On the surface, it seems like a smart way to stay ahead: collect everything in advance so that production doesn’t get held up later. But in reality, advance kitting introduces complexity, creates inventory black holes, and consumes valuable labor, all without adding real value to your process.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at why advance kitting is holding your operation back, and how just-in-time material availability, especially when powered by smart storage systems, can eliminate these inefficiencies while improving traceability and flexibility.
Once parts are picked from their main storage locations and placed into kits, they’re in a no-man’s land: not in inventory, not on the production line. They’re in WIP limbo.
If a production schedule changes or a kit gets delayed, those parts may sit for days.
If someone needs those same parts for a different job, it’s nearly impossible to know what’s available without physically checking multiple kits.
Meanwhile, your ERP or MRP system still shows those parts as “used,” even though they’re just sitting in bins.
Result: You risk over-ordering parts you already have or running short on parts you thought were available, both of which cost time and money.
Advance kitting is labor-intensive. In a traditional rack-and-bin setup, locating and picking each part can take several minutes, especially if verification steps are required (lot codes, date codes, MPNs, etc.).
Multiply this by dozens of parts per kit and dozens of kits per day, and the labor hours quickly stack up.
Then there’s the time spent storing those kits, retrieving them, staging them again, and dealing with misplaced or incomplete kits.
Result: You’re paying skilled employees to perform low-value tasks like part hunting and label checking, often with little ROI.
Manually picked kits are prone to human error. The wrong part number, the wrong lot code, the wrong quantity, it only takes one small mistake to cause a big issue downstream.
Errors often aren’t discovered until production starts.
By then, production is stalled, and someone is rushing to find the correct part.
Result: Production delays, scrap, rework, and strained team communication, all caused by a process designed to prevent delays in the first place.
Instead of kitting days in advance, a just-in-time (JIT) approach ensures that parts are picked and delivered to the line right when they’re needed, not days or weeks ahead of time. Here’s how smart storage systems make that possible:
With smart storage, parts are picked on demand. They remain traceable, secure, and available for use in any job until the moment production actually requires them.
No more kitting inventory black holes.
No more guessing what’s actually available.
Every part is where it should be, with real-time location and quantity tracking.
Need the oldest lot? Or a part from a specific manufacturer? Or a certain date code range for a regulated build?
Smart storage systems pick based on your exact criteria, automatically. No more hunting, no more second-guessing, and no more manual verification steps.
Smart storage systems can communicate directly with your MES or ERP software:
Receive work order instructions.
Pick parts accordingly.
Transact them automatically as they’re retrieved.
This not only streamlines the material handling process, it also eliminates a huge chunk of manual data entry and tracking overhead.
When you stop kitting in advance, you open the door to more flexible production scheduling. If a work order gets bumped, you’re not stuck managing pre-picked kits or figuring out how to “unpick” material that’s already sitting in bins.
You can react to real-time conditions, like rush orders or parts shortages, without disrupting everything else.
Advance kitting may seem like a way to stay ahead, but in reality, it slows you down, wastes resources, and reduces visibility across your operation. By switching to a just-in-time material strategy, powered by smart storage, you can improve traceability, reduce labor costs, eliminate WIP uncertainty, and gain the flexibility your factory needs to thrive.
It’s not just about moving faster, it’s about moving smarter. And that starts by leaving advance kitting in the past.