A tool for productive and environmentally efficient food production management
Special Symposium - Innovations in Food Technology (LMC Congress)
Flexible Production, PAT & Modelling (Food-3a)
Keywords: food production, environmental system analysis, discrete event simulation, waste minimisation, productivity improvement
In the food industry new production management concepts are needed due to a range of factors, including an increasing diversity of products, low inventories, demands on short lead times and high delivery accuracy. By producing on demand from the customer (pull flow) when applicable inventories can bee minimized and costs reduced. A pull flow will in most cases lead to an increased frequency in production of specific products, which in turn requires flexible and stable production lines. On the other hand, in food production most losses of raw material occur when switching between products and at start up and shut down of a production line which in many cases favours a decreased production frequency. Loss of raw material and product not only increase cost, it also generally significantly increases environmental impact due to the large environmental impact of the agricultural step.
This contradiction clearly shows that in order to produce efficiently and environmentally friendly the production efficiency and environmental impact has to be considered simultaneously.
A tool for improving production efficiency based on the combination of discrete event simulation and environmental system analysis has been developed. The tool has been used for investigating how cost and revenues and environmental impact are linked to lead-time, production planning, inventory and delivery accuracy in selected food production lines. The tool has been developed on a case study basis and results from selected case studies will be presented.
Presented Wednesday 19, 15:00 to 15:20, in session Flexible Production, PAT & Modelling (Food-3open).
