Ninkasi Brewing Company The Packaging Process. Amanda

Ninkasi Brewing Company: The Packaging Process Amanda Brown Northwest Christian University BUS410 Operations Management Abstract Ninkasi Brewing Company: The Packaging Process Organization Description The organization I have chosen to analyze is Ninkasi Brewing Company. â€Å"Back in 2005, neither Jamie Floyd nor Nikos Ridge knew exactly where their friendship would lead. What they did know was it would probably center around beer† (Ninkasi, n.d.). In 2006, brewing became a reality for these two friends as they made their first batch of Total Domination IPA inside a leased space within a German restaurant in Springfield, Oregon. Once the small brewery was established and equipped with a 15-barrel brew house, the two decided to name their†¦show more content†¦Operation Description The operation in which I plan to explore is Ninkasi’s packaging process. I specifically plan to analyze the brewery’s bottling line and the brewery’s recent encounters for defects in their packaging process such as; low fills, crooked labels, chipped, or broken bottles, and equipment shut downs. First I will discuss how these problems can be identified. Second, I will apply quantitative tools to the problems. Third, I will provide insights into how Ninkasi may use these tools to potentially reduce defects in their packaging line. The Bottling Line Ninkasi’s bottling line is capable of producing both 22 oz. and 12 oz. bottles and can package 22 oz. bottles at a rate of 150 bottles per minute, and 12 oz. bottles at a rate of 250 bottles per minute. First, the machine takes empty bottles and runs them through a rinser cleaning them inside and out to ensure they are sent to the filler sanitized. Once the bottles are properly rinsed they are sent to the filler, which uses 40 heads to fill the bottles. From here the bottles are filled with beer along with a streamline of jetted water to make the beer foam before the cap is placed on the bottle. The reasoning behind this step is to eliminate as much oxygen out of the bottle as possible, as it can cause deterioration to the beer. After the bottles are properly filled and capped they are then sent through the