Corrugated Container Plant Achieves 90% Auto Scheduling

Published: September 09, 2008

CREVE COEUR, MO & CHICAGO, IL | Smurfit-Stone’s Container Corp.’s Chesterfield, MO, corrugated container plant has become the first facility in Kiwiplan history to achieve a 90% Continuous Automatic Scheduling Environment (CASE) utilization within two months of implementing the Kiwiplan plant scheduling system. The implementation has reportedly increased the plant’s productivity by approximately 23%, thereby allowing an improvement in customer service. John Knudsen, senior VP of manufacturing for Smurfit-Stone’s Corrugated Container Div., explains: “We expect to see continued performance improvement this year and further improvements in 2009 as we roll out the system to other facilities.”
The CASE component of Kiwiplan is designed to automatically schedule the corrugator, issue programs, and print working documents, leaving more time to focus on customer needs, quality functions and process improvement.
Smurfit-Stone is in the initial stages of a three-year rollout of Kiwiplan to its corrugated container operations. In addition to the box plant in Chesterfield, MO, Smurfit-Stone has implemented Kiwiplan at its plants in Ft. Worth, TX; Covington, GA; North Chicago and New Lenox, IL; and Montgomery, AL. As well, it’s in the process of introducing it at plants in Germantown, WI; Philadelphia and Aston, PA; Winston-Salem, NC; and Cerritos and Santa Fe Springs, CA. Visit: www.smurfit-stone.com.