If you are looking to improve your production processes, an often-neglected area for improvement is start-up & shutdown periods.
This is the period at the start of a day, or campaign, where the machines are turned on and materials starts to fill the line and then the reverse for shutdowns. As the line cannot run at full speed during these periods it impossible for the line to be as efficient as during normal operations. These inefficient periods can last minutes, hours or even days. Manufacturers often compensate for this by increasing batch sizes and campaign lengths which results in over-production.
Thank you to Supply Chain Data Analytics for inviting me to write an article about my experience of start-up & shutdown from a process improvement perspective and how I used computer simulation to support good decision making.
If you are interesting in getting more out of you production line then take a look at the article, and if you think it could help your business then get in touch with me for a chat or take a look at our service Simulation for Improvement.