The Challenge
A confectionery manufacturer wanted to know what its chocolate moulding line and downstream packing lines could really produce. Demand was rising, and the obvious move was to widen the moulding line. That only pays back if the widened section is what is holding output down in the first place.
The line data on its own could not settle that. Throughput, yield, waste and buffer storage all impact each other, so the effect of changing any one of them only shows up once the moulding and packing lines are run together.
The Solution
We built an interactive model of the moulding line and the packing operation it feeds. It covered material usage, throughput rates, buffer storage, efficiency, yield, waste and energy consumption.
Constraint Identification
The model showed where the line was constrained across moulding, cooling and packing, and which of those constraints were actually holding throughput back. Not everything that looked like a bottleneck on the floor turned out to be one.
Widening the Moulding Line
Widening the moulding line was tested in the model before any money was committed. The scenario showed how much extra output a wider line would support, and which constraint would take over once it was in.
Buffer Storage Optimisation
Buffer storage between moulding and packing was sized in the model instead of by rule of thumb. Keeping packing supplied without holding product longer than it needed to sit is where the waste reduction came from.
The Results
7% less waste, from better sized buffer storage between moulding and packing.
A tested case for widening the moulding line, covering the 20% extra output it would support and the constraint that would appear next.
Constraints mapped across moulding, cooling and packing, so it was clear which ones were worth spending money on.
One model of the whole operation, covering material usage, throughput, buffer storage, efficiency, yield, waste and energy consumption.
The manufacturer went into the investment decision knowing what the line does now, and what widening it would change.