Design-support methodologies for job-shop production system in the food industry

To meet the increasing demand for functional food and changing consumer habits, the food processing industry is shifting from flow manufacturing to batch manufacturing. As a consequence, job-shop (JS) systems are progressively developing to replace traditional food-processing systems. Such systems are characterized by high complexity in their design and management due to the high number of entities involved (i.e., products, components and parts, resources or workshops, operators, handling tools), the technological and operational constraints (i.e., working cycle, shop throughput, set-up tasks), and the layout issues (i.e., flow lines, congestions, bottlenecks). This chapter explores the impact of logistics and handling tasks in the design of food JS processing facilities. The aims of the JS designer are the minimization of the infrastructural costs, the optimization of the products and labor flows, and the enhancement of the safety of food products, affecting concurrently the layouts, operations, and related performances. The chapter illustrates a set of methodologies and quantitative indicators that aid the design of a JS system involving logistic efficiency, infrastructure cost minimization, and food safety targets. We assess the layout of the manufacturing system through a multidisciplinary dashboard of key performance indicators (KPIs) (1) and a design methodology addressing the resource dimensioning problem (2). A numerical example gathered from an Italian catering company showcases the application of the proposed tools and elicits debate on the best practice for facility design in the food service (catering) industry.