Labor Productivity Improvement in Soft Bread Shaping Process

Abstract

The objective of this research is to enhance labor productivity in the soft bread-making process of the case study factory. The data collected in the preliminary survey indicates that the current making soft bread process uses a total of 23 workers with a maximum number of 8 workers per shift at the bread shaping process. That is to say, the bread shaping process is the bottleneck as it takes much longer than other processes and makes workers in the next processes wait for work. Before improvement, an average yield appeared to be 22,927 packs per day, and labor productivity at the shaping process 2,865 packs per person per day. The authors, subsequently, have chosen to study the bread shaping process to streamline its workflow using the ECRS principle to facilitate the analysis of process improvement, especially in designing and constructing loaf pan sets to replace traditional bread molds. It also eliminates the processes of greasing the surface of the bread molds and arranging the mold sets.

The results of the study reveal that the improvement program can reduce the workforce in the bread shaping process from 8 to 6 workers and increase workforce productivity from 2,865 to 4,390 packs per worker per day, or increase by 53.22%. As a result, the labor costs in the bread shaping process can be reduced from 0.122 to 0.08 baht per pack, or decreased by 34.38%