5. Discussion
Here we try to interpret the results and discuss what can be learned from the project. There are at
least three important designed changes, cyclic planning, 5-shift system in packaging and daily
production meeting. Cyclic planning and 5-shift system in packaging are so intertwined that it
can be interpreted as one combined change. But the introduction of the daily production meeting
was not really implied. Participation could have been arranged in another way. It is not easy to
relate the results to the separate changes. Most results are caused by combinations of changes.
Moreover, there are situation specific characteristics that influence these causal relationships.
This complicates the interpretation and makes it necessary to be broad in describing the possible
influences.
More regularity with respect to change-overs is directly due to the introduction of cyclic
planning. This makes it possible to pay more attention to these change-overs and to realize a
higher yield and quality during these change-overs. But the realized yield and quality
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improvement is also due to the technological characteristics of the process and to the way the
improvement activities are organized. The relevant technological characteristics are: the number
of parameters, relationships of the process parameters, stability of the process, frequency of
change-overs, etc. The daily production meeting is relevant in the way the improvement process
is organized. But there are more organizational factors: contact pattern of production personnel
and technology support staff, the time available for improvement actions, support of the lean
team, etc.
The variance of the run-out times of the sku’s has been reduced. So, the sku stocks are better
under control. This is due to the reduction of the fixed period in the SNP and to another way of
supporting the SNP (using Excel LP-solver on downloaded SAP information). The
characteristics of the demand are sufficiently stable to estimate this effect by an adequate model.
The reduction of the sku run-out time variance is not a straightforward consequence of the
introduction of cyclic planning. It is rather so that the improvement is due to explicitly
distinguishing a blend level and an sku level in the production planning. This distinction is more
or less enforced by the cyclic planning, but it is also possible to introduce such a distinction
without cyclic planning. This two-level planning needs a way of support that is not provided in
SAP. This support can easily be provided by Excel, but it requires some organizational courage
to deviate from standard Sara Lee SAP, and extra organizational discipline to maintain the
procedure.
Better sku stock-control makes it possible to reduce the Opco control limits. However, this
requires also a more intensive communication between the SCCG group, the plant management
and the Opco’s. The separate value stream management organization is responsible for the
contacts with the Opco’s. This makes that such changes require a higher level and broader
decision making process. The project was mainly a plant project. The results make it possible to
reconsider the relationships with the Opco’s. This requires to broaden the project.
The downside of cyclic planning as implemented here is the loss of flexibility at blend level.
This can also be estimated by a suitable model. The available simulation model may be useful
here.
The cyclic planning, in combination with this other way of supporting SNP brings the SCCG
group closer to Production. The operators become also more involved in planning and control in
this way. The task of the DPSG group has been reduced a little because of that. Maybe it is
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possible so to integrate the DPSG group and the SCCG group and/or to reduce the total number
of people required for planning and control.
A straightforward consequence of more regularity and a 5-shift system for the packaging line is
the need for speed fluctuations in packaging or the acceptance of many short stops. This leads to
questions about the efficiency of the packaging operators and the quality of labor of such a
“flexible” packaging line. A cyclic schedule for the bottle-neck operation requires flexibility of
the other operations to be able to realize flow.
The most important mechanisms are illustrated in Figure 7. Some of the relationships are very
straightforward (e.g. cyclic schedules → simplicity), some others depend heavily on the precise
organizational and technological characteristics (e.g. manufacturing regularity → yield and
quality improvement or simplicity → integration). Some improvements can be estimated by
modeling and simulation (e.g. the improvement of sku stock control), some others require
extensive empirical research or, if the effects are very situation specific, learning by doing (e.g.
integration).