Waste Analysis on a Production Line - A Case Study

Sammanfattning: This study aims to assist Swedish company Clemondo AB in reducing waste in production, where the goal is to determine where waste appears as well as make suggestions for potential improvements, which are presented as Key Performance Indices (KPIs) and minimized manufacturing costs. Citation chaining is used to retrieve extant literature, while other productions and process-related information are gathered through observations and discussions. The production and its value-creating activities are modeled through Environmental Value Stream Mapping (EVSM). Factors causing downtimes and other waste are identified via a Production Performance Matrix (PPM). The results show that actual production times differ from the planned times, which causes waste in terms of time consumption and energy consumption. Moreover, downtimes are present and are normally caused by the same factors. Wasted materials in terms of blend spillage and discarded packaging materials are also present in production. All waste ultimately increases the manufacturing cost, and it is concluded that the company spends approximately 13 000 SEK more on each batch production due to existing waste. In order to optimize production, and specifically to reduce waste, four KPI measurements are suggested for the company: (1) measuring all times in production including occurring downtimes, (2) frequently calculating OEE, (3) tracking material spillage, and (4) measuring energy consumption. Potential future studies include further investigating other areas in production where waste may be present, as well as continuously doing follow-ups to see how changes affect waste optimization.