Purdue University Industrial Engineering Senior Design
American Greeting
Automate Packaging of Greeting Cards
Submitted to:
Mark Lehto (CEO)
Bobby Vaziri (Cluster Leader)
American Greeting
Brian Borguno (Client)
Larry Sward (Client)
Kathy Allen (Client)
Prepared By:
Hailey Bryant (Communication)
David Yen (Technical Contributor)
Yi Yu (Project Manager)
Olzhas Zhanabek (Creativity and Innovation)
14
Table of Contents
Status Report ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Benchmarking Approach .......................................................................................................................... 4
Criteria satisfaction ................................................................................................................................... 4
The following graphs are showing different types of packaging methods ............................................... 4
Appendix B ................................................................................................................................................... 7
Analytical Hierarchical Process ................................................................................................................ 7
Appendix C ................................................................................................................................................... 8
American Greeting – Basic Information ................................................................................................... 8
J50 Run Speeds Sample ............................................................................................................................ 8
Appendix D ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Cost Analysis ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Appendix E ................................................................................................................................................. 11
Gantt chart............................................................................................................................................... 11
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Status Report
Since the project proposal, we focused on benchmarking similar processes in different
industries, researching our own proposed approaches and collecting as much helpful data as
possible from the customer. American Greetings were very helpful in providing data, which
included the pay rate of the production specialist, necessary operation speed for different card
packages, greeting card package size and quantity variability as well as 2-D layout of a
production line with measurements. We created an Analytical Hierarchical Process chart
(appendix) in order to organize and finalize our options and criteria for choosing the best
automation method of our proposed designs. For benchmarking purposes we first researched
packaging methods used in different industries and then compared each one of them to our main
three criteria. We scored each method by each criterion individually and then gave an overall
score to compare them to one another. Detailed description of the benchmarking process and
results can be found in the appendix.
We’ve allocated a lot of time to pursuing research on the 2 of our potential solutions. We
conducted further research on the robotic arm approach searching online for current capabilities
of robots that can perform our desired task. The summary of this research has concluded that
although there are robotic arms capable of performing the task of grasping and placing the
packages into a box, the speed of these robotic arms will not be able to support the production
volume of our client. We also conducted research on the coin slot identifier and magazine
loading approach. We searched online for any current sorting machines or mechanisms similar
to a coin sorter, and we were not able to find anything which can be applied to card packages.
After further discussion and brainstorming, we also concluded that due to the shape of the card
packages, the coin slot identifier will not be likely to work. Finally, we came across Fusion
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Concepts Inc. which is a custom packaging solutions company that provides solutions for
greeting card applications. They design custom machinery to automate the processes of card &
envelope counting machines, card wrapping & bagging, and finally collating and boxing. We
have reached out to Fusion Concepts about their custom machinery for collating and boxing and
we are currently waiting for a response.
By the next status report, our team plans to continue our research of the robotic arm and
coin slot divider. Mainly to see if we can find some more information about some specification
that would be relevant to our decision making. We will also start our research on our two
remaining options which include the reverse engineering of the envelope feeder and the
continuous feeder. Once we have our research we will talk with our client on which parameters
they think is most important. This will help us start narrowing down the best option for
automation. Another task we have line up is to run simulation software, like Arena, of the task as
it exists now. This will be a good basis to compare when we make some simulation models for
our options. Having this information would be help so our client that the option we choose can
meet their speed of production and demands. By the next update, we want to have a finalize list
of option so we could do a more in depth analysis of the different choices. We also plan on
making another plant visit to see first-hand the production process because we were unable to see
it during our last visit to their plant.
We ran into a few obstacles and problems when doing our research. It was quite difficult
to benchmark what similar companies are doing because we do not have easy access to their
manufacturing methods. To overcome this obstacle we looked at similar packaging processes.
We also had some difficulty in our research of the coin slot identifier and robotic arm option
because other parts need to be considered to implement these options.
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Appendix A
Benchmarking Approach
Each packaging method is compared to four criteria. If the method satisfies the criterion, it is
given a score of one; otherwise, it is given a score of 0. Best packaging method is selected based
on the sum score that it receives.
Criteria satisfaction
Set up cost: score of 1 if the set up cost is less than $50000
Operating Speed: score of 1 if speed is more or equal to 160 pkg/hr
Variability: score of 1 if more than one product size can be used
Stacking: score of 1 if products can be stacked in more than one way
The top four methods are: PrePak Pachking Machine, Packaged Product Packing Machine,
SpiderHand Robotic Arm and Pushing Type Packing Machine.
