Introduction

Beothic Fish Processors Ltd. (Beothic) among the largest processors of pelagic (capelin, mackerel
and herring) fish species in Newfoundland and Labrador, with capelin being, the primary species.
The company began processing with a modern cold storage facility addition with new blast
freezers were installed gave them capability to handle capelin which contributed more to its
profits beyond other products (King, W.1993)
Identify the problem
• The production period is short, as you probably know the single most profitable species
processed here at the plant is capelin. Because the season is so short, only three weeks at best, it
is vital that production be maximized in that period(King, W.1993)

• Crowded production area (King, W.1993)

• Excess amount of wastage of raw materials when the capelin was falling off was a cause for
concern among the supervisors (King, W.1993)

• The supervisors All three of the supervisors commented on the way that the distribution tables
were organized. The inclined conveyor leading from the separator deposited the female capelin
at one end of a table. They then had to be pushed manually to the ends of the distribution
tables (King, W.1993)

• Weighing system - The caplin arriving at the distribution tables were either caught in blast
freezers or plate freezing pans. They then moved the me caplin to the weigh stations and
subsequently, blast freezer boxes were added to the conveyer where closed and then
transported via forklift to the freezers and here lies the problem which created a significant risk
for an inexperienced operator causing an occupational safety issue(King, W.1993)
Diagnose the cause(s)
The problem that they were facing was twofold; -
• Production planning safety and efficiency issues at the shopfloor
• Short seasonal cycles for caplin requiring them to make the most of season as these fish are
only harvested two weeks in the year.
Recommendations on shopfloor layout
The warehouse layout problem is one of the key issues in they are facing in production
management. A good production layout. There is need for them to engage in a production
planning process to address the issues around they lay us of the production floor for a more
efficient process: -
Warehouse layout
1. The warehouse layout problem resolved by selecting a physical location for storage
departments/zones for incoming caplin while taking into consideration the storage structure,
the capacity and the storage/retrieve process and requirement. An efficient layout will reduce
the wastage and handling costs.
The basic assumptions of this model are as follows:
2. Demand is forecasted and known, and shortages are not permitted.
• A dedicated warehouse layout policy is utilized(Zhang G etal. 2016)
• The time horizon for both production planning and storage location assignment is the same.
For the real-world problem, the horizon is one year(Zhang G etal. 2016)
• All items are stored and moved on pallets. Pallets are considered to be the same size, weight,
and geometric configuration and these factors had no effect on the storage and handling
costs(Zhang G etal. 2016)
• A discrete number of warehouse storage locations are used.
• Items are delivered and retrieved using a single-command forklift truck(Zhang G etal. 2016)
• One unit of item accounted for a column of three pallets(Zhang G etal. 2016)
• There is one general production area that products come from, and has one output
point(Zhang G etal. 2016)
• Costs associated with the placement and retrieval are directly proportional to the
transportation distance (Zhang G etal. 2016)

3. The capacitated lot-sizing problem (CLSP) is one of the most important and difficult problems
in production planning this includes determining combining storage assignment with static EOQ
and replenishment policies.

4. Designating a storage production area - In the production area, there are production lines.
The production planner decides on the lot size of all items at each period with capacity limits.
The planning is concerned with production costs, setup costs, and inventory costs during the
planning horizon.

5. Finished goods and output point - the demand is the order from the customers for each item
and is considered as the pull mechanism in the item flow process

References
• King, W. (1993). Improving production at bioethic fish processors, Ltd. Acadia Institute for Case
Studies. Acadia University.
• Knowles, G. (2011). Quality management. Bookboon.com.
• Zhang G etal .(2016) An Integrated Strategy for a Production Planning and production
Planning and Warehouse Layout Problem: Modeling and Solution
Approaches. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1003&context=mechanicalengpub.