| | Manufacturing Process
At the start of each year, a Sales Forecast is created, using the Forecasting Template provided by Options headquarters (OCW). This forecast is updated at the first of every month (called a "rolling forecast"). If a Mini-plant knows that it is going to be promoting a particular product(s) or that a customer is going to be placing a larger (or smaller) order than usual, this information is factored into the forecast.
When the forecast has been approved by internal stakeholders (general manager, sales manager, marketing manager, plant manager, etc), it is compared with the amount of raw materials on hand. The procurement manager is advised of any materials needed.
The general manager or procurement manager will write a purchase order for the required raw materials. He/she will order the "Economic Order Quantity" (EOQ) from headquarters.
The general manager convenes a short meeting every Monday morning to let everyone in the organization know what is going on in the company (five-minute business review), and what is going to be accomplished in the next week or two, who will be needed to do this and when it will be done. It is at this meeting that people are informed they will be making, for example, all-purpose cleaner on a particular date at a particular time. Sales forecasts and accompanying production plans will be reviewed.
To plan for the production of the all-purpose cleaner, the plant manager will open the file that has the Product Formula Sheet for the desired product.
The plant manager decides how many gallons will be made based on sales forecasts.
The plant manager calculates how much of each chemical will be used. To do this, he/she uses the "batch calculator" provided by headquarters. The “batch calculator” is a spreadsheet that calculates how much of each chemical is needed for various products and batch sizes.
Prior to the production run, the blending tank is cleaned and ready to use. The required chemicals are assembled near the blending tank. The required amount of water is added to the blending tank. The blending mechanism (a paddle or screw that turns inside the tank) is turned on.
The required amount of each chemical is added to the tank. Some chemicals are pumped from the drum or tote that holds them. Small quantities are measured into a calibrated pail and dumped into the opening at the top of the blending tank.
The chemicals are blended for the amount of time shown in the Product Formula Sheet.
If the batch being made is to be held in reserve, it is pumped into a holding tank (a fiberglass tote) or 55-gallon drums and set aside until needed.
If the batch is needed for an immediate packaging run, the pump out-take hose is hooked up to the filling tank on the filling line.
A gravity-feed bottle hopper is filled with bottles. The cap hopper is filled with caps. A box of labels is placed near the end of the filling line (after the capping area). [This assumes the labels are going to be hand applied. If they are to be machine applied, then a roll of labels is put on the labeling machine and fed through the appropriate feeding mechanisms.]
Empty bottles are manually pulled from the bottle hopper and lined up on the semi-automatic filling line. Four to six bottles are moved into position under the filling machine. Once the bottles are automatically filled, they are pushed down the filling line to the cap hopper where each cap is manually placed on the bottle. A capping machine tightens the caps one at a time. From there, the filled and capped bottles are pushed down the line and hand labeled (unless the bottles were pre-labeled. When the bottles come to the end of the line, they are manually packed into shipping cartons (or shippers).
Empty pallets (or skids) are stacked near the end of the line ready to be loaded with finished goods. When the shippers are packed and sealed, a person applies a label on two sides of the packed shipper, takes the shipper off the table and places it on the pallet.
When the skid is full, a hand truck is used to move it to the storage area or the loading dock. For Quality Assurance (QA), a QA person will pull samples off the line as the products are being run (following a protocol supplied by Options headquarters). Each sample is taken to a "lab" (a room or segregated area of the plant -- away from dust and spills). In the lab, the QA technician checks the color, specific gravity, etc. This person has the authority to shut down the line if anything is out of spec. The QA person also pulls some samples for "stability testing" and "stress crack testing." (These are long-term tests, usually 30 to 180 days but they need to be done on a rolling basis to make sure the materials and formulas are not wrong or out of spec.)
After the production run, each person cleans up her work area according to the protocol provided by headquarters. All tools and unused materials are put away immediately. The tanks, pumps, feeder lines, and hoppers are cleaned out and made ready for the next production run.
If the job is not well done, a post production review is conducted immediately (or first thing next day) to identify issues and agree to what Total Quality Management people call "Error-cause Removal." Errors might be due to deficiencies in the specifications, the materials, or one or more people (including management). Whatever the deficiencies, they are identified and addressed.
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