The Challenge
A biscuit manufacturer was preparing a £3M investment in one of its production lines. The plan was a Lean redesign with more automation on it.
Three things were unresolved. Nobody could put a reliable figure on the labour the automation would take out. The product mix for the rebuilt line had not been settled. And the rebuild itself risked a stock build to cover the gap in supply, which ties up cash and eats into shelf life.
The Solution
We created a value stream model of the line as it would run after the redesign, then used the model to test the decisions that were still open. It covered the equipment, the crewing, the changeovers, and the stock the business would need to carry through the rebuild.
Lean Redesign
The line was redesigned on Lean principles and then run in the model rather than on paper. That showed how the new layout behaved under real cycle times, changeovers and downtime.
Automation and Crewing
With the line modelled, crewing could be worked out for each option instead of estimated. That identified where automation genuinely took labour out, and where it only moved the same work to another point on the line.
Product-Line Allocation Scenarios
Several alternative scenarios were built for combining products onto the line. Each one went through the model, so throughput, changeover time and crewing could be compared side by side before anything was committed.
Stock Build and Risk
The transition was planned in the model. Working through the plan showed how to keep supply going on the least stock build, which held down both the cash tied up and the risk of running short during the rebuild.
The Results
What came out of it:
A £3M investment tested before it was committed, with the redesigned line modelled rather than estimated.
Labour savings identified through automation, showing where the redesign actually reduced crewing on the line.
Alternative product combinations compared, so the mix for the rebuilt line was chosen on modelled throughput rather than habit.
Minimum stock build through the transition, planned from the model instead of covered by a safety margin.
The manufacturer went into the £3M commitment with the rebuilt line’s output and crewing already tested.