Track: Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Cayey, founded in 1995, initially manufactured 5 products. Today, it produces more than 500 different flavors, making it the largest production line bottler in Puerto Rico, operating 24/7. Since 2018, the main problem reported in the PAI 1.75 Lts palletizer has been downtime due to embedded pallets, which accounted for 31.60% of the total downtime in 2022 and 18.51% in 2023. In October 2023, we started our continuous improvement university degree completion project using the Six Sigma methodology (DMAIC) to address this problem. During the "Define" phase, it was observed that the palletizer suffered the most downtime during shift B (52.44% in 2023). We evaluated the entire process, identifying suppliers and inputs, and mapping the stages from the arrival of the product at the palletizer to its exit. A SIPOC diagram detailed the process's inputs, outputs, and customers. Additionally, we analyzed the conditions of the conveyor chains and personnel training to ensure a continuous and safe flow at the station. The project aims to reduce downtime in the PAI 1.75 Lts palletizer to a target of 125 minutes per month, optimizing the process to increase productivity and safety. After completing all stages, we present short- and medium-term solutions to be implemented in the PAI 1.75 Lts palletizer, including creating an SOP, maintenance, and troubleshooting guide. According to the results obtained and the ROI analysis, an increase of 66% in production could be achieved after implementing the improvements suggested by our study.