IMPROVING EFFICIENCY OF WAREHOUSE AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF A PROCESSED FRUIT FACTORY IN CHACHOENGSAO PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the root causes of warehouse and inventory management problems in a processed fruit factory located in Chachoengsao Province and to compare operational performance before and after efficiency improvement. An action research approach was employed through the integration of logistics tools, including the Fishbone Diagram, Swimlane Workflow Process Map, ABC-XYZ analysis, cycle counting, cycle time analysis, and warehouse layout redesign. Data were collected from inventory audits over a six-month period, along with document review and internal process analysis within the warehouse.

The results revealed that the primary causes of the problems were process complexity (40%) and storage space limitations (30%). After implementation of the improvement measures, inventory discrepancies decreased from 15% to 5%, data accuracy improved from 82% to 96%, storage space utilization increased from 70% to 90%, operational steps were reduced from 12 to 8 steps, processing time per transaction decreased from 60 minutes to 40 minutes, and inventory holding costs declined by 32.93%. The findings demonstrate that the systematic integration of logistics tools can reduce operational waste and significantly enhance warehouse management efficiency in the agro-processing industry.

Keywords: Warehouse Management, Inventory Management, Processed Fruit Factory, ABC-XYZ Analysis, Warehouse Layout Design