Manufacturing is one of areas where optimizations are required continually because the only constant in a manufacturing environment is change. The change is caused by variability of demand and supply, products lifecycles, market strategies and workforce related policies.

The good news about operating a manufacturing facility is that most times considerable performance increase can be made relatively inexpensive only by changing the protocols used to run the manufacturing facility.

At this moment there are some optimization methodologies that are considered the universal panacea for every type of manufacturing environment. This assumptions are not correct as the manufacturing environments and the necessary protocols are highly different. For instance to think that one can apply "pure Lean" to a semiconductor manufacturing facility is unrealistic. Thus, from our experience every manufacturing facility must be analyzed thoroughly and we should choose the right mix of theoretical frameworks or principles that can apply to the specific case.

Our experts in manufacturing environments will help you with:

• Plant layout design and evaluation

• Capacity analysis

• Operating protocols design

• Material handling equipment selection

• Manpower requirements

• Highly detailed simulation of equipment and complete manufacturing lines

• Simulation-based planning and scheduling systems (integration with MES, ERP systems)

• Implementation of Lean manufacturing

• Elimination of variability using Six Sigma methodology

• Detection and management of bottlenecks

• Development of the fundamental equations

• Development of maintenance protocols

• Value stream mapping

• Kanban systems implementation

• Product volume and mix leveling

Our clients benefits:

• Faster and smoother change implementation

• Reduced lead times

• Increased capacity through more efficient resource utilization

• Quick experimentation with schedules

• Lower inventories

• Lower capital investments in new equipment

• More realistic growth planning

• Validation of all proposed solutions through simulation