Simulation-Based Improvement Procedure for Small-Scale Shoe Manufacturing Companies

Abstract

Production costs represent the largest production process expenditure for companies. The existence of worker leisure time increases the associated production costs, which should be reduced to maximize the profit. In many Latin American small-scale footwear companies, shoe manufacturing is mainly characterized as an artisan elaboration. They generate additional costs associated with the poor standardization of methodology, lack of knowledge of a defined elaboration procedure, the absence of suitable facilities for raw material storage, and deficiencies in handling the product during the process. All these weaknesses make the manufacturing and packing process more difficult. This paper shows an optimization procedure for the utilization of resources by using discrete event simulation. Additionally, we propose a defined sub-process sequential structure to allow the standardization of shoe manufacturing. The results show that the proposed structure decreases the time of product processing by more than 40%. Furthermore, analysis of the costs of the associated implementation was performed and showed that it could be assumed by companies that the investment will provide a return on the capital within a short time.