Cork Industry Production With Lean and Six Sigma

The global wine cork market size was valued at USD 5.7 billion in 2021.* We’ll look at applications of Lean and Six Sigma in cork production and finish with a video of how cork is harvested and wine corks are made.

*Source

Applying Lean Methods to Improve Cork Stopper Production: Portugal

In a paper titled “Applying SMED methodology in cork stoppers production,” authors E. Sousa and others discuss the improvement in cork stopper production through the application of Lean methods.

The paper includes:

Changeover Times for One Month
Value Stream Map of Current State
A3 Report
Distribution of Changeover Time in External and Internal Activities Before and After Improvements
Savings Related to Implemented Improvements
OEE calculation for Shift 1 and 2

Copy and paste the following link into your browser to read the paper.

Applying Lean Analysis to Process Flow: Portugal

In a thesis titled “Applying a Lean Analysis to Process Flow,” author Raymond Fleming discusses a Lean analysis of Dinis de Oliveira & Filhos (DOF) processes in order to identify opportunities for improvements and the associated potential benefits.

The thesis includes:

Product Tree/Catalog
Process Diagram for the Production of Compressed and Uncompressed Cork Granules
Process Diagram for the Production of Broken and CortiPAN (Cork Panels)
Process Mapping Activity Results
Value Stream Map for Compressed Cork Granules
5W1H: Areas for Improvements and Recommendation Action
Redesign Value Stream Map for the Compressed Cork Granules Product
5S Program
Results Obtained from Optimizing the Pallet Space Utilization
Quantifying Benefits of the New Value Steam Map

You can access the thesis here.

Reducing the Time It Takes for an Order to Leave the Factory

In a master’s thesis titled “Reducing the Confirmation Time of the Expedition Date” author Miguel Araújo Teixeira Formigal discusses the project is to reduce the confirmation time of the date of expedition to the customer in a company belonging to the cork industry. The DMAIC improvement cycle methodology was addressed to understand the external causes that prevented the processing of orders.

The thesis includes:

Supply Chain Hierarchy
Customer/Commercial Service (SAC) Department Interaction with Different Sectors
Key Dates Regarding Each Step of the Order Command
Responsibility Matrix from Processing and Confirming Phases
Workflow of Processing an Order
Swim Lane for Brand Request
Order Command with Brand Description on the Actual E-Supply
Gantt Diagram of the Project
Board of the Daily Performance Indicators
Average by Factory of the Orders Not Processed, Planned and Confirmed
Number of Orders Not Processed, Not Planned and Not Confirmed By SAC Elements
Number of Orders by Factory Regarding the Information Pendant [Pending] Reasons
Pareto Diagram Regarding the Information Pendant Reason of AD Factory

You can read the thesis here.

How 40 Million Cork Wine Stoppers Are Harvested A Day

See how cork is harvested and cork stoppers are made in this video from Insider Business.

You can watch the video here.

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