<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"><%pagetitle="ProModel Solutions - Manufacturing"%> <!--#include virtual="/include/header.htm" --> <!--#include virtual="/include/manufacturing-header.htm" --> <table width="910" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td width="196" rowspan="5" valign="top" class="body"> <p> <!--#include virtual="/include/manufacturing-menu-side.htm"--> <p class="header-sitemap">&nbsp; <p>&nbsp;</p></td> <td width="507" rowspan="5" valign="top" class="body"> <table height="15" border=0 align="center" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 background="/images/menu-shadow.jpg"> <tbody> <tr align=middle valign=center class="header"> <td width="909">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table width="95%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p><span><a id="pmmcr" href="/">Home</a> -- </span> <a href="/solutions/">Your Industry</a> -- <a href="/solutions/manufacturing/">Manufacturing Solutions</a><strong></strong></p> <h2>Throughput, Cycle Time and Bottleneck Analysis with ProModel Simulation Solutions for Manufacturing<br> <br> </h2> <table width="97%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="57%" height="137" valign="top"> <p>Improving throughput and reducing cycle time are two of the issues most sought after in the manufacturing world. If you can increase throughput and/or reduce cycle time, more can be sold, and in turn more money made for the organization. Theory of Constraints or Bottleneck Analysis is one of the most used methodologies for helping to identify bottlenecks, determine an appropriate solution for overcoming the bottleneck, and thereby increasing throughput and reducing cycle time. ProModel&#8217;s manufacturing simulation solutions, are well suited to assist the Throughput, and Cycle Time Reduction initiatives by helping to identify the bottlenecks or constraints in the system, test alternative solutions, and the study the overall impact to see if the changes will actually increase throughput and reduce cycle times or not. Using simulation in this fashion will minimize the risk and expense of finding and implementing the most effective solution.<br> <br> <br> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="138" valign="top"><p align="center"> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="227" height="170"> <param name="movie" value="Elkay.swf"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="PLAY" value="false"> <embed src="Elkay.swf" width="227" height="170" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" play="false"></embed> </object> </p> <p align="center">Please right click and choose &quot;play&quot; to view an example model of ProModel Manufacturing Simulation. </p></td> </tr> </table> <h2>Throughput, Cycle-Time, and Bottleneck Analysis <br> Project Reviews:</h2> <p><strong>Global Leader in the Design and Manufacture of Floors, Ceilings and Cabinets</strong></p> <p><strong>Solution: </strong>Cost Reduction, Throughput Increase and Capital Justification</p> <p>The client was facing increasing costs from international suppliers. At the same time the company was seeing an increase in demand for hardwood flooring products. This situation led to the objective of increasing throughput in one of their U.S. solid wood manufacturing plants, while simultaneously reducing direct labor requirements and scrap/raw material waste.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong></p> <p>&#8226; Discovered the means to meet required throughput while reducing labor costs by 20%.</p> <p>&#8226; Minimized wood scrap and significantly reduced material costs by measuring and sorting boards so the best combination of 2.5&#8221; and 3.5&#8221; could be cut from each board.</p> <p>&#8226; Estimated savings from this project are $1- 3 million.</p> <p>&#8226; Improved their ability to clearly and concisely communicate the value of process improvement to stakeholders.</p> <p><a href="/solutions/manufacturing/ML_PR_Cost%20Reduction_Cost%20Reduction,Throughput%20Increase%20and%20Capital%20Justification.pdf">Click here to read the full story</a> <img src="/images/acrobat_icon.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0"></p> <hr> <p><img src="/images/teradyne.gif" width="170" height="63"></p> <p><strong>Solution: Simulation Proof of Concept and New Product Introduction</strong></p> <p>Teradyne&#8217;s Operations NPI (New Product Introductions) Team felt that new tools were needed in order to provide improved strategic decision making and the desired increased confidence in the risk assessment for overall company performance. The evaluations would have to account for real life variability and interdependencies as well as allow multiple scenario evaluation and sensitivity analysis.</p> <p>The Operations NPI Team, decided to test ProModel&#8217;s simulation technology to see if it could provide the level of answers that the current tool-set and methods could not. The initial objective for this project was a &#8220;proof of concept&#8221; for simulation technology. If the proof of concept worked, then simulation would be incorporated into the Operations NPI tool-set for decision support.<br> <br> <a href="/solutions/business/ML_PR_New%20Product%20Introduction_Teradyne_New%20Product%20Intro%20&%20Mfg%20Optimization.pdf">Click here to read the full story</a> <img src="/images/acrobat_icon.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0"></p> <hr> <p><strong>Pillowtex Corporation</strong> - $2.2 billion company that manufactured pillows, mattress pads, comforters, towels, and sheets. </p> <p><strong>Solution: Plant Consolidation and Manufacturing Optimization</strong></p> <p>Pillowtex had recently filed for bankruptcy and desperately needed to cut costs and regain profitability in the next 18 months or face the prospects of going out of business. It had five plants in the United States; all making the same three products (pillows, mattress pads, and comforters), all using identical equipment. Each plant had similar total floor space, but had different layouts, different material handling methods, different cycle times, and different costs.</p> <p>Total savings were based on closing two plants and all the associated costs (moving equipment, factory layouts, moving/hiring people, etc) coupled with the previously noted cost savings. Completion of this project resulted in a net savings of $12.2 million, with a payback period of nine months<br> <a href="/solutions/manufacturing/ML_PR_Cost%20Reduction_Pillowtex_Plant%20Consolidation%20Analysis.pdf"><br> <br> Click here to read the full project review.</a> <a href="/solutionscafe/Version History.pdf"><img src="/images/acrobat_icon.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0"></a></p> <hr> <p><strong>Major U.S. Appliance Manufacturer</strong></p> <p><strong>Solution: Lean Analysis for Appliance Assembly Throughput</strong></p> <p>Throughput from the dishwasher tub line was not keeping pace with demand from the final assembly area. In order to increase the tub line throughput, the client added an extra shift at an annual cost of $275,000. The additional shift should not have been necessary given that the takt time for all tub operations was less than the required takt time at final assembly.</p> <p>This project was completed in two weeks using ProModel software and services. By eliminating the additional shift, the company realized an annual savings of $275,000. The ROI in the first year alone from this project was % 1,100 and the payback period was less than 2 months.</p> <p> <a href="/solutions/manufacturing/ML_PR_Throughput%20CycleTime%20Bottleneck_Lean%20Analysis%20for%20Appliance%20Assembly.pdf">Click here to read the full project review.</a> <a href="/solutionscafe/Version History.pdf"><img src="/images/acrobat_icon.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0"></a> <br> <br> </p> </td> </tr> </table></td> <td width="207" valign="top"" class="body"> <!--#include virtual="/include/manufacturing_news.htm" --> <h2><a href="manufacturing-example-model.asp"><img src="../../images/manufacturing-model.jpg" width="200" height="153" border="0"></a><br> View a Simulation</h2> <p>Please click on the image above to view an example model of ProModel Lean Manufacturing Simulation. </p></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <!--#include virtual="/include/footer.htm" --> </BODY></HTML>