Seniors Optimize Work Cell Layout

2023 ISyE seniors Brandon Blank, Kayla Klemz, Sarah Nord, Madelyn Traynor, and Trishia Vu focused their final project on work cell layout and optimization. Sponsored by Stratasys, one of the largest 3D printing companies in the world located in Eden Prairie, MN, students worked with Jeromy Knapp and Geoffrey Dybicz – both ISyE graduates and employees of Stratasys – to optimize work cell layouts to create “. . . more efficient production processes, double production capacity, and seat more employees without increasing available floor space.”

With consideration of Stratasys’ needs, the students optimized the Finishing and Water Works areas of the facility, and developed a Work-In-Progress (WIP) Inventory Tracking System. To effectively produce the deliverables, the team focused on human factors, lean tools, production and inventory management, and data analysis as a means of methodological analysis.

After the data was collected, the students worked with the AutoCAD program to develop several different floor layouts for the Finish and Water Works areas. After discussing different aspects of each layout, the students combined each layout’s most beneficial aspects, and combined them in order to create one layout that would meet all of the requirements of Stratasys, as well as optimize each area.

To create the final deliverable, the students took into account the understanding that Stratasys had a high volume of moving parts throughout the facility each day, and a system to prioritize which work to focus on would greatly improve employee productivity, as well as reduce late orders and optimize coordinators’ time. Utilizing a color-coded system, as well as an Excel document to begin the process, the team developed a tracking system that could be used to optimize and prioritize the day-to-day requirements of the company. This system, however, does require daily critical ratio information and manual updates.

At the time, the team was unable to observe the results of implementation, but the team determined that, based on the approved floors plans and systems ideas for tracking Work-in-Progress items, production could increase as much as 50%. Stratasys, however, provided an update in September 2024, and the work completed by the students contributed to the fact the site was able to successfully reach their revenue targets (100% growth) in Q3.

In the end, the team learned many lessons including the importance of fully defining the project summary and scope in the beginning. In their final project report, the team expressed, “This would have made the project timeline and direction easier to plan for . . . and maintain a better vision for what the end goal was, but it is also important to be flexible as project changes occur.” Equally, the team learned new skills such as AutoCAD and working under the constraints of an NDA. Ultimately, the students reflected: “We learned that working on an ISyE senior design project may require skills outside of the traditional ISyE profession, and we were required to learn the necessary skills to successfully deliver to the sponsor.”