Aiding food processing system design. A case study from catering industry

To meet the increasing need of food customization and the changing consumer’s habits, the food processing industry is shifting from flow manufacturing to batch manufacturing. As a consequence, the job-shop (JS) systems are progressively developing in food processing industry. These systems are characterized by high complexity in design and management for the number of entities (i.e., products, components and parts, resources or working shops, operators, handling tools), the constraints (i.e., working cycle, shops throughput, setup tasks), and the resulting layout issues (i.e., flow lines, congestions, bottle necks) to be handled. This paper explores the impact of logistics and handling tasks in the design of food JS processing facilities. The aims of minimizing the infrastructure costs, optimizing the products and labour flows, and ensuring the safety of the food products, affect concurrently the layouts, the operations, and the related performances. We illustrate a tool that aids the design of a food JS system involving logistic efficiency, infrastructure cost minimization, food safety goals. We assess the trade-off layout of the manufacturing system through a multi-disciplinary set of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics. A case study of an Italian catering company showcases the application of the proposed tool, and elicits discussions on the underrated role of intra-node travelling and handling operations in food processing systems