saves the day once. Make cross-docking a habit, and the AS/RS becomes decoration

One critical part is short. By the rules, this production order should not go live.

But the line is waiting and planning is pushing. So someone clicks “force kitting complete” and the order is released anyway. When the missing part arrives, it does not go into the automated warehouse. A person carries it straight to the line.

Once is no big deal. The trouble is that when shortages pile up, this side path called “cross-docking” turns into the main road. This post covers what the kitting check actually checks, how forced kitting opens the door, and how it slowly leaves the automated warehouse sitting idle.

1. Kitting check: before release, are the critical parts enough?

Kitting means every part a production order needs has arrived.

But not every part has to be there. Parts come in two kinds:

• Critical parts: parts the assembly cannot do without; if one is missing, the line cannot move on. Which parts count as critical is decided by process engineering, not by logistics. Only process engineering knows which missing part blocks every step after it.
• Non-critical parts: if they are missing, the work can go on and they get fitted later. Fitting later has a cost too: one more delivery, one more assembly step.

The kitting check is about critical parts, and the question is not “is it in stock” but “is there enough for this order”. It runs before the production order is released to downstream systems: the WMS checks stock by part number, and only when there is enough for this order does the order go through.

If there is not enough, the WMS reports the shortage and purchasing chases the supplier. What purchasing brings back is an arrival time. Whether the order waits for the part or gets forced onto the line depends on whether the line can afford to wait that long.

2. Forced kitting: the order goes live short, and the late part cross-docks

Forced kitting means the critical parts are clearly not enough, and someone manually lets the order go live anyway.

The real question is how the late batch of parts moves once it arrives. In an automated warehouse, a part normally goes all the way round:

• Normal path: into the AS/RS → picked out → sorted → AGV to the line
• Cross-dock: skips the AS/RS, skips picking and sorting, bypasses the automation, and people carry it to the line

Why is cross-docking fast? Going into the AS/RS means put-away and queuing; going out means waiting for a task and then sorting. Cross-docking skips all of that, so the part can be delivered the moment it arrives. That is why every rescue uses it. The cost: this batch never touched a single piece of equipment. The system took no part in moving it and only records it afterwards. The system goes from directing the parts to keeping a log of them.

As the last post explained, parts on an automated line are moved into the line-side location automatically once the AGV delivers them. Cross-docked parts are carried up by people and skip that step. If the after-the-fact entry is missed or late, the line-side inventory is wrong too.

3. When cross-docking becomes routine, automation sits idle

An occasional cross-dock is a rescue. Once shortages get serious, cross-docking turns from the exception into the norm:

• The AS/RS and AGVs sit idle while people push carts of parts
• The system is left entering data after the fact and can no longer direct the floor
• The books drift too: parts never went through the AS/RS, so stock depends on people catching up
• The efficiency the automation was bought for never shows up

An earlier post covered “the system gets sidelined three months after go-live”. This is another road to the same place: the system is not broken, it is just that more and more parts go around it.

To keep it under control, start by managing forced kitting as an exception:

• Log every force: who approved it, which part was short, which path the late part took
• Track the weekly cross-dock share: if it is rising, shortages are getting worse; go to purchasing and planning instead of adding more people to carry parts
• Move the kitting check earlier: if you only check right before release, forcing is the only option left when a part is short; check a few days ahead and purchasing has time to chase

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At your plant, who has to sign off before a forced kitting is allowed?