Business Process Re-Engineering to Digitalise Quality Control Checks for Reducing Physical Waste and Resource Use in a Food Company

Sustainability

Guillermo Garcia-Garcia¹  Guy Coulthard²  Konstantinos Salonitis³  John Patsavellas³  Sandeep Jagtap³  Mohamed Afy-Shararah³ 

[1] Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK;Richard Hochfeld Ltd., Orchard Place, Comp Road, Kent TN15 8LW, UK;Sustainable Manufacturing Systems Centre, School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Building 50, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK;

关键词: waste;    digitalisation;    business process re-engineering;    food manufacturing;    lean;    packing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su132212341

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Quality control is an essential element of manufacturing operations that reduces product defects and provides excellent products of the right specifications to the end consumer. Industry 4.0 solutions, such as digitalisation, along with lean manufacturing tools, may support quality control operations. This paper presents a case study of a food company wherein quality control checks were optimised using business process re-engineering to reduce physical waste and resource usage. Following close analysis of the company’s pack-house operations, it was proposed to adopt elements of Industry 4.0 by digitalising the quality control process. Implementing such a solution led to a reduction in the time needed to complete recorded checks, an increase in the time the pack-house quality control team spends with packers on the production lines, and the facilitation of defects identification. It also ensured that the product met the customers’ specifications and reduced the likelihood of rejection at the customers’ depot. The new system also enabled monitoring of each line in real-time and gathering of additional information faster and more accurately. This article proves how employing lean principles in combination with Industry 4.0 technologies can lead to savings in resources and a reduction in waste, which leads to improvements in operational efficiency.

【 授权许可】

Unknown