Lead Time Reduction at Rudolph Foods

Author

Nelson FarfanFollow
Arturo Rodriguez, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow
jackson Botti, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow
Fahd Sharfuddin, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow

Date of Submission

Spring 4-22-2020

Project Type

Senior Design

Major

Systemsand Industrial Engineering

Department

dDepartment of Systemsand Industrial Engineering

Committee Chair/First Advisor

Dr. Adeel Khalid

Abstract

The overall goal of this project is to increase productivity and improve the processes of production as well as look at warehouse operations to see if there can be improvements implemented to the Rudolph Foods facility located in Lawrenceville, Georgia. While Rudolph Foods has a simple production process, there are improvements that can be made so that it may be more efficient. Rudolph Foods has an excellent production and shipping standard, but there are instances where management wishes production could be better. In some cases, while working on large orders, there are smaller orders that get put on the backburner that must wait until the larger orders are completed. Management would like our team to investigate production efficiency as well as any ways to reduce cleaning time and downtime for machines that reduce productivity.

We began our project as any team would by scheduling a meeting with a person in the management team for Rudolph Foods. We toured the facility, gathered information, asked valuable questions about production process operations, and generally inspected the facility and equipment that need improvement. After spending time at both of their facilities in Lawrenceville, Georgia, we concluded we had enough data to go off from what has been said to us through communication with the employees at their facilities and through email. We will consider using aspects of the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) method to help gather pertinent information as to the source of problems at Rudolph Foods.