Wegmans Frozen Cookie Capacity IncreaseFinal Project Presentation
Richard Latham, Bridget Eggers, TylerBrent, Valeria Gonzalez
A DAY IN THE PROCESS
Frozen Cookies
Commercial Cookies
Problem Definition
Current state
High variability in and around theproduction line
There is a bottleneck at mixing
Underutilization of resources
Staffing issues
Need for overtime
Lack of standardization
Production delays
Target state
Establish synchronized flow betweenscaling, mixing, dividing, and packagingsteps
Increase production capacity
Maximize resources utilization
Reduce/Eliminate the need for overtime
Implement standardized work
Establish schedule flexibility
Track and sustain production system
Observations
Variability derives from other production lines thatare sharing resources
Changeover time is not accounted for in scheduling
Planned vs. Actual cycle times are not consistent
Labor intensive tasks on Mixer yields highvariability in cycle times
Unplanned production adjustments affectscheduled availability of shared resources
Customer needs & Eng. Requirements
Engineering Metrics
Score
Engineering Requirement
Measure of Performance
Ideal Value
MarginalValue
27
Food safety risks
Rate of occurences
0
0
18
Ergonomic impacts
Ergonomic Study, Before/After
0
0
36
Quality impacts
Rate of occurences
0
0
72
Throughput
Production efficiency percentage
100% +/- 0%
90% +/- 10%
57
Characterization of all process steps
Variability and production efficiencypercentage
100%
85%
21
Manufacturing Manager, BakeshopProduction Area Manager,Manufacturing Engineer, Line TeamLeader and Production Line Workersagree with proposed solutions.
Evaluation checklist
All agree
All agree
18
Implemented solution are consistentacross crews and shifts.
Binary (yes/no)
Yes
Yes
27
Tools that make system runsmoothly.
Current vs. Future productivity rate
20% inc mixer10% incdivider
10% inc mixer5% inc divider
39
Sustainable solution methods.
Evaluation checklist
All agree
All agree
Proposed Solutions
Improvement Task
Priority
Objective
Operations Management
Update schedule with more accurate times
1
Make mixer its own resource and develop a single dailymixer schedule.
Create changeover matrix for mixer and divider for use inscheduling.
Add Changeover time into schedule
Offset break schedules so another operator can run the mixer
Add in breaks of workers into schedule if breaks cannot be offset
A way to know if there is enough time to do more batches for the night
Have schedule of spiral 2 and commercial oven line up better
Mixer schedule located by the mixer
Mixing Prep Activities
Do justification analysis to have a part timer help open boxes when mixing choc chipcookies
2
To make a decision about whether a second operator isjustifiable in the frozen cookie mixer process (for cookieswith inclusions).
Mixing Clean Up Kaizen
Create system that allows the sanitation employee to be at the mixer at the requiredtime to clean it
3
Create a system that allows the sanitation employee to beat the mixer at the right time.
Standard Work Implementation
Provide Work Instructions
4
Create work instructions for revised processimprovements
Scaling Process improvement
Modify cookies recipes format
5
Increase usability of recipe by removing the need forcalculations to find the number of bags/boxes needed.
Operations Management
•Divider and mixerchangeover matrix wascreated to be added intothe daily schedule.
•Sustainment: Updatecycle times. Add newcookie types, as well asremove discontinuedcookies. Update cycletimes for each machine.
•FutureRecommendations:Update the commercialdividing change overmatrix. Create moredetailed mixer changeover matrix.
Operations Management
•A mixing tracking sheet was developed for the operator to fill out toinvestigate the deviations that exist between scheduled and actualproduction at the mixer.
•A scheduling tool was created for the team leader to create a moreaccurate daily schedule.
•This schedule can be updated throughout the day as productionplans change.
Operations Management
•Updated cycle times
•Sanitation
•Breaks
•Change over
Updated Engineering Requirements
Updated Engineering Requirements
Sustainment:
•Update cycle times as well aschange over times
•Update sanitation times
•Train all team leaders
•Update scheduling toolinstructions
Future Recommendations:
•Incorporate mixer scheduleinto the ROSS system
•Separate changeover time andsanitation time
•Create similar tool for dividingschedule
•Integrate dividing times tocreate dividing schedule aswell
Operations Management
Mixing Prep Activities
• An experiment was conductedto determine if an additionalmixer operator wouldsynchronize mixing anddividing steps.
•Only high volume cookies wereanalyzed.
•Adding an additional operatorto the Sub Shop cookies andSub Shop with Nuts cookieswill have a production increaseof 50% and 86%, respectively(based on cost analysis).
Standard Work Implementation
•Standard work was created formixing top cookies for bothone operator and twooperators.
•This lists all best practices andaverage cycle times for eachjob element.
•This will help in training newmixing operators as well asimproving current processes.
Updated Engineering Requirements
Sustainment:
•Update rates
•Update job element times
•Update standard work withbest practices
Future Recommendations:
•Test on other types of cookies
•Create standard work for allcookies
Mixing Prep / Standard Work
Mixing Clean-Up Kaizen
Current Progress:
•Interviewed Jim Roode aboutsanitation processes
•Agreed that sanitation canwork on a schedule
•Suggested ideal state would bea one to two hour notice
•Sanitation employee will fillout sanitation section of theMixer Operator Time Sheet
Future Recommendation:
•Map information flowscenarios for mixer sanitation
•Collect data on sanitation cycletime
•Update schedule to includesanitation
Scaling Process Improvement
•Each recipe was updated toinclude a full bags and partialscolumn.
•Reduces possible errors incalculations and speeds up theprocess of pre-scaling
•Helps in training newoperators
Future Recommendation:
•Perform checks to ensure recipes are accurate.
Scaling Process Improvement
Positive Outcomes
•Better understanding of the current state of the production line.
•Provided tools that help with the decision making process on thefloor.
•Had weekly meetings with customer allowed everyone to always beup to speed. Communication was the most important element ofproject success.
•"Going to Gemba" was the best and most effective way to obtaininformation.
•Had contingency plans for delays.
Project Improvement Areas
•Timing of the project can greatly impact analysis of current state(i.e. seasonality).
•Align specific task with direct customer, this would facilitatecommunication and proper implementation.
•Project scope should not be determined until the current state of thesystem has been defined. Team needs to be prepared for scopechanges and scope creep with proper contingencies.
Future Recommendations
•Sustainment is just as important as making process changes andimprovements.
•Wegmans should have a kick off meeting at start of project (meetoperators, line leaders)
•Organizational Chart for people involved in project
•Responsibility matrix for project tasks (who to direct questions to)
•Better balance between defining process and implantation
