Improving the productivity of a packaging line using lean manufacturing tools and simulation

This work describes the utilization of lean manufacturing tools and simulation to improve the operations and the productivity of a packaging line of visual communication boards at Bi-silque S.A., one of the most recognized Portuguese companies in its business area. The case study reported in this paper is the outcome of the business internship program sponsored by the Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering of University of Aveiro for the students in the Industrial Management and Engineering master program. The system-in-analysis, the packaging line, is one of the most important lines of the company being in charge of packaging visual communications boards (memos) from several upstream assembly lines. The packaging line was clearly unbalanced and the throughput was below the necessary target (to meet market demand). The operation of the line was stabilized, the main problems were identified and a line balancing action was performed with productivity improvements of about 40%. It was also developed a simulation study, for this line, in order to evaluate the utilization of a material handling robot. The outcome of the study was taken into account by the decision-makers and some recommendations are being implemented. This work is a case study highlighting the advantage of using a experiential learning approach on industrial engineering courses and evidencing the benefits that SMEs can get from the use of lean manufacturing tools and simulation to improve their operations.