Manufacturers are constantly being asked to do more with what they already have. Production volumes increase, new models and products enter the mix, and component requirements change. And still, customers expect shorter lead times and consistent quality.
Yet the facility itself often stays the same size, and adding labor or expanding the building is rarely the easiest or most cost-effective answer. That makes the space around the production line especially valuable.
Unlike a warehouse, where layouts may offer more flexibility for expansion or reconfiguration, manufacturing facilities must work around assembly lines, machinery, conveyors, utilities, and established material routes. Maximizing the existing footprint becomes critical to increasing capacity and maintaining efficient workflows. But lineside space is also a productivity challenge. When operators leave their workstations to retrieve components, search through poorly organized inventory, reach into inconvenient storage locations, or wait for replenishment, production time is being consumed by activities that don't add value to the finished product.
Effective lineside storage addresses both sides of the equation. It allows manufacturers to fit more inventory into less space while making the right parts easier for workers to access at the point of use. In other words, space-efficient lineside storage isn't simply a way to organize materials; it’s imperative to increasing productivity and boosting an operation’s bottom line.
Lineside storage is the strategic placement of parts, materials, tools, and components close to where they're consumed in production. Instead of requiring operators to leave the line to retrieve what they need, materials are positioned to support the work taking place at the station.
The concept aligns naturally with Lean manufacturing. Lean operations aim to eliminate activities that consume resources without creating customer value, including waiting, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, defects, and inefficient material handling. Keeping necessary components close to production can reduce many of those waste sources.
Consider something as simple as walking for a part. A trip across the production floor may take only a few minutes. Multiply that trip by several operators, multiple times per shift, across hundreds of production days, and the impact becomes substantial. The same applies to searching through bins, repositioning containers, bending or reaching for parts, and waiting for materials to arrive.
Lineside storage removes that friction by positioning inventory around the process rather than forcing the process to accommodate the inventory. Space utilization is closely connected to that goal. Increasing storage density isn't valuable simply because more bins fit in a rack. The greater opportunity is what manufacturers can do with the space they recover: shorten material routes, reduce aisles, fit more SKUs at the point of use, create room for additional assembly capacity, or support growth without expanding the facility.
At its Simcoe, Ontario facility, Toyotetsu manufactures metal frame parts for vehicles including the Toyota RAV4, Corolla, and Lexus models. As the company prepared for significant growth, its existing material storage area became a challenge.
Toyotetsu anticipated a substantial increase in both the number of parts it would manufacture and production volumes for certain models. Components were stored in plastic boxes and totes, while operators drove tuggers through the facility to pick those parts, load them onto carts, and deliver them to the welding area. With more production coming, the existing tugging zone would become increasingly constrained.
UNEX worked with Toyotetsu and its distributor to redesign the flow rack system around the available space. The new configuration increased storage density, doubled rack length, reduced spacing between roller chutes, integrated with the plant's existing system, and eliminated an entire tugging aisle.
The result was 10% more floor space and enough additional storage capacity to accommodate a 30% increase in business. Fewer tugger aisles also simplified material movement, while designated and clearly marked storage locations helped team members find components quickly and accurately during the plant's 30-minute tugger cycles. The solution also supported Toyotetsu's Kaizen approach to continuous improvement. Its teams could disassemble, adjust, and reconfigure the flow racks as operational requirements changed. That flexibility helped support the Toyota Production System, including small batch sizes and frequent production lots.
The lesson goes beyond fitting more inventory into a smaller area. By increasing storage density and improving material organization, Toyotetsu created additional manufacturing capacity within its existing space without turning its new layout into another fixed constraint.
Learn how Toyotetsu used dynamic storage to gain 10% more floor space and prepare for a two-fold increase in production volume.
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDYWhile Toyotetsu demonstrates the plant-level impact of better space utilization, Daimler Trucks Components & Logistics shows what happens when that same thinking extends directly to the production line.
The Gastonia, North Carolina, operation runs around the clock, picking and assembling thousands of components used in commercial trucks and buses. As the business grew, space, speed, and accuracy became increasingly important.
The facility's original small-parts area was not designed for the level of activity it eventually had to support. Cardboard cartons were stored on pallets, workers cut boxes open to retrieve small fasteners, and stray parts and packaging accumulated around the area. At the same time, Daimler needed to quadruple the number of parts coming into the facility. UNEX helped create a supermarket-style pick area using FlowCell with SpanTrack Lane. After an initial trial, the system expanded to include 2,600 SpanTrack Lanes for small truck parts.
The new configuration required one-third less space than the previous system while allowing Daimler to store more product in the same footprint. Clearly labeled, visible inventory locations also created what the facility described as a quick and accurate pick point.
The productivity impact became even more apparent downstream. Those fasteners are delivered to FlowCell units at lineside, where Daimler employees assemble doors, windshield brackets, tire frames, and other components. Before materials were positioned effectively at the point of use, employees could leave their stations and walk approximately 300 feet to locate the parts they needed. That process could consume anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
With organized materials delivered directly to lineside workstations, operators can remain at their stations and focus on assembly rather than walking, retrieving, and sorting components.
