Evaluation of the impact of raw material and supplier on the performance of a recycling company

Abstract

Organizations in the 21st century need to evaluate all production processes in order to improve their performance in an increasingly competitive and globalized world. The plastics sector is no exception to this reality, especially when it comes to questioning the damage caused to the environment by the consumption of this material, which requires minimizing its use, an objective that is achieved through recycling. The company under study is a plastics recycling company founded 25 years ago in Aragua, Venezuela, which recycles various types of plastics and aims to become a market leader, which is why it needs to keep its production costs as low as possible. The main purpose of this study is to determine the raw material that offers the best performance and the supplier that offers the best conditions. To carry out this work, statistical methods and methodologies were used, supported by the Design of Experiments and Techno-Economic Evaluation, which served to determine the objective factors of the research, based on the operating conditions, the performance of the raw materials and the profitability values, which generated the recommendation to use Polyethylene and Polypropylene as the main products to be marketed.