Gad Vitner , Ruppin Academic Center, School of Engineering, Emek-Hefer, 40250, Israel

The study investigates the issue of reducing the working hours in flowers' distribution center (about 25% of the total working hours in the farm) while performing the activities needed to prepare customer orders prior to delivery. The farm under study is located in the central part of Israel, consists of 5 hectares (1.4 ha of greenhouses and 3.6 ha of screen houses) and employing 45 workers. It grows a large variety of cut flowers packed in four sizes of pots. In addition, it grows various types of green ornamentals delivered in bundles of 50 stems. The annual yield of the farm in 2010 was 8.6 million branches delivered to nurseries and local municipalities. The major types (about 30%) were Vinca, Antirrhinum and Petunia. The activity starts everyday at noon time aiming to end before dark. The marketing department prepares the pick lists according to customers' orders promised for the next morning. The objective of the study was to improve the work processes of: flowers' picking (various quantities for different orders) from screen houses and greenhouses located all over the farm, transporting the product to the distribution center, orders preparation in the distribution center and trucks' loading to be ready for distribution. Direct time studies were conducted to verify the time standards of the various involved processes. A computer simulation model was developed using the Arena. The model inputs are the pick lists of the orders to be delivered containing flower types and the related quantities. The simulation inputs were the picking methods and the number of workers in the related work teams. The simulation outputs (performance measurements) were: Daily picking hours, daily waiting hours, average worker walking hors, number of packages and the total time to accomplish the task (makespan). Five alternatives were tested where each alternative tested a predefined work method. The current method (moving in series from one location to next one) was the reference. Other alternatives employed teams of workers working in parallel in various picking locations in the farm. Results show that the best alternative reduced the total time needed to accomplish the task with 16%. This alternative involves two teams working in parallel.