Process capability improvement of an eight-head liquid filling machine by the reduction in volume variation

Abstract

Filling is the process in which liquid and semi liquid products are filled in a container according to the specified requirement. It has a wide range of importance in various industries like dairy products, oil & lubricants, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, pesticides, chemicals and cosmetic products. Liquids of low to medium viscosity can be filled using these type of filling machines. Filling machine reduces the operational cost and it is not complex to handle where it contributes in obtaining high rate of liquid production in industries. In this paper filling capability factor of machine in a liquid filling line is studied in terms of statistical process control. Filling capability is increased by the application of total production maintenance. Upon continuous usage, the liquid filling spare parts deteriorate which causes volume variation. Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) approach is applied to analyze and solve this problem. The root causes for volume variation were identified and effective solutions were implemented to decrease the volume variation and thereby enhance the capability of filling.