Process Control and Improvement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Process Control and Improvement - Assignment Example Several other issues like logistics, scheduling, procurement, raw material handling, human resource management, are also involved in the process and contribute significantly to the efficiency of the system and the final cost and quality of the product. Since these processes are ongoing and cyclic in nature, any company involved in these activities should be able to effectively control these activities in order to boost its performance and business profits. The paper studies the case of Staple Foods, one of the largest foodservice companies in the world and major food caterers in the region. The problems faced by the company in its daily operations and use of process control systems for improvement and efficiency will be the subject of interest in this study. Staple Foods is well known for its assurance to quality services to the clients and its strong focus upon the growth and expansion of its business portfolio. In the food service sector, it is important to maintain efficient opera tions in production and marketing in order to survive and remain competitive in the industry. In order to achieve the targets, the company decided to integrate three plants into one and implement batch process control in its production line. This helped the company to limit the variances that existed in the production line, control the inventories, and increase its profits, (Goldsmith, 1995). 2.0 Company profile The Company – Staple Foods has been the carrier of a number of brands in the food market. The company offers some excellent food products to its customers and is well appreciated for its consistency in its quality standards. The company was formed in the year 1975 and has built a strong tradition of hard work and faith. The company specializes mainly in the oil products, sauces, soups and flavor bases that are marketed under a number of brand names. With more than 7 production units in the region, Staple foods Ltd. are trying hard to make higher margin profits for its elf. 3.0 Existing Production Process Conditions The procedure utilized in the production unit of Staple Foods is relatively complex and multifaceted which is distributed across a number of production units. The main steps that compose the production plan are – The first step consists of a detailed schedule planning done by the managers of Staple foods, in order to reduce the down time for the participant production lines. The scheduling done during this phase is mainly manual in nature. This is followed by the procurement of resources that are required by each production line in an efficient manner. The quantity, quality and time of resource procurement are very important at this point in order to maintain a steady flow of production and product quality. More often, the resources need to be shared by multiple production lines and the managers are required to plan upon this sharing aspect closely so that no shortage problems arise in case. Variability and wastage can be signif icantly eliminated in this operation step. The production takes place in batches or continuously, depending upon the market demands. The last step involved in the production is the cleaning and preparing the line of a new batch of production cycle. 4.0 Process Problems faced by the Management Controlling the processes involved in the p