Production Line Modeling Prevents Costly Pitfalls

The race to market in consumer packaged goods is teeming with obstacles along the design, testing, manufacturing and distribution continuum. And those trouble spots are just the production issues. Combine production pressures with increasing global competition and constrained financial models, and the task of delivering a profitable product expands in epic proportions.

One way to reduce risk and achieve certainty of outcome? Production line modeling. The exercise of line modeling gives a consumer packaged goods company the ability to simulate manufacturing, packaging and shipment processes early in the production line design phase. Modeling supports advanced thinking that can provide a competitive edge and optimize the use of valuable resources.

Haskell engineers use simulation software to adjust and test multiple configurations and scenarios for a proposed production line. By modeling a production line we utilize industry standard metrics such as Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) that allow us to predict how well the line will run, identify potential flaws and bottlenecks, and test alternative solutions (such as the use of accumulation zones) based on data rather than opinion.

Our latest simulation tool includes a physics engine that enhances line modeling exercises to near-production values. By adding physics to the exploration exercise, we can study factors such as material properties and product shape thereby generating increasingly realistic results via the model.

We know without a doubt that having the ability to simulate line configurations before they are built helps limit risk in the manufacturing process. Our clients have seen the value of this testing over multiple projects, resulting in optimized lines that maximize profits.