INTRODUCTION

Give people food that you would give your own children - Piertro Barilla

Barilla is an Italian multinational food company. It is the world's largest pasta producer.

The company was founded in 1877 as a bakery shop in Parma, Italy by Pietro Barilla.

The group produces many kinds of pasta, and is the world's leading pasta maker with 40–
45% of the Italian market and 25% of the US market. Barilla produces many types of pasta
in several sizes. Moreover, it is the biggest seller of baked goods in Italy and the company
markets its pasta in the United States and the wheat it uses is mainly local.

Barilla brand pasta is sold in numerous restaurants worldwide. Moreover, the plant where the
pasta was also made is noted on the packaging by a code letter whereas products made in
Italy are explicitly labelled as such. The wheat used to make the final product is purchased
from around the world.

It has been 140 years Barilla is passionate about pasta. From the field to the table, and it is
still maintain and committed to bring people the best experience to their customer a high
quality and a great tasty moments.

Barilla is a well-known brand as Barilla group are all around the world. The Barilla group
has several facilities around the world - in Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Norway,
Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Mexico and the States (in Ames, Iowa and Avon, New York). The
company also has mills - in Italy, Greece, Sweden, Turkey and in the United States. The
headquarters are in Parma, but it has offices in several other countries, such as Austria,
Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey, the States, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and Japan.

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 STEPS TAKEN BY THE FACTORY TO IMPROVE ITS PRODUCTIVITY

1. Automation

Automation is the technology by which a process or procedure is performed with minimal

human assistance. Automation is use of various control systems for operating equipment such
as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and many more. One of the most important
application areas for automation technology is manufacturing. We know that technology
focused on process improvement and product quality. Sometimes, ingredients quality
certainly is necessary, just like the technologies for the production of the dough in order to
obtain high quality products. The pasta factories particularly appreciate the capacity of
delivering dough that can be processed by all forming units, suitable for flours and recipes
with very different characteristics. Then, for movement, ventilation, and heating, the shakers
perfectly separate the product, preserving its original shape while drying its surface, reducing
the amount of moisture and extending the shelf-life, while providing for an easier packaging.

2. Organize the manufacturing space

A well organize manufacturing space has tremendous benefits. It will makes the process of
the product clearly focus and define areas that may need proper attention. An organized
space, will help the manufacturing process stay super productive. Next, stock at the right
height. The pasta that produce thousands by week are easier to pick accurately if the workers
are located at a waist-to-shoulder height. So it will make easier the workers to pick up a
product.

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3. Provide safety at work

Manufacturing safety is important to prevent or lessen the risk of workplace injury. A

manufacturing workers are responsible for moving materials in raw, in-process and ready-for-
market states. Inappropriate handling of the materials can be very risky, resulting in
exhaustion and risk of equipment failure that may lead to procedures followed incorrectly. So
safety is very important when doing in manufacturing a pasta. The company cares for the
safety of the workers such as make sure they wear a glove when at manufacturing pasta.
Then, the company must provide first aid with emergency medical needs so that in case of a
minor accident, it can be treated immediately.

4. Employee training

Training is a program that helps employees learn specific knowledge or skills to improve
performance in their current roles. Good training and development programs will help you
retain the work with ease and increase the value creation to do any specific job in a much
better way. By this situation, the workers have their high skills and knowledge when the
conduct in the manufacturing process a pasta. They also can handle the machines and
equipment efficiently. A few benefits of the employee training such as decreased accident. If
the employee is trained there are less chances of any errors or accidents on the manufacturing
pasta. Then, it also can make a better productivity when does their task.

5. Hygiene

Hygiene is the practice of keeping yourself and your surroundings clean, especially in order
to prevent illness or the spread of diseases. Producing pasta comes with a risk of getting
contaminated if standard hygiene levels are not adhered to. The products can get
contaminated because of the bad quality of raw materials, careless attitude of staff and dirty
machine. So the company always keep the hygiene by make sure the workers always adhere
to the ethics of dress such as gloves, disposable plastic aprons and rubber shoes. The
company will always make sure that their products are clean and safe to eat.

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6. Maintenance

Maintenance is about the process of preserving a condition or situation or the state of being
preserved. In manufacturing, equipment and machines are very important resources that are
constantly used for producing products. So, these must kept in best operating condition. If a
pasta company wants to consistent in market, it has to take decision on whether to replace the
old equipment to new equipment. If the machine is not good enough to produce the product
anymore, it can be upgraded to sophisticated machine. Machines operators need to fully
recognize the important of maintaining cleanliness and make it just as much a part of their
daily routine. Sometimes do the cleanliness of machine once a months.

7. Job specialization

Job specialization is a process where individuals or employees develop specific skills and
expertise to perform certain activities. The job specialization, sometimes called as a division
of labour. Then, job specialization is particularly beneficial in manufacturing and specialized
employees provide you with quality over quantity, but there are some disadvantages of
specialization, as well. Sometimes, an employee who performs the same task repeatedly by
specializing in it is less likely to make a mistake in manufacturing pasta.