That's precisely the type of waste Lean lineside storage is intended to address. Positioning materials where they're consumed reduces unnecessary travel and handling while helping maintain a steadier production workflow.
For Daimler, improving space utilization wasn't separate from improving productivity. Greater storage density allowed more materials to be organized closer to production, and better lineside access let workers spend more time producing.
Learn how Daimler Trucks Components & Logistics used FlowCell Workstations and SpanTrack Lanes to accelerate production and eliminate waste on its sub-assembly line.
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDYAt BraunAbility, lineside storage became even more closely integrated with the individual operator's workspace. BraunAbility manufactures wheelchair-accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. When the company prepared to produce an accessible version of Chrysler's Pacifica, it needed to build a new assembly line at its Indiana plant, and it had to move quickly.
Its previous pipe-and-joint storage structures were becoming a problem. The customized structures contained numerous components, could take hours or days to build, took up increasing amounts of floor space, and were difficult to change as production requirements evolved. Smaller pallet racks had been added, but they still didn't provide the flexibility the operation required.
BraunAbility tested FlowCell modular flow racks and ultimately deployed more than 100 units for the Pacifica line and other operations. The modular construction made it significantly easier to modify the production environment. Instead of cutting apart tubes and rebuilding a rack when another bin was required, BraunAbility standardized its FlowCell configuration so components could be swapped, adjusted, or expanded using simple tools.
But the productivity benefit went beyond faster reconfiguration. FlowCell workstations let employees performing subassembly tasks work from a defined station, with parts, tools, lights, and work surfaces within reach. Employees could weld components, modify doors, or preassemble parts without repeatedly moving between different locations to find the materials they needed.
Parts also flowed toward the operator, eliminating the need to reach under workbenches or continually handle bins. BraunAbility described the result as both safer and more efficient, saving workers steps and time.
That relationship between ergonomics and productivity is important. A workstation designed around the work itself can reduce reaching, walking, searching, and material handling while simultaneously making tasks more comfortable for employees. Modular workstations also allow tools, parts, work surfaces, and storage to function as one system rather than a collection of separate pieces operators have to navigate.
Learn how BraunAbility used UNEX FlowCell to replace clunky pipe and joint structures with flexible modular workstations and pick up the pace on its lineside operations.
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDYToyotetsu, Daimler, and BraunAbility started with different challenges, but their experiences illustrate several principles manufacturers can apply when evaluating their own lineside environments:
These principles turn lineside storage from a place to hold components into an active part of the production process. The right flow rack system can increase the amount of inventory available within the work area while reducing travel, improving ergonomics, and helping materials move consistently toward the point of use.
Manufacturing storage has to do more than hold parts. It must fit around production equipment, withstand demanding workflows, provide reliable access to components, and adapt as processes change. FlowCell gravity flow racks and SpanTrack carton flow give manufacturers complementary ways to create that type of dynamic storage.
By combining storage and ergonomic product presentation in the same structure, FlowCell helps manufacturers keep more components close to production without creating unnecessary congestion around the line. FlowCell can increase space utilization by up to 50% and production efficiency by up to 30%.
Key manufacturing benefits include adjustable, modular components that can be reconfigured as product and process requirements change; angled product presentation that minimizes reaching and keeps components accessible; mobile and stationary configurations for different lineside environments; and the ability to incorporate work surfaces, pick trays, return lanes, and other workstation components into the same system.
SpanTrack can be incorporated into FlowCell flow racks or installed in new and existing pallet racks, giving manufacturers options for lineside storage, manufacturing supermarkets, and other point-of-use applications. SpanTrack Lane creates dedicated lanes for predictable product locations, while SpanTrack Wheel Bed provides greater flexibility where component sizes or slotting requirements change frequently.
For manufacturing operations, gravity flow helps keep components available at the front of the rack, supports FIFO inventory rotation, enables rear replenishment without interrupting work at the front, and reduces the reaching and searching associated with static shelving. SpanTrack Lane can also reduce worker travel time by up to 75% in appropriate applications.
Manufacturers may not always be able to add floor space, labor, or equipment every time production requirements grow. But they can examine how effectively they use the space and labor they already have.
Toyotetsu demonstrates how increasing storage density can create capacity for growth. Daimler shows how organized inventory placed closer to production can reduce travel and support faster, more accurate work. BraunAbility illustrates how designing storage around the operator can improve ergonomics, productivity, and flexibility at the workstation itself.
The common thread is that effective lineside storage does more than hold parts. It puts the right components in the right place, presents them in a way that supports the operator, and gives the production environment room to change as manufacturing requirements evolve.
Contact UNEX today to learn how FlowCell, SpanTrack, and other dynamic storage solutions can help your manufacturing operation optimize lineside storage, maximize available space, reduce wasted motion, and keep materials and production moving efficiently.