Case Studies
Food Processing
Overview
 Food processing poses a number of unique
challenges for effective scheduling, including high volumes,
low yield rates, and preservation concerns. Visual8 has overcome
these challenges in a number of SIMUL8-Planner system implementations
for major food processors.
The Challenge: Stick to the (Production) Plan
The Operations Department at a large U.S. ground beef processing
plant had made a startling realization: no one was in control
of their production schedule. Several scheduling teams were required
to manage the flow of incoming beef at different areas of the
plant, and each used their own methods to prioritize and fulfill
orders. In the absence of a centralized planning and scheduling
system, the production plan lacked coordination.
Costly overtime production was frequently
required to complete daily processing at overloaded stations.
When overtime wasn’t
enough, unprocessed beef had to be discarded, wasting time and
money.
The Operations Department recognized the need for a centralized
method of production planning and more clearly defined scheduling
standards. To accomplish this, they needed a tool that could
help them coordinate decision-making and establish best practices.
The SIMUL8-Planner Solution
 To minimize risk and to accommodate the
facility’s expanding
IT systems, a multiple-phase project was planned. SIMUL8-Planner’s
scalable and flexible architecture would allow the system to
grow with the facility.
The initial phase of the project focused on analyzing the flow
of material from other areas of the plant into the ground beef
processing area. This involved the development of a detailed
production model that incorporated information on shift patterns,
material flows, beef types, and production rates. By adjusting
these operating parameters through an intuitive spreadsheet interface
and executing a realistic production lineup through the model,
one could determine the full impact of each parameter on production
capacity.
Once the full potential of a SIMUL8-Planner system had been
recognized, the Operations Department was eager to expand the
system to analyze the daily decision-making processes that took
place during production. By identifying the many factors that
influenced the decision-making of the scheduling teams, Visual8
was able to develop a sophisticated scheduling algorithm that
would support consistent scheduling of work throughout the plant.
The algorithm provided the capacity to prioritize 45 different
decision factors, including minimizing time-in-system for ground
beef, satisfying order due date requirements, and minimizing
the number of changeovers at work stations. This algorithm provided
the Operations Department with an unprecedented level of understanding
and control over the scheduling process.
 After extensive testing and refinement
of the scheduling algorithm to ensure its effectiveness, the
offline analytical system was
expanded to include SIMUL8-Planner’s Adaptive Planning
and Scheduling capabilities. Manual data imports were supplemented
with links to the facility’s order management system and
material flow database for increased responsiveness. An expanded
suite of reports was developed to support continuous monitoring
of plant performance, by comparing it to the target performance
level as defined by the production model.
Most importantly, the
system’s
flexibility and responsiveness allowed the production schedule
to be updated in mere seconds,
to account for changes such as machine breakdowns or absent
labor, or to reflect ongoing refinement of the scheduling
algorithm.
All of this could be achieved from a Windows-based interface,
making it accessible even for non-technical users.
 Based on
the successful implementation of the SIMUL8-Planner Adaptive
Planning and Scheduling system, similar systems
were deployed at 16 of the organization’s other beef
processing facilities. SIMUL8-Planner’s robust and
flexible system architecture allowed these additional systems
to be deployed
quickly and easily, with minimal modification required to
adapt to each location’s unique operating conditions
and objectives.
The
Benefits SIMUL8-Planner Adaptive Planning and
Scheduling has brought order to this beef producer’s
once fragmented and inadequately controlled scheduling process.
Schedulers can now coordinate
their efforts more effectively by applying consistent scheduling
standards through the centralized system. The result has been
dramatically increased throughput and more satisfied orders.
Gradual implementation of the system
through a phased approach provided a highly cost-effective
solution. And the ability to
deploy the system at 16 additional sites with minimal additional
effort dramatically increased the project’s ROI. Today,
estimated savings across all 17 sites are in excess of $50 million
per annum based on higher yields and reduced overtime requirements.
Contact
Us
Contact Visual8 Corporation at 1-800-878-3373
or info@visual8.com to find out how a SIMUL8-Planner Adaptive
Planning and Scheduling
system can improve and control your production planning techniques.
|