The following graphs are showing different types of packaging methods
Packaged Products Packing Machine
Pre-Pak Packing Machine
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Spider Hand Robotic Arm
Canned Products Packing Machine
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Pushing Type Packing Machine
Grabbing Type Packing Machine
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Boxed Products Packing Machine
Appendix B
Analytical Hierarchical Process
Page | 7
Appendix C
American Greeting – Basic Information
Production Specialist (PS) Pay Rate
Fringe for reduction of Hours
Fringe for elimination of Person
$15.90
23%
33%
JITL - Just in Time Line Routings
J50
Routing 53
Routing 54
Routing 56
J60
Routing 67
Routing 68
Routing 69
Operations
DC - F/WD - PKG
DC - F - PKG
Flat HS - DC - F/WD - PKG
DC - THERMO - F/WD - PKG
Flat HS - DC - THERMO - F/WD - PKG
HS - EMB - DC - THERMO - F/WD - PKG
Other Issues
1. Need to include picking up a lid and putting it on the box prior to sending the box to the
palletizer
2. Show / Mention that packages are placed on the bottom of the boxes beneath the picture in
the alignment file
J50 Run Speeds Sample
Flow
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
Fold Size
4X7
4X7
4x7
4x7
4x7
4x7
4x7
4x7
5x6
5x6
5x6
5X6
5X6
5X6
5X6
5X6
5X7
5x7
5x7
5x7
num_in
2
3
4
6
8
9
12
14
2
3
4
6
8
9
12
14
2
3
4
6
Fold
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
Pkg_min
180
173
173
147
137
123
83
70
180
173
173
147
137
123
83
70
180
173
173
147
Packs/box
250
175
139
95
68
64
47
40
250
175
139
95
68
64
47
40
250
175
139
95
Box/min
0.7
1.0
1.2
1.5
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.8
0.7
1.0
1.2
1.5
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.8
0.7
1.0
1.2
1.5
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Appendix D
Cost Analysis
Week 1 - Jan 27
Total Individual Hours
Total Team Meeting Hours
Total Account Executive Hours
Total Onsite Hours
Total Transportation Cost
Total Weekly Cost
Hours
7
2
0
0
0
Week 2 - Feb 3
Total Individual Hours
Total Team Meeting Hours
Total Account Executive Hours
Total Onsite Hours
Total Transportation Cost
Total Weekly Cost
Hours
Week 3 - Feb 10
Total Individual Hours
Total Team Meeting Hours
Total Account Executive Hours
Total Onsite Hours
Total Transportation Cost
Total Weekly Cost
Hours
Week 4 - Feb 17
Total Individual Hours
Total Team Meeting Hours
Total Account Executive Hours
Total Onsite Hours
Total Transportation Cost
Total Weekly Cost
Hours
Week 5 - Feb 24
Total Individual Hours
Total Team Meeting Hours
Total Account Executive Hours
Total Onsite Hours
Total Transportation Cost
Total Weekly Cost
Cost Per Hour
$
100.00
$
400.00
$
200.00
$
600.00
$
35.20
Total Cost
$
700.00
$
800.00
$
$
$
$ 1,500.00
3
2
0
2
7
Cost Per Hour
$
100.00
$
400.00
$
200.00
$
600.00
$
35.20
Total Cost
$
300.00
$
800.00
$
$ 1,200.00
$
246.40
$ 2,546.40
12
5
0.5
0
0
Cost Per Hour
$
100.00
$
400.00
$
200.00
$
600.00
$
35.20
Total Cost
$ 1,200.00
$ 2,000.00
$
100.00
$
$
$ 3,300.00
8
4
0.5
0
0
Cost Per Hour
$
100.00
$
400.00
$
200.00
$
600.00
$
35.20
Total Cost
$
800.00
$ 1,600.00
$
100.00
$
$
$ 2,500.00
Hours
15
6
0.5
0
0
Cost Per Hour
$
100.00
$
400.00
$
200.00
$
600.00
$
35.20
Total Cost
$ 1,500.00
$ 2,400.00
$
100.00
$
$
$ 4,000.00
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Week 6 - Mar 3
Total Individual Hours
Total Team Meeting Hours
Total Account Executive Hours
Total Onsite Hours
Total Transportation Cost
Total Weekly Cost
Hours
17
6
0
0
0
Cost Per Hour
$
100.00
$
400.00
$
200.00
$
600.00
$
35.20
Total Cost
$ 1,700.00
$ 2,400.00
$
$
$
$ 4,100.00
Forecasted Cost vs. Actual
Cost
$50,000.00
$45,000.00
$40,000.00
Cost ($)
$35,000.00
$30,000.00
Forecast
Cost
$25,000.00
Actual Cost
$20,000.00
$15,000.00
$10,000.00
$5,000.00
$0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Time (Weeks)
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Appendix E
Gantt chart
Num Task Description
January
26 27 28
29 31
February
3
6
8
13 16 21
26
March
6 14 21 26
31
April
3 10
17 23
30
May
1
1 Define Project Scope
1.1 Team Meeting and Research on Client
1.2 Analysis potential Problem
1.3 Conference Call and Meeting at American Greetings
1.4 Research on Personal Communication Solution
1.5 Compose Proposal
1.6 Presentation and Proposal Submission
2 Analyze and Identify Process
2.1 Input Data for Simulation
2.2 Analyze Tasks within Personal Communication Solution
2.3 Methods Studies
2.4 Report Preparation
2.5 First Status Report
3 Create Model Simulation
3.1 Analyze Potential Efficient Process
3.2 Spring Break
3.3 Visit American Greetings for Information
3.4 Finalize Simulation
3.5 Report Preparation
3.6 Second Status Report
3.7 Present Simulation to Ameican Greetings
4 Final Report and Presentation
4.1 Final Report and Presentation Preparation
4.2 Recommendations
4.3 Final Presentation and Report to Stakeholders
4.4 Final Presentation and Report Due
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