8. Time working

Working time is the period of time that a person spends at paid labour. The period of time to
them for working are very important and the employee must know how to manage their time
efficiency. Sometimes, the way working hours are arranged can help an organization to
manage manufacturing products and help workers balance their responsibilities at work and
at home. Organizations have a responsibility to make sure that workers are receiving the
correct amount of breaks and are not working too many hours. So, they can rest for a few
minutes to eat, drink and many more. At least a 45 minute break if they will work longer than
six hours. The managers need to take care of the welfare of their employees so that they are
always comfortable with their job.

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 PROCESS FLOW OF PASTA

Flavouring
Mixing and Rolling
and
Kneading
Colouring

Cutting Drying
Pasteurization

Packaging

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 STEP 1 : MIXING AND KNEADING

The semolina is stored in giant silos that can hold up to 30,000 kg. Pipes move the flour to a
mixing machine equipped with rotating blades. Warm water is also piped into the mixing
machine for five to ten seconds. The mixture is kneaded to a lumpy consistency.

STEP 2 : FLAVOURING AND COLOURING

Eggs are added to the mixture if the product is an egg noodle. If pasta is to be a flavoured
variety, vegetable juices are added here. A tomato or beet mixture is added for red pasta,
spinach for green pasta, carrots for orange pasta. Herbs and spices can also be folded in for
additional flavouring.

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 STEP 3 : ROLLING

The mixture moves to a laminator where it is pressed into sheets by large cylinders. A
vacuum mixer-machine further flattens the dough while pressing air bubbles and excess water
from the dough to reach the optimum water content of 12%.

STEP 4 : PASTEURIZATION

The roll of dough moves through a steamer, which heats the dough to 220°F (104°C) in order
to kill any existing bacteria.

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 STEP 5 : CUTTING

Depending on the type of noodle to be produced, the dough is either cut or pushed through
dies. Ribbon and string-style pasta—such as fettucine, linguine, spaghetti, and capellini
(angel hair) are cut by rotating blades. To make tube or shell-shaped pasta such as rigatoni,
ziti, elbow.

STEP 6 : DRYER

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The pasta is placed in a drying tank in which heat, moisture, and drying time are strictly
regulated. The drying period differs for the various types of pasta. It can range from three
hours for elbow macaroni and egg noodles to as much as 12 hours for spaghetti. The drying
time is critical because if the pasta is dried too quickly it will break and if it is dried too
slowly, the chance for spoilage increases. The oxygen level in the tank is also regulated, and
lab technicians test frequently for salmonella and other bacteria.

Careful handling of the pasta during the drying period is also crucial. Spaghetti is the most
fragile of the noodles and is therefore hung high above the floor.

STEP 7 : PACKAGING

Fresh pasta is folded in pre-measured amounts into clear plastic containers. As the containers
move along a conveyer belt, a plastic sheet covers each container and is sealed with a hot
press. At the same time, a small tube sucks the air of the container and replaces it with a
mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen to prolong the product's shelf-life. Labels listing the
type of noodle, nutritional information, cooking instructions, and expiration date are attached
to the top of the containers.

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 PROCESS STRATEGY ADOPTED BY THE COMPANY

Barilla use product focus strategy as a process strategy. Product focus is also known as line
flow production and continuous production. Product focus strategy was implemented along
the completion process. There are several characteristics which are:

1. High volume but low product variety.

In product strategy, the product is physically similar. As we know, Barilla produced the same
pasta every hour in its factory. Barilla makes pastas are basically use the same raw material
such as semolina, water and an egg as additional ingredients. Plus, the process of making
pastas is also the same starting from mixing and extracting until the last one which is output
or packaging. Therefore, the output produced is of little variety.

2. More specialized equipment.

In order to produce pastas, Barilla use more specialized machines. Each machine has a
specific function and they not perform general purpose which means each machine is
responsible for one machine. Based on the video, they use high speed pre mixer machine
which is functions to mix and combine all the ingredients together with water, semolina and
eggs. Other than that, blade machine is use to cut the fresh dough through their own mold.
So, there are many others specialized machine to produced pasta efficiently.

3. Efficient production process.

Barilla developed product focus strategy have high product is created at its lowest average
total cost, production efficiency measures whether the economy is producing as much as
possible without wasting precious resources. Hence, they have been using high technological
machines so there are less of skilled workers except the first steps which is put all ingredients
into pre mixer. The process was also smooth from the start until at the end since it is set by
the machines and so on. An efficient production process helps the organization like Barilla to

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be more efficient and organized and they can easily measure the accurate target number of
goods per day. This makes it easier for them to control the quality.

4. Less skilled labor

Barilla has less skilled labor since all the task is being done by machines except for put all
ingredients into pre mixer before mixing process. However, less skilled labor will not affects
the production of pasta because everything is depends on its own specialized machines.
Therefore, if any of the machines involved in production process is breakdown. there will be
no alternative ways to overcome because the worker is depends 95% to 100% on machine for
the part production such as rolling and so on that is compulsory being done by using the
machine.

