Company: India's Leading Biscuit Company
Challenge: India's Leading Biscuit Company faced increasing production costs due to high scrap rates and extended downtime during changeovers between different biscuit varieties. They aimed to improve overall efficiency and reduce waste.
- Define: The project team identified excessive biscuit breakage and long changeover times as the key areas for improvement. They defined the customer as the consumer who expects consistent quality biscuits.
- Measure: The team collected data on scrap rates, changeover times, and production line downtime. They used Pareto charts to identify that breakage during packaging and long changeover times for different biscuit shapes were the biggest contributors to waste.
- Analyze: Using cause-and-effect diagrams (Ishikawa diagrams), the team brainstormed potential causes for breakage and long changeovers. These included:
- Improve: Based on the analysis, the team implemented the following solutions:
- Control: The team monitored the impact of the implemented solutions on scrap rates and changeover times. They used control charts to ensure the improvements were sustained.
- Breakage Rate Reduction: The scrap rate for broken biscuits during packaging was reduced by 20%.
- Changeover Time Reduction: Changeover time between biscuit varieties was reduced by 30%.
- Overall Cost Savings: The combined improvements resulted in significant cost savings for ABC Biscuit Company.
- Data-driven decision making: Using data to identify and prioritize areas for improvement is crucial for successful LSS implementation.
- Employee engagement: Involving employees in the problem-solving process fosters ownership and ensures effective implementation of solutions.
- Continuous improvement: LSS is an ongoing process. The team at India's Leading Biscuit Company identified opportunities for further improvements, such as automating specific packaging tasks.
