INTRODUCTION Companies aim to improve their efficiency, as manufacturing sector is becoming more competitive by each day. Increasing labor costs and operating costs, have forced companies to move or outsource their operations. Typically a majority of companies outsource to countries where wages are low and production costs are lower. One of the main methods to reduce cost and remain competitive is called “lean manufacturing.” Lean manufacturing basically tries to reduce any type of waste in an operation. One of the main drawbacks of the various lean tools is absence of visual description, i.e. the ability of the tool to convey the current state and also communicate the possible future actions. Value stream mapping is capable of doing this task. Value stream maps (VSM) are used to evaluate current manufacturing processes …show more content…
Then the process is mapped using the standard VSM symbols. A data box is created under each process step and all the process data collected as we walk on the shop floor are entered in the data boxes. An example of a process data box is given below • The points where inventory accumulates at the beginning and end of each process step is identified. • Communication, both electronic and manual, are identified between departments and processes. Information and material flow along with timing is captured. • Cycle time, which is the average time between completed products coming out of a process, is calculated. • Lead time, the time taken for a unit to go through all the steps of a process from start to finish, is computed. Processing time, which is sum of all cycle times, and lead time, which is sum of all processing time and queues times, are calculated. The maximum value added percentage is calculated as Max. Value add % = (processing time/lead time) x
The inter-temporal relationship between every task was specified in advance so the impact of delay of a task on other tasks could be calculated.
Quality is an important part of any business rather from a customer’s perspective or a producer’s perspective. Quality from a customer’s perspective is they “want value and quality has become a major factor in the value of products and service” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 53). “The customer is the most important part of the production line” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 53). This can be referred to as quality of design meaning “involves designing quality characteristics into a product or service” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 54). Now let’s look at the quality from a producer’s perspective. This can be referred to a quality of conformance meaning “making sure the product or service is produced according to design” (Russell & Taylor, 2013,
13 Jacobs, D.A. and Keating C.B. “Process Analysis and Personnel Development Program. Jefferson Lab, Newport News, VA, April 1998.
Between each step the central path and the front, from the final product above steps for adjustments and / or corrections and from the product end to the potential market.
Lean services are the application of lean manufacturing concept to service operations. Here, the context of services is not limited only to administration or office but it is anything from hospital to a university, from an office process to consultancy and from warehouse to field service maintenance. Usually, in service customer standing in front of us waiting for the service while in manufacturing process constraints are found at machine level where a task time is constrained. In Manufacturing the mother of all waste is overproduction but in services the mother of all waste is over processing.
CBF Inc. uses a job shop process flow structure, one of the four major process flow structures identified in the text. A job shop process flow structure is a "production of small batches of a large number of different products." (Chase, 2003). Further, job shop process "is a flexible operation that has several activities through which work can pass. In a...
We can estimate the completion time of the project using this method and can reduce the factor of uncertainty by considering both the shortest and longest time calculation for the critical path.
Alan Li. (n.d.). ‘Days in Inventory Ratio’. Available from: . Last accessed 19th March, 2014.
To reduce the overall cost of the product one can reduce the cycle time of the product and the second thing is setup time of the product. Moreover, if the company is providing multiple products then the cost of setup will be more. “Setup time” can be defined as amount of time taken to change from the last part of a production lot to the
In manufacturing process there are different steps and jobs needs to be done in specific ways and time such as sourcing the parts we need in the production, make the items, and shipping it for the customers.
Encompasses all the post-sale processes involved in something operating properly in its environment, including analyzing requirements, installation, configuration, customization, running, testing, systems integrations, user training, delivery and making necessary changes.
This is the activity carried out by organizations that own production sites, and their performance has a major impact on product cost, quality, speed of delivery and delivery reliability, and flexibility [8]. As it is quite an important part of the supply chain, production needs to be measured and continuously improved. Suitable metrics for the production level are as follows. Order lead-time, the total order cycle time, called order to delivery cycle time, refers to the time elapsed in between the receipt of customer order until the delivery of finished goods to the customer. The reduction in order cycle time leads to reduction in supply chain response time, and as such is an important performance measure and source of competitive advantage [9]. It directly interacts with customer service in determining competitiveness. Range of product and services: According to [8] a plant that manufactures a broad product range is likely to introduce new products more slowly than plants with a narrow product range. Plants that can manufacture a wide range of products are likely to perform less well in the areas of value added per employee, speed and delivery reliability. This clearly suggests that product range affects supply chain performance. Effectiveness of scheduling techniques is another important measure of supply chain effectiveness. Scheduling refers to the time or date on or by which
many hours spend working in the time period you decide upon. Finally, the last step to attempt is
A process is recurring, an on-going and systemic series of operation or actions where an input is transferred into desired output or product. Process improvement is tools or techniques for controlling and enhancing the effectiveness of the process to get better quality output. For management a process is seen as steps and decisions involved in the way work is achieved. (Orau, V.206)
PMBOK guide defines TM as the “Use of available time and your own productivity along with the appropriate planning and management of the project schedule” highlighting the link between Time Management and productivity and its closely knit relationship to scope and cost areas. Max Wideman presents a wider definition for TM as the “function required to maintain appropriate allocation of time to the overall conduct of the project through the successive stages of its natural life-cycle, by means of the processes of time planning, time estimating, time scheduling, and schedule control.” Ultimately at it’s core however, TM is about time, its planning and control during all stages of the project. A further look into Wideman’s definition of TM by means of identifying its importance throughout the entire project life-cycle (Initiation, planning, execution, controlling and close-out) is required. It is hoped that by analysing how TM tools and techniques can positively and negatively effect the different stages of the Project life cycle a better understanding of productivity, TM and project success will result.