Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Problem
A manufacturing warehouse that produces BOPP film rolls, which are industrial sized rolls of plastic wrap used in shipping, wants to evaluate their current system plan and improve before building and buying equipment.
Solution
Students at the University of Pittsburgh simulated the current system plan by looking at the company's orders management system, scheduling system, manufacturing process, product packaging, inventory system and product delivery. It covers the random generation of orders based on a real situation. The project's objective was to determine:
- Raw material arrival schedule
- Number of workers
- Number of forklifts to carry pallets to the warehouse
- Number of forklifts for the shipping area
- Size of the warehouse
Result
Students were able simulate scenarios to find the optimal balance of resources, but did note that there was one major pitfall to the project; this company doesn’t have a plant for this yet, so the students couldn't be sure that the rate and number of orders received were an accurate reflection of reality.