Designing manufacturing process flow is not only critical for new plants or lines, it is also an important part of a continuous improvement program to reduce waste.
Before designing a process flow, it is critical to understand the business goals of the company. This determines how flexible the process should be when introducing new suppliers and/or new products.
Once business goals are established, Toward Zero identifies resource constraints by reviewing process flow and the resources required at each operation. Depending on your unique needs, we use best industry practices understand current requirements as well as forecast future requirements.
Often in a manufacturing process, maximum efficiency is gained by pushing some processes to the point of failure and designing around the failure. If an operation fails and stops, but a queue prevents the next operation for failing, in many cases the overall process runs at a higher efficiency by maximizing throughput. Often this can seem counter-intuitive, but designing for failure is an important consideration for optimizing manufacturing process flow.
The biggest key to any process flow engagement is ensuring that the process is aligned with the culture and technology being used. Toward Zero uses proven methods to align an organization and minimize waste.