What does Material Flow mean?

Material flow is the movement of goods through a company and its supply chain, from raw materials and parts to work-in-progress and finished products. It covers the transport, handling, packaging and storage steps that move items from one stage to the next.

Internal and external material flow

Internal material flow is the movement within a site (production, warehouse, picking); external material flow links suppliers, the company and customers through inbound and outbound logistics.

Why material flow matters

A smooth material flow moves goods consistently and predictably; a poor one has stops and starts that cost time, money and space, and can cause excess inventory, longer lead times and late reorders. Regular material-flow analysis finds and removes those bottlenecks.

Transport is the external leg of material flow. In the Planner Module from IMPARGO the road legs between sites are planned with route, per-country toll and cost, so the flow to and from the company stays reliable.