Application of simulation in process improvement of palm oil mill FFB production: A case study

It is argued that simulation is the most widely used operation research technique in predicting the performance of a manufacturing process. However, it application in palm oil production process improvement seems to be rare. This research attempts to demonstrate the capability of simulation modeling in improving palm oil mill performance. Specifically, a fresh fruit bunch (FFB) plant for a local palm oil mill had been studied. Two simulation models representing the existing and improved plant had been developed and compared. The result showed 19.54% improvement in the palm oil mill performance. In addition, the developed simulation model can be used as a test bed for evaluating any future improvement before actual implementation carried out.