Improvement of the Production Process for Mangosteen-Based Products: A Case Study of the Ban Plai Khlong Community Enterprise, Mueang District, Chanthaburi Province

Abstract

The Ban Plai Khlong Community produces a variety of mangosteen-based products. This research focuses on the production process of mangosteen chili paste, which currently cannot meet market demand during high-order periods such as the New Year festival and OTOP product fairs. The objective of this study is to analyze and improve the production process of mangosteen chili paste using process flowcharts, the ECRS technique, and Tecnomatix Plant Simulation software to compare production scenarios and identify the most efficient process. Based on the fishbone diagram analysis, the main cause of production delays was found to be manual stirring. Therefore, an improvement was proposed by introducing a mechanical stirrer to replace manual labor. The study was conducted on a production batch of 200 jars of mangosteen chili paste. The results revealed that although the number of production activities remained unchanged, the total production time was reduced by 3.33 hours, representing a 10.21% decrease. Additionally, labor requirements during the stirring stage were reduced by two workers (66.67%), saving labor costs by 1,000 baht. Labor productivity increased by 8.33%, while workers experienced reduced fatigue and physical strain during stirring. The break-even analysis indicated that the investment in the new equipment could be recovered within one year.