Improvement actions and reorganization of the blow molding department in I.F.A.P. SpA

The project was carried out at the company I.F.A.P. SpA and carries out an in-depth study of the blowing department. The company processes the plastic material (PET) creating preforms of various types and sizes and HDPE caps through injection molding, bottles through the blow molding process. The various production processes aimed at creating preforms from PET grains, from preforms to bottles and from HDPE grains and additives in caps were illustrated. The second chapter illustrates the tools of Lean Production, from its birth by Sakichi Toyoda to the present day, where these rules have great use and have become fundamental. The concept of Toyota Production System is totally different from the organization of mass production, since it is based on the concept of "do more (obtain maximum results) with less (with the minimum necessary resources)". These concepts, together with the tools and the Key Performance Indicators (as the OEE) lead to an improvement to the entire production process, to the company organization, to the well-being of the operators, therefore of every person who is part of the plant. The approach to Total Productive Maintenance, usefull to maximize the production capacity, availability of machines, quality, safety and reliability in order to reduce costs and Increase the life of components has been introduced. The third chapter is dedicated to the AS-IS State of the blow molding department; we started with an in-depth analysis of the blow molding machine, the process and the format changes that must be carried out. The skills of the operators and the behaviours in the different cases of production process were analysed. With the analysis of OEE and other parameters, such as times and movements, you have at your disposal the starting data from which to draw improvements in the fourth and last chapter. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the Future State of the blowing department, that is to illustrate all the improvements to be implemented starting from a zero point. It automates a certain process that in the AS-IS State was used for manual packaging by employing three operators and other small automations are applied to the entire process. It implements the current belt transport, proposing the insertion of accumulation tables on the line. A new layout is redefined and, with the help of the Spaghetti Chart, we try to minimize the movement of operators and increase their performance. Operators will also be given a part of training in order to increase the level of skills, introducing a discourse of Autonomous Maintenance and SMED. The proposed improvements are gradual, that is, they provide several steps gradually increasing in terms of costs and benefits.