Simplifying the workflow for tea production can be done by removing several steps to
improve tea production efficiency and sustainability. These changes address various project
issues, such as high labor costs, excessive packaging materials, and inefficient handling of tea
leaves. However, improving tea production involves considering efficiency and environmental
sustainability (Soomo, 2020). The following explores ways to reduce resource usage, energy
consumption, and waste generation in tea production. Implementing these modifications and
including sustainable sourcing and equipment aims to achieve a more environmentally
sustainable tea production process without compromising product quality. First, we can eliminate
the duplicate weighing of tea leaves after removing them from pans in the Processing stage (Step
E). Second, we can streamline the process by skipping the transfer of tea leaves to new trays for
the second drying machine (Step I). Third, we can remove the redundant visual inspection of tea
leaves (Step K). Lastly, we can eliminate individual tea bags (Step G) sealing in the Packaging
and Shipping stage. These changes directly address issues in the project, such as high labor costs,
excessive packaging materials, and inefficient handling of tea leaves.
There are several invaluable steps when applying lean manufacturing principles to the tea
production process flowchart. First, reweighing tea bags (Processing Step A) is redundant since
the initial weighing at the farm (Step 1B) should stay the same during transportation. Similarly,
reweighing tea leaves after removing them from pans (Processing Step E) duplicates effort.
Transferring tea leaves from rolling trays to new trays for the second drying machine (Processing
Step I) involves unnecessary handling and can be simplified. Visual inspection of tea leaves
(Processing Step K) is also redundant because poor-quality leaves are already removed in earlier
steps. Lastly, sealing individual tea bags (Packaging and Shipping Step G) may only be
necessary if bags are wrapped
in paper packets, reducing materials and processing time without