Lean-Based Optimization of Production Control and Material Flow in the Silicone Belt Production Line

Are you an Industrial Engineering (or related) student looking for a challenging internship? Are you interested in Lean manufacturing and improving production flow? We are looking for you!

Your assignment
Canon Production Printing (formerly ‘Océ’) is a manufacturer of industrial printers, print consumables and workflow solutions. An essential component within our toner printing systems is the silicone belt. The production of these belts consists of multiple types of belts, multiple process steps, each with its own capacity, resources and performance targets.

To ensure customer demand is met, production is currently managed through planning and output targets. Over time, work-in-progress (WIP) and intermediate inventories can arise between process steps, impacting lead times, flexibility and overall production flow.

The Silicone Belt Production Line is therefore looking for a Lean-based approach to improve production control and reduce unnecessary inventories. The goal is to gain insight into the current flow of materials and information, identify waste and propose a future-state production system that better aligns capacity, inventory levels and customer demand.
An initial planning model has already been developed within a previous project and may provide useful insights during the assignment. Depending on the findings, this model can be further evaluated and potentially expanded to support decision-making.

The objective of this assignment is to develop recommendations for a more robust and efficient production control system, including the definition of practical production targets and the applicability of push-pull principles within the Silicone Belt Production Line.

Your research questions and expected deliverables
Your assignment could have the following research questions;
•    How is the Silicone Belt Production Line currently controlled and planned? 
•    Where do work-in-progress and intermediate inventories occur within the production process? 
•    What impact do these inventories have on lead time, productivity and operational performance? 
•    Which forms of waste can be identified from a Lean perspective? 
•    How can production targets be translated into manageable targets for individual process steps? 
•    Which production control principles are most suitable for this production environment? 
•    To what extent can push-pull principles improve flow and inventory control? 
•    How can existing tools and models support future production control? 

With the following deliverables;
•    A description and analysis of the current production flow. 
•    Identification of bottlenecks, waste and inventory drivers. 
•    A future-state production flow based on Lean principles. 
•    Recommendations regarding WIP levels, inventory control and production targets. 
•    A proposal for implementing push-pull principles where applicable. 
•    An evaluation of the existing planning model and recommendations for further use. 
•    A final report containing findings, conclusions and implementation advice.

Your profile
•    You are currently studying Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management or a related Engineering study.
•    You have an interest in Lean manufacturing and process improvement. 
•    You like working in a multidisciplinary team to find the best solutions for problems.           •    You have a creative mindset with problem-solving skills.
•    You are comfortable working with data and translating observations into practical recommendations.
•    Experience with modelling is a plus.
•    You are available for approximately 5-6 months for a minimum of 4 days per week   

What’s in it for you?
•    A challenging assignment with skilled coaching
•    The opportunity to make a visible impact in a real production environment
•    Internship/ Graduation compensation of 500 euros gross per month
•    Travel cost compensation if you don’t have an ‘OV-weekcard’
•    The possibility to network with professionals inside and outside your field of expertise, thanks to our diversity of disciplines which you will work with

Interested?
Are you interested in this assignment? Please click on the button 'apply now' where you can upload your resume and motivation letter. If you would like to receive more information concerning this assignment, please contact Mandy Aerdts (mandy.aerdts@cpp.canon). If you have any questions about the internship in general, please contact careers@cpp.canon.