Make It Happen Inc.

The Issue

Make It Happen Inc. has been contracted out by The Canadian Gypsum Company (CGC) to redesign the layout of their Surrey production plant. CGC has been informed by an independent engineering firm that the current state of a building on their site is no longer acceptable and must be vacated within 6-9 months. This building is referred to as the "old plant" as it is the original structure on the property. The old plant is one of four warehouses on site and houses CGC's concrete station. This station has two components:

1. The mixers platform

2. The baggers area

The remaining warehouses consist of:

- Finish Goods Plant

- Production Plant

- Shipping Plant

Among the warehouses there are four large tent-like structures that are used to facilitate the raw materials that are required by CGC.

Figure 1 outlines the machinery design for the concrete station. The mixture platform is located directly above the baggers area. The platform is used to insert all the required raw materials into a blender, which then mixes the material. This blender is referred to as the weigh hopper. One employee called 'the mixer" is responsible for this area. Once the mixing is completed the materials are released or "dropped" into the bagger hopper. Attached to this hopper is a spout that uses a combination of electrical power and pneumatics. The employee that operates the bagging area is known as "the bagger." The bagger places one bag at a time on the spout, then he/she pushes a button and the bag is filled to a set capacity. Once full, the bagger removes the bag and repeats the first step until the bagger hopper is empty.

The concrete station produces three products:

1. Concrete Fill

2. Concrete Seal

3. Concrete Floor Patch.

CGC is contemplating where to relocate the concrete station and how to alleviate the tight space that will result in losing the old plant. It is not an option for CGC to rebuild a new plant in the short term and the company is mainly concerned with down time and the loss of space.

Make It Happen Inc. will analyze the current layout at the Surrey facility. The purpose of this report will be to identify a potential area to relocate the concrete station and how to alleviate the loss of space. For the purpose of this report the design of the concrete station will remain the same.

Current Layout

As mentioned previously CGC has a total of four plants located on the Surrey facility; shipping, finished goods, production and the old plant. Accompanying these plants are tents that house the finished goods for CGC. Figure 2 illustrates the actual lay of land at the Surrey facility. As one can see the old plant is located directly beside the production plant. The empty space represented in the middle of the diagram is used by semi trailers as a turn around junction for loading/unloading. The area of concern is the old plant. Although it represents a fairly large space CGC has managed to remove all contents except the concrete station. The concrete station approximately accounts for a space of 20 feet long by 10 feet wide and occupies two floors.

Raw materials required for the concrete station are located in tent 2. These materials are moved using a propane fuelled fork lift. The only option available to CGC is to move the concrete station into the production plant. The issue is where to place it and what to do with the materials that are currently in that area. The tents are unable to house electricity, therefore they are automatically dismissed. The finishing goods and shipping plants are too small to facilitate the station therefore they are also excluded.

Production Plant Layout

The production plant consists of four areas:

1. Paint

2. Powder

3. Redi Mix

4. Storage Area

Paint

As indicated in figure 3 the paint area is located on the far left side of the production plant. The area consists of two levels. The top level consists of three vats that are used to mix the materials. A combination of latex, water and chemicals (dry and wet) are used to produce paint. The products that are made in the paint area include:

- Quick Dry

- Prairie Quick Dry

- Texture Fresh

- T.I.P.S

The bottom level of the paint area consists of a take off valve that releases the paint, a conveyor

belt that transports the product from the valve to the bagger who then stacks the pails/cans. Between the valve and the bagger is a top sealer that seals the lid on the container. Once the pallet is full a fork lift transports the pallet to a shrink wrapper that is located in the mud area of the production plant. Once wrapped, the pallet is removed and stored in the finishing goods plants.

Powder

There are three stations in the powder area:

1. Filler

2. Setting Compound

3. Texture

Each of these three has the same layout; a mixing station on the top and a bagging station on the bottom. They are identical to the concrete station and resemble the diagram in Figure 1.

The Filler machine produces:

- Span Tex

- Fast Set

- Kal Tex

- TRB

The Setting Compound machine produces:

- Pro Set 90 - Pro Set 30

The Texture machine produces: