08-01-2013, 12:52 PM
MB0044 Production & operations management Assignment
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Q.1 Explain in brief the origins of Just In Time. Explain the different types of wastes that can be eliminated using JIT.
Answer: Just –In-Time (JIT) manufacturing is a process by which companies don’t keep lots of excess inventory: instead, they manufacture a project as an order comes in. It is a management philosophy of continuous and forced problem solving.
The objective of JIT manufacturing system is to:
• Eliminate waste that is, minimize the amount of equipment, materials, parts, space, and worker’s time, which adds a great value to the product.
• Increase productivity.
Characteristics of JIT;
In his section, we will study different methods by which inefficiency is reduced and unproductive time is minimized. The consequent savings are to be utilized for reducing cost and rendering better services to the customer. Shigeo shingo an authority on JIT at Toyota classifies the wastes to be eliminated as follows.
The seven wastes to be eliminated according to JIT are:
• Over production
• Inventory
• Waiting time
• Movement
• Effort
• Defective products
• Over processing
• Over Production: Over production is to manufacture products before it is actually needed. If the demand for that product decreases, the extra parts or products produced may not useful or needed. Also over production results in high storage costs and is also difficult to detect defeats. So over production is considered a waste.
• Inventory: Excess procurement or production builds up stock of materials which are not immediately used, thus locking space and funds carrying heavy costs. The inventory at different levels of an organization- Supplier distribution, production, and customer distribution.
• Waiting Time: Waste of time happened when goods are not moving or being processed. The operator, the machine or the part will either be not working or be worked upon. The duration of waiting is can be said to be unproductive and may create more serious consequences.
• Movement: Any unnecessary movement is a waste of energy; it causes blockage, disrupting movements and delaying the flow of other items creating delays.
• Effort: The people, who work, do not make a study as to how the products on which they are making aware utilized and do not realize the purpose for which they are made. This lack of education will lead to waste of resources. Finally, they end up in shortage of resources when needed.
• Defective products: The defective products lead to a tremendous loss to the company. This is because they use up the same equipments workmen and the time that would be used to make good products. Thus defective products use up resources and result in losses.
• Over processing: Some steps like unnecessary processing or production do not add value to the final output. As a result, it is waste of all the inputs that go into the process.
Since these wastes have to be eliminated, a thorough study of how they occur and what steps would result in their elimination is of paramount importance. The next section focuses on some of them.
Q.2 what is value Engineering or Value Analysis? Elucidate five companies which have incorporates VE with brief explanation.
Answer: Value Engineering (VE) or value Analysis is a methodology by which we try to find substitutes for a product or an operation.
The concept of Value Engineering originated during the Second World War. It was developed by the General Electric Corporations (GEC). Value Engineering has gained popularity due to its potential for gaining high Returns on Investment (ROI). This methodology is widely used in business re-engineering, government projects, automakers, transportation and distribution, industrial equipment, construction, assembling and machining processes health care and environmental engineering, and many others.
A cosmetic company came across the case of an empty packet of a cream tube. A customer raised a complaint on that company, stating that there was no cream tube in the packed box.
When the complaint came to the notices of the company officials, the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line engineers. The management asked engineers to solve the problem. Engineers worked hard and found a solution for the problem. They devised a high resolution X-ray machine which would help to monitor all the packed boxes that pass through the assembly line. Through, the X-ray devise was costly, management compromised to buy the devise. Management felt that the devise would help then to avoid such unforeseen errors.
Engineers ordered the floor managers to fix the X-ray machines at the assembly line to ensure all packages boxes have cream tube in it, before delivering to the delivery department. Also, two employees were appointed to check the flow line and to maintain the record of the empty boxes.
When the two employees were working on it, one of them got a better solution for the problem. He through that his idea would solve the problem much better and it involves less costly equipment. The idea was to place a strong industrial electric fan near to the assembly line, which would blow off the empty boxes passing through the line, if any, thereby ensuring zero errors.