Reference no: EM132164877
Case Study, Caterix Foods
Caterix Foods manufactures and supplies catering ingredients for the food service industry. Caterix has enjoyed a very successful level of growth. Successful operation of the food manufacturing production hall is intrinsic to their success. Caterix Foods has recently won a contract to manufacture and supply the ‘special ingredient’ used in all toppings for the Plucky Chicken fast food chain.
Facts about the production operations:
• Topping is a mixture of 17 dry ingredients, 10 of which are quite generic and make up 70 per cent of the product.
• The topping is created by mixing the raw ingredients in bulk quantities using a large industrial food mixer called the 'Whizzer'.
• The Whizzer has a max capacity of 20 cubic metres (with a maximum weight of 550 kg).
• The mixing process takes 24 hours.
• The bulk of the mixture is transferred to a giant hopper and stored in a climate and temperature controlled food processing area.
• Other ingredients have to be added to the resting mixture in smaller quantities of 55 kg (this include 38.5 kg of generic ingredients and 16.5 kg of secret recipe mix).
• The second round of mixing occurs in another industrial sized mixer, 'Thermamax', that has been preheated to 30 degrees.
• Each batch has to be processed in the Thermamax for 2 hours.
• The secret mixture consists of 7 unique ingredients that are carefully weighed and added by the production staff as specified in the standard operating procedure.
• The processed mixture will be transferred from the Thermamax into drums of 55 kg and allowed to be cured for 3 days in a special cool room. This process encourages the infusion of the flavours from the various ingredients.
• The cured mixture has to undergo a QC test prior to packaging
• Packaging involves the packing of the cured mixture into 5 kg boxes in the packing hall and has to occur within seven days of the manufacture.
• The packaging has to feature the batch number, the date and time of manufacture and the Plucky Chicken brand. Packaging materials such as stickers are supplied by Plucky Chicken.
• A streamlined automated packing line prints the labels in real time. The batch number is created locally and printed on labels that are recorded in the Caterix Foods warehousing management system.
• Changeover from one product to another – clean down and set up takes a maximum of 30 mins.
The contract with Plucky Chicken is an important account for Caterix Foods but the introduction of this mixture into its production operations means more complexities. Based on existing manufacturing requirements, it has been determined that the production facility can only schedule one batch of generic mixture per week for the Whizzer. Current production schedule indicates that there is a lull period of three hours per day that has not been capitalised by the business. This meant that the consolidation of the three hours across the days in a week should allow for at least one batch of special ingredient mixture to be produced.
Following questions about the case study as part of the grade:
1. Sketch up an indicative production plan cycle for this product using knowledge gained in this subject. This should feature each step in the manufacture of this process (you may assume all raw materials are already in stock) such that you can calculate when the first pallet of 40 boxes of stock can be shipped to Plucky Chicken.
2. Write a brief for the Quality Manager detailing the new requirements for her team in terms of training and specialist product knowledge, including making suggestions for ongoing process improvement.
3. Draw a workflow diagram for the production process for each batch from the Thermamax through to the Final Packaging stage, which should feature the location and activity throughout.