Analys av chipsproduktion Identifiering av flaskhalsar genom simulering

Abstract

strella AB is a Swedish food manufacturing company producing snack products, where maintaining a stable and efficient production flow is essential to meet increasing market demand and production requirements. Variations in process performance, equipment availability, and disturbances may create bottlenecks that reduce through-put and limit production capacity. The purpose of this bachelor thesis was therefore to analyze an existing potato chip production line through simulation in order to identify bottlenecks and evaluate potential improvement actions. The study was conducted through observations, production data collection, and dis-cussions with company representatives. Based on the collected information, a simula-tion model of the production system was developed using Discrete Event Simulation (DES) in the software Visual Components. The model was verified and validated against production data to ensure that it represented the real system in a reliable man-ner. Due to confidential reasons, detailed production data is not presented in this re-port. Bottlenecks were identified using the Average Active Period Method (APPM), which evaluates machine activity over time. The analysis identified two processes with indi-cations of flow-related limitations. To evaluate improvement potential, an experiment was conducted by modifying maintenance-related parameters, specifically Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). The results showed a 3.5 percent increase in throughput during one year of produc-tion, indicating that maintenance improvements contribute positively to production performance. However, the results also suggest that additional factors beyond mainte-nance influence the overall system capacity.