Toray Plastics (America), Inc. Optimizes Manufacturing Operational Performance with Big Data Analytics

The diversification of today’s “food-on-demand” culture has led to an increasing need for keeping food products safe and fresh for extended periods of time—all while preserving its original flavor. Consumers expect their food products to maintain a relatively long shelf life without compromising quality. And as a result of this growing demand, Toray Plastics was faced with producing better food packaging film than ever before. Food packaging film is composed of very unique components for protecting against oxygen and water, and producing these films is no easy task. It requires very tight production processes that are examined with the utmost scrutiny to ensure the highest quality. So, in order for Toray Plastics to meet its vision to remove waste across the organization and remain competitive, the company implemented a new integrated system that allowed it to monitor its film manufacturing much more closely to ensure exact quality standards in every unit.

Toray Industries, Inc. is behind the manufacturing of many of the shiny metallized packages that protect a variety of food products, from snack food to cookies, prepared meals, candy, crackers, and granola bars. Toray Industries—headquartered in Tokyo, Japan—is the world leader in high-performance films, synthetic fibers and textiles, carbon fibers, plastics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Today, the organization operates 254 facilities in 26 countries with more than 45,000 employees—with annual sales exceeding $19 billion. Toray Plastics (America), Inc., an American based subsidiary of Toray Industries, is responsible for manufacturing the Torayfan Polypropylene Film, Lumirror Polyester Film, and Toraypef Olefin Foams across its Rhode Island and Virginia facilities. Within its facilities, Toray Plastics operates through a bi-modal approach—a combination of standard operations mixed with agile and cutting-edge techniques—that is fueled by technology. With a keen focus on lean activities, the company’s strategy goes beyond the standard “mode one” of keeping a business up and running. Instead, Toray Plastics consistently strives to integrate innovation, creativity, and experimentation into all of its processes.