Consumer Packaged Goods Industry

In food industry, constraints are numerous and specific: variable demand and seasonality, wide customization of products, mix of continuous and discrete flows, and very specific production equipment. Add to this very strict cleaning regulations and speed constraint to maintain fresh products during the whole process. Models in food processing are confronted to two kinds of issues:

In manufacturing the product, the model will include:

  • A global or calendar production schedule (seasonal products)
  • Applying a manufacturing recipe for the product (steps in processing, raw material, proportions in mixing, cooking, etc.)
  • Managing stocks of raw material (replenishment)
    Managing intermediate stocks
    Organizing the cleaning of the whole process (stocks, machines, etc.)
  • Tracing the age of products during process, and managing waste.

The packaging step will include:

  • Manufacturing program for each product (steps, portions, material, labels, etc.)
  • Transportation between each step (conveyors, forklifts)
  • Machines controlling (maintenance, failures) and labor managing (shifts, competencies)
  • Managing stocks
  • Tracing the age of products during process, and managing waste.

Simulation helps reliable decision-making, answering many questions: which batch size, which shift, where reduce cycle and storage?


Among our customers on similar projects: Nestlé – Danone – Quick France – Yoplait – Kelloggs – Cerestar Beghin Say – Vico – Firmenich

Download a paper about this project