5. High fixed cost but low variable cost.

Barilla's fixed cost is high. This is because the entire medium that involve to producing pasta
almost using 95% machine than the human workforce. Therefore, the fixed cost is definitely
high for the Barilla. For example, Barilla pays the premium insurance for its factory building
and machines to preventative measure in case any unfortunate incident happens. Although all
the processes in producing the pasta are using the machine, the quality of the pasta is
undeniable good.

However, if Barilla decided to lessen the amount of productivity of the pasta, the fixed cost is
the same since it is not being affected by the quantity of pastas produced. Hence, in order to
overcome this kind of waste, Barilla should plan the operation precisely to avoid any
ineffective and inefficient production of pasta. The variable cost for the pasta is low since it is
relates with the quantity of the pasta being produced. Therefore, although the variable cost is
high or low for the Barilla, the fixed cost will remain the same which is high.

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 RECOMMENDATION

The first recommendation that we think Barilla company can take in order to increase their
productivity and quality of their production process is by improving the workplace
conditions. In this contact, what the company can so is the company should organise their
structure by using or change the existing machine to a fully covered machine. This is because
by having a fully covered machine it will help the company to reduce or decreasing the
number of waste product of raw material during the processing outcome. In an addition, it
will also help save and circle down the budget of company by doing this kind of machine.
The consequence of this action is that at first, the company maybe needs a more capital or
need to use quite a big amount of money as price of this machine is might be quite expensive.
But after the machine is ready to use the company will save more money because losses can
be avoided. Hence, it will be a good action for Barilla company to change the type of
machine they are using or improvise the existing machine so it can help them to operate their
factory more efficiently.

The second recommendation that we would like to recommend for Barilla company is they
can consider to produce or make more flavours for the pasta. Since most of us now like to
follow the trend like what we see on YouTube or all over internet this include changing
preferences in our appetite. From our observation, we can see that most of us like to eat
something spicy as we are affected by the Korean Ramen. So, Barilla company can consider
to produce pasta with flavour such as spicy, extra spicy and so on. Furthermore, the company
must follow the trend of latest food preferences among the society as they are changes in the
behaviour according to changes of times. Thus, if company consider to take this action, it will
help to attract new customer that fans of spiciness to buy their product and also increase their
sales.

Next, we think that the company should also create a portable packaging or compactable
packaging. During this era, most of the people did have enough time to cook as their have to
carry out a hectic life, so what they need is something that is easy to cook and on the go that
can save their time but still taste delicious and good. Not only that, this kind of packaging or
type of pasta is also suitable for traveller, as they need something easy to carry and can save
space when their pack their luggage. This also will give the colleges students to have an

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opportunity to eat pasta although there are staying in a dome that have limited facilities, as
the pasta have the same concept like the instant noodle. Hence, by changing or producing
new ideas like make the pasta look like the instant noodle will help the company to have their
competitive advantage and to gain new customer from all ages as their concept is fresh and
can attract people attention.

Other than that, Barilla company must upgrade their factory facilities and always update the
layout for the purpose of safety for all their employees. This can be done by using the
preventive maintenance. As examples, safety factory for employees means that the Barilla
company must have fire extinguisher for the emergency purpose. The preventive
maintenance, means that the company always make sure that their machines are fit and in a
good condition to operate. Addition, it means that the company always make an inspection to
check on their machine, the price of the machine is expensive so if the machine is not well
maintained, it might be break down and this can be costly. Not only that, the other part of the
layout like the distance of the machine also need to be look by the company, as if they put
them to near or to far can cause wastage and may also cause accident to occur to their
employees. Barilla company also can improve their storage layout by actually doing a higher
stacking system in their storage room to maximize their space in the storage room. Therefore,
it also saves the company budget of the year.

Last but not least, the company should make a faster productivity to gain more income for the
company. This can be done by implement more high technology machine around their
factory. Based on the video, we can see that the company are using the machine that can only
product low quantity of pasta at a time. If Barilla company implement this method, they will
be able to produce more pasta at one time as this can also increase their outcome that lead to
increasing their sales by number.

To sum up, all the recommendation above is something that we personally think the Barilla
company can implement to their factory and product in order to increase their productivity,
efficiency, and to improve their company reputation and gain more number of customer to
make more profit.

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 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we found that Barilla Company foods use a product focus in order to
make this high quality of pasta, since this strategy is appropriate for organization that have
large quantities of production. Moreover, by using the process strategy, it is more compatible
to produce the goods since it is more focus to just a processing process and enables a smooth
production process.

In nutshell, this study and this task gave us a really great knowledge and wonderful
learning experience; especially when it comes to knowing the way Barilla company
processing a pasta from the beginning in a raw material until finished and can be in market.

Lastly, we also enjoyed every moment in working together as a great teammate and we
enjoyed every bit of work we put into this project.

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