Time optimization of volume conversion on TPR1 machine

Abstract: This thesis has been issued in collaboration with Tetra Recart that is a company within Tetra Pak, Lund. Tetra Recart is a cardboard-based processing and packaging system for food suchas tomatoes, beans, soups and sauces, that are traditionally packed in glass jars, cans or pouches. Tetra Recart’s machine TPR1 form and seals packages in three different sizes; 340 ml, 390 ml and 500 ml. In order to produce these different volumes, there needs to be a conversion of the machine. This is time consuming because it comprises both adjustments as well as exchanging of whole units. The purpose of this project is to find problem areas in the volume conversion and see how to optimize the rebuilding time with 1, 2, 3 or 4 operators. This thesis includes mapping of rebuilding steps and identification of which steps that is the most time consuming. A working method has been developed with help from tools in Lean production and other literature that is found suitable. This working method is in this project tested on the TPR1 machine. The findings were that the aggregate work time for one versus four operators is that it differs with 103 minutes on total work time when rebuilding from 390 ml to 500 ml. In this rebuilding there is a machine stop on 6 hours and 41 minutes with one operator and 2 hours and 6 minutes with four operators. Volume conversion from 340 ml to 390 ml or 500 ml by one operator is not recommended because of the heavy lifting. The report also includes an investigation of the most critical aspects of the conversion process, and suggestions for further study.