Value stream mapping in process improvement and application in citrus packing facility

In today's highly competitive environment, businesses must continuously review and improve their processes to maintain competitive advantages, achieve faster production, and reduce costs. These improvement efforts are carried out using lean production and management approaches. In this study conducted at a citrus packaging facility, the aim was to reduce waste and accelerate the production flow using the Value Stream Mapping method, one of the lean production tools. Material and information flows were analyzed, and the current state was visualized to identify points of waste. A Kaizen study was implemented to reduce waste, leading to improvements in line design. The Spaghetti Diagram was utilized to shorten movement and transportation distances. To reduce intermediate stocks and minimize line stoppages, workforce allocation was optimized, and alternatives were evaluated through simulation to achieve the best results. Based on the findings from the Kaizen and simulation efforts, a future state map was developed. As a result of these improvements, when comparing the current state and the future state, a %2.28 increase in value-added time and a reduction of 160.50 meters in movement and transportation distances were achieved.