How to modify the Lean, 6 Sigma and Theory of Constraints methodologies for the process industry

the ultimate guide to process factory performance

The process industry (food & beverage, liquids, sheet goods, solid & fluid packaging operations) differs from the parts manufacturing and assembly industry, where the Lean, 6 Sigma and Theory of Constraints methodologies were developed. The unique characteristics of supply chains in the process industry make them less responsive to a one-size-fits-all approach. Performance optimisation in … Read more

How to design a process factory that fits into a complex supply chain

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Process factories (food & beverage, liquids, sheet goods, solid & fluid packaging operations) must satisfy the competing needs of high volumes, high variety and high variability. All of this in a capital intensive environment where throughput is limited by equipment rather than labour and where product changeover issues are very complex. Process factory design is … Read more

The 9 most important operational leverage points in a complex supply chain

the ultimate guide to process factory performance

What does your customer value? The harsh reality is that customers often don’t care if your plant is state-of-the-art. They generally don’t care if your warehousing and transportation network is cutting edge.

Usually, what they care about is how quickly products move to and through their supermarket or factory, whether the product is to specification

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7 fundamental differences between food & beverage factories and car factories

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Lean manufacturing was developed using the Toyota Production System. Hence it is instructive for those working in the food & beverage industry to examine how food & beverage manufacturing is different when compared to car manufacturing. We have come up with 7 fundamental differences and would love to hear from you if you can think … Read more

How to fix a supply disaster at a high technology factory

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You know the signs, the factory keeps missing production schedules and you keep depleting finished goods inventory. Its now so bad that you are missing vital customer orders and some customers are threatening to delist. This is a common story and here we use a scenario based on actual events to illustrate how an understanding … Read more

What is Stock Aggregation and how can it benefit my supply system?

What is Stock Aggegation - Header Image

Production variability and demand variability causes congestion in supply chains. One way to reduce this congestion is to reduce the variability by addressing its causes. Another and more subtle way to deal with congestion is by combining multiple sources of variability. This is known as variability pooling, and has a number of supply chain applications. … Read more

Why use Contribution Margin and Octane measures rather than Unit Costing when comparing options for operational change?

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Activity Based Costing (ABC) has replaced older methods of cost accounting. Overheads are apportioned to products on the basis of how much of the overhead activities are actually required by the product. However, when comparing options for operational change we use Contribution Margin or Octane rather than Unit Cost (whether unit costs are derived from … Read more