Posted: February 3rd, 2015

Case washing machine

Response answer 4

Agree or disagree with the attached file, and support your argument with correct referencing. I NEED Correct Referencing/Evidence of wider reading, including refereed journal articles to support the discussions and arguments, Without this support, your discussions are not persuasive

Introduction
Plant layout design: is an essential tool for the success of plant operations, irrespective of technology or equipment available. For every layout design process, effectiveness of the design can be measured by taking the difference between the actual output(current operation capacity of the plant) against the expected output(set objective of designing the plant layout processes) Chase et al(2005) cite in Daniel Bäck Peter Johansson (2006) . Plant layout design can be utilize to address space, between equipment and personnel. Determining the free main path (walkways) and positions networks of machines, installations, stores, offices, in a production industry. Daniel Bäck Peter Johansson (2006).
Nigeria brewery Kudunda bottle packaging line 1(one).
The packaging process of Nigeria brewery(NB) consist sixteen stage processes, exclusive of the transportation of empty bottles from the bottle storage yard to the machine before packaging and from the machine to bottle cap storage after packaging.
The operation capacity of line one is 15,000 bottles of 60cl per hour which is equivalent to 900000cl/9000litres.
The process
A forklift  brings the case from the empty bottle storage yard which is 300metres from the de-pelletizing  machine, each of this wooden pallet contains 70 cases, each case contains 12 bottles of 60cl.
The wooden pellet is de-pelletize  and the plastic casing containing the bottles are manually loaded into a rolling conveyor.
The un-packer machine unpack the bottles from the plastic case and feed the bottles to the slant bar chain conveyor while the empty case continue on the rolling conveyor.
At this point the process is divided into two, empty bottle moving in a different direction while the case moving in another direction.
Bottles move to bottle washing machine; for washing, while the case goes to the case washing machine.
Further  proceed to “empty bottle inspector”(EBI). This is a robotic machine that uses camera, ultra-violet rays, gamma rays to ascertain the state of the bottle; if it is crack or broke.
The bottle is filled at the filling machine, therefore to the corking machine,  from there to pasteurizing machine. The pasteurizing machine  flashes hot water on the bottle to kill or reduce the active enzymes that may had come in contact with the content(drink) were brewing or the bottle while washing.
The next is stage is labeling the bottle by labeling machine as well as ascribing on the bottle production and expiring date.
This is followed by “full bottle inspector” (FBI). It identifies half-fill, uncorks, un-properly corked, and unlabelled bottles and remove them from the slat bar chain conveyor.
Packer machine feed the fill bottles into a case at the case waiting station. Therefore, pelletize the case on a wooden pellet at the pellet station for onward transportation by the forklift at the finished product store. That completes the packaging process.
Classifying the layout of the process and volume-variety characteristic as it affect layout.
The layout process or operation is a cell layout operation. Just as the name implies, cell layout operations involves more than one equipment and can allow many possible product line by going through the same stages as explain above. Cell layout can be compared can be  repeated with the same equipment on a wild possible range of volume-variety of product line. In terms of volume-variety cell layout can be compare with batch process.  (Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers and Robert Johnston, 2010).
How do the performance objectives of the process affect the layout.
The performance objectives of the process as it affect the layout need an urgent improvement.
For example; the empty case after passing through the case washer has a lead time of  approximately 20mintes before the filled bottle drinks begin to emerge at the packer machine. This result to manual feeding of the empty case into the packer machine which amount to duplication of task. the process is design in such that the empty case goes inside the packing machine but because of the delay on the bottle process route workers will be pilling up empty case until the bottle start emerging. In some batch the entire case have been piled up(like 150 empty case),  narrowing the gangway, before the bottle start coming out.
I suggest that the rolling conveyor been extend to the empty bottle yard to save cost incurred by the use of forklift to transporting  empty pellets for 300metres to the de-pelletizing machine. This will as well lengthen the distance covered by the case before been washed so that both will arrive at the packer machine at the same time. Although this will need some simulation to achieve. Another approach is by increasing the speed of filling machine.
Conclusion
In conventional manufacturing operations the objective is usually to minimize the distance traveled in (or time taken to get through) the operation. Layout seems practical while process operation is more of conception. A good layout identifies objective of a facility, the product(s) characteristic, quantity of inventories, level of activity, specified procedure of processing a product and time Daniel Bäck Peter Johansson (2006). Process operation present a benchmark of, quality of a product, speed, dependability, flexibility (ability to be improved) and cost-effectiveness of process and product (Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers and Robert Johnston, 2010).

Packaging  flowchart of Nigeria Brewery
Un-packer
machine

De-packing machine

Full bottle inspector (FBI)

Labeling machine

Pasteurizing machine

Filling Machine

Empty Bottle
Inspector (EBI)

Bottle Washer
machine

Case washing machine

Reference:

Anonymous, packaging manager Nigeria brewery kaduna kudenda (2015) Unstructured Interview [in person]. Packaging process of Nigeria brewery kaduna kudenda, Interviewed by Blessing Pulife, 30th January 2015 GMT 14:00.
Johansson, P. (2006). A model for effective development of plant layouts and material handling systems. 1st ed. [ebook] Institutionen för teknik och design, pp.1 to 67. Available at: http://www.vxu.se/bib/diva/uppsatser/ (Accessed 29 January. 2015).
Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers and Robert Johnston (2010) Operation Management. 6th ed. Edinburgh Gate:  Pearson Education Limited.
Operations Management, 6. (2015). Operations Management, 6th edition nigel slack. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/5803988/Operations_Management_6th_edition_nigel_slack (Accessed 29 January, 2015