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Water spider route plan (mizusumashi)
A water spider, or mizusumashi, is a material handler who runs a fixed route at fixed times: picks parts at the supermarket, delivers them to each station, collects empty containers and kanban, and is back before the next trip. This template plans that route. Page 1 lists the stops in order with the arrival time, what is delivered and collected, time at the stop and travel to the next, then the route time against the route cycle and the cart load per trip. Page 2 is a trip log for a shift, a space to sketch the route, the rules of the route and a worked example. The Excel version works out trips per shift, containers per trip and cart spaces for each part, time at each stop from the containers it gets, arrival and departure minutes, route time against the cycle with a check, and a trip log with lateness, route minutes, missed stops and shortages.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use a water spider route plan
- When setting up a water spider for a line or a cell for the first time.
- When operators leave their stations to fetch parts or take away empties.
- When the route keeps running late or stations run short between trips.
- When demand, the product mix or the line layout changes.
How to fill it in
- 1
Set the route cycle
Pick how often the route runs, for example every 20 minutes. Many plants set it as a multiple of the pitch. Trips per shift = available minutes ÷ route cycle, rounded down.
- 2
List the stops in order
Supermarket first, then each station in the order you will walk or drive past it. Note one-way aisles and crossings.
- 3
Work out what each trip carries
For each part, containers per shift = demand ÷ quantity per container, and per trip = containers per shift ÷ trips. Round up to size the cart.
- 4
Time the route
Walk it with a stopwatch: picking at the supermarket, time at each stop, travel between stops and back. Add them up.
- 5
Check it fits with time to spare
Route time ÷ route cycle should leave a margin for a problem at a station or a busier trip. If it does not fit, cut stops or lengthen the cycle.
- 6
Run it and log every trip
Planned and actual departure, return, stops missed and shortages found. A route that is often late needs a new plan, not a faster water spider.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: a 20-minute route feeding four stations and the end of an assembly line, 440 available minutes, 22 trips a shift (illustrative).
- Per trip: 1 container of brackets, 2 of harnesses, 2.5 of covers on average (2 on some trips, 3 on others) and 1 bundle of cartons, 6.5 containers in all.
- Supermarket: 90 s + 6.5 × 30 s = 285 s. Stops: 50 + 70 + 80 + 50 s, plus 60 s at the end of the line to collect finished goods kanban: 310 s.
- Travel: 110 s to the first station, 40 + 40 + 40 + 55 s between stops and 140 s back: 425 s.
- Route time = 285 + 310 + 425 = 1,020 s = 17.0 minutes, 85% of the 20-minute cycle, with 3 minutes spare. The cart needs 1 + 2 + 3 + 1 = 7 container spaces.
The route fits with 3 minutes spare a trip. The trip log in the first week showed the 10:00 trip late most days, behind a forklift unloading at the same crossing, so the forklift run moved to 10:30.
Common mistakes
Delivering what looks low
The kanban collected on the last trip decide what comes on the next. Topping up by eye brings back the overstock the route was meant to remove.
A route with no spare time
A route planned at 100% of the cycle runs late the first time a station has a problem, and every station after it waits.
Adding jobs to the water spider
Each extra task makes the route late. Change the plan first, then the job.
Fixing shortages on the next trip
A shortage found on the route goes to the team leader straight away. Waiting 20 minutes can stop the line.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
LeanSuite runs a plant's daily lean routines in one platform: anyone on the floor raises a problem by scanning a machine's QR code and adding a photo, rules route it to the right owner with a due date set by priority, and it can be escalated from tier to tier.
In the lean glossary
FAQ
Water spider route plan (mizusumashi): common questions
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