Capacity Analysis of a Chocolate Production Process

Production Overview

High-quality cacao beans from around the world are purchased six to nine months before they would be used in production in order to allow adequate delivery time. The beans are first cleaned to separate them from other objects such as dust, small stones, and twigs. The production facility typically stores two-weeks supply of beans on site, while the remaining beans are stored in a nearby warehouse under climate and humidity controls. Beans were pulled from the warehouse according to a weekly production schedule that typically included several different products.

The chocolate production process consists of five primary steps as described below:

1. Roaster

All cacao beans need to be roasted to enhance the flavor before they can be used to make chocolate. The beans are fed into a roasting cylinder which is pumped full of air heated by natural gas to about 300F. Each kind of bean is roasted separately in order to optimize the flavor, as roasting times and temperatures vary by bean. On average, the roasting machine roasts 250 kg at a time for approximately 1.25 hours.

After roasting, the beans are dropped out of the roaster onto racks to cool for another 15 minutes. The roasting operation is currently performed during one eight-hour shift, operating seven days a week.

1. Winnower

After the beans are roasted, they are moved in their labeled bins to the winnower, which is

located next to the roaster. The winnower cracks each cacao bean so that the chocolate "nib" located at the center can be separated from the shell. The nibs are sent on to production, and the shells are discarded or used for animal feed.

The winnower is capable of processing approximately 450 kg of whole beans each hour. Each batch is approximately 250 kg, from which 185 kg of nibs are recovered. The winnower is currently operated during one eight-hour shift seven days a week. After traveling through the winnower, the nibs are stored in labeled bins and transported to the mixer.

1. Mixer

The mixer is used to grind the nibs to release the cocoa butter and turn the dry nibs into a chocolate paste. (Nibs are composed of approximately 54% cocoa butter.) The mixer consists of a circular granite slab, six feet in diameter, with two granite wheels that are rolled continuously around it. Beans are sprinkled onto the slab and the rollers crush the beans. The friction from this activity heats the mixture, breaks down the nibs and melts the cocoa butter.

On average, the mixer grinds nibs in 115-kg batches, and each batch stays in the machine for approximately 1.25 hours. At this stage of production, it was no longer necessary to keep the nibs from different types of beans separate, as long as they were part of the same "recipe.

After the mixer finishes grinding the batch of nibs, the chocolate paste is transferred to a holding tank until there is enough for a full conche recipe (1,400 kg of various ingredients). The mixer is currently operated seven days a week in two eight-hour shifts.

1. Conche

The facility has two conches used to refine, mix, and aerate the chocolate. The conche further grinds small nib pieces, and other premium ingredients (such as whole vanilla beans, granulated sugar, and lecithin) are also added to the conche. The conche breaks all the ingredients down into microscopic pieces by scraping the mixture against the edges of a large drum with precisely milled metal blades.

Each conche can hold an approximately 1,400-kg batch of a single recipe. Each batch spent

between 40-60 hours in the conche (including the time needed to pump the product in and out of the conche) in order to remove any remaining granularity from the nibs or sugar. The batch time varies, based on the ratio of chocolate to other ingredients. There are six different conching processes for the five ratios of chocolate produced (99%, 82%, 70%, 62%, and 40%). For example, the recipe for unsweetened chocolate (99%) does not include any sugar and the conche take about 40 hours. However, a conche containing semi-sweet chocolate (62%) includes approximately 850 kg of nibs and 550 kg of other ingredients (primarily sugar) and it takes about 50 hours to grind down the particles.

On average, it took 40-60 hours conche time to reach the target size of 25 microns. Each 1,400-kg batch of chocolate liquor typically spends 48 to 72 hours inside the conche. The conches are are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

After conching, the chocolate liquor is pumped into tanks. Chocolate at this stage of the process can be stored for as long as several weeks and can be transferred to a third-party finisher. The company alternates between the two conches and usually produces several batches of one type of product before switching to another type.

1. Tempering and Molding

Tempering is the process by which liquid chocolate is turned into a solid state with the

desired level of stability, glossy surface, smooth feel in the mouth, and snap (the sound of chocolate when it is broken). Tempering is performed by a series of steps that raise and lower the temperature of the chocolate. This complex process is done in a specific sequence with a certain degree of stirring along the way.

The facility has a large tempering machine which can process up to 200 kg of chocolate each hour, but is typically run at 140 kg/hour to match the pace of the closely coupled molding machine. The tempering equipment was operated in two eight-hour shifts, seven days a week.

Tempered chocolate travels directly from the tempering machine into the molding machine, where it is pumped into plastic molds. The molds travel through a refrigerated compartment

that causes the chocolate to solidify. After about 20 minutes, the molds are manually inverted and the solidified chocolate travels down a plastic conveyor belt and ready for packaging. The molding machine can process about 140 kg/hour and is currently operated in two eight-hour shifts, seven days a week.

The molded products are sent to third-party co-packers. The co-packers wrap the finished chocolate in packaging either sent it back to the company for distribution or shipped it directly to the customer or distributor.

Questions:

To simplify the analysis, assume that allof the production is of semi-sweet (62%) chocolate.

1. What is the current production capacity of the facility? Where is the bottleneck?

1. Based on the company sales' forecast, it is expected that the company needs to expand its current production capacity (answer given in Question 1) by 50% in the next months. What needs to be done to achieve this production goal?

Note: You can utilize the data in the accompanied Excel worksheet to aid your calculations.