The Need for Lean Manufacturing Tools in the Arrod Garden Equipment Company - Assignment Example

The need for lean Manufacturing tools in The Arrod Garden Equipment Company (AGEC) Affiliation Student name 1. Abstract The sluggish pace of business expansion is not as a result of no information of six-sigma or lean. To a certain extent, the mistake remains in putting together the changeover from concepts to reality. Administrators require a gradually, clear-cut way of enhancement that show the way to foreseeable outcome. The report therefore enumerates the lean production tools and techniques, and six-sigma, and how the company ought to adopt and implement for high productivity and efficiency. 2. Introduction individual In the world of growing modernization, there is an increase in labour pay accelerated by high standards of living. This has caused furniture production companies to drift from the lofty labour wages to small labour pay in businesses. Despite the fact that labour can still be affordable, the furniture enterprises are coping with the biggest challenges. The Arrod Garden Equipment Company in particular is more purposeful on getting raw materials and reducing distribution expenses than the workforces’ efficiency and is as a result of accessibility of inexpensive workforce. Owing to this, workforce efficiency is poorer in the company. In the same way, the price of wood which is the sole raw material is a major element of the furniture products is affordable and so there is high need for development in this area (Fled, 2000). The major concern is on the workforce efficiency and creating the assembly line to be accommodating and flexible since the furniture business is very unpredictable and if the required clients’ demands are not met within the set time, the worry of failing in this trade is a dawning reality. Even at present, the business is still attaining similar or extra orders, but the fashions stylishness they have to tackle have intensified considerably. Previously the industry was receiving high volume of orders and so there was no call for concern if the assembly line was synchronized, it would function for a period of time before altering the production to produce another type of product. But at the moment as a result of lesser amount and multifaceted models, the furniture business has to make numerous designs even in a day; this calls for advanced flexibility in quantity and stylishness alteration (Bisen & Srivastava, 2009). 3. Literature Review 3.1 Lean Management Lean: This is using common sense approach and it emanated from Toyota Motor Company. This means doing a lot with fewer efforts exerted (Womack, Jones, & Ross, 1990). The Lean Principles Womack and Jones (2003) recognized five main principles of becoming Lean in their study “Lean Thinking”. The first one is to point and spot the principles that is being formed inside the business, allowing discovery of the clients and the client’s requirements. They lay emphasis that clients set value through what they are ready to pay for a given service or product (Womack & Jones, 2003). Figure 2: Five Lean principles (Womack & Jones, 2003) Once a need has been identified, value stream mapping technique is employed in order to create a service or a product. The technique explains the processes and steps required for the production of the product. Process tasks are grouped into value addition task, task with no value addition but needed, and task with no value addition but not needed (Liker 2003). When value stream is drawn and waste is known and eradicated, the rest of the steps ought to be set so as to run so as to give a short process time and lead time. One has to consider the product or service being processed so as to know the value added and no value added that takes place in the whole process (Womack & Jones, 2003). As soon as flow has been produced alongside the value stream, the lead period of the process from client order to distribution is considerably decreased. Nevertheless, if goods or services are created without active requirement, waste still take place. With no requirement, goods or services are pressed all through the system and completed goods produce inventory. Completed merchandise generates substantial expenses, therefore waste take place. Hence, the fourth rule of Lean is to produce a pull system, which creates only goods or services when enquired by a client. In the perfect state, manufacture time is so small that the real manufacture of a merchandise or service will commence only once a client requisition is accepted. Lastly, the fifth rule is a hard-hearted drive for excellence which activates the procedure of constantly recovering the present state which is one of the main constituents of Lean philosophy (Womack & Jones, 2003). 3.2 Six Sigma This is a well-organized method that is used to get rid of imperfections in any development process. In order to achieve this data is employed. For this to take place, a procedure ought to generate no more than 3.4 faults per million chances. The six sigma’s straightforward significant scheme is that theory for procedure enhancement, statistical technique, a client centred, concentration to procedures, and a supervision system concentration on added value perfection venture outcome in nonstop enhancement and major monetary rewards. The main objective of this method is that it aid in the lessening of production expenses, cycles times, and eradication of defects, increase revenue margin and boost client contentment. It guides industries to come up with products that are meeting the required standards (Roy, 2005). The six sphaghetti diagram is shown in appendix 1. It employs five phases of problem solving known as DMIAC. The abbreviations stand for Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMIAC) (Roy, 2005). The phases are described below and appendix 2 shows the techniques and tools Define: The reason of this stage is to shed light on the objective and worth of a venture. Measure: The rationale of this stage is to assemble figures on the crisis. It is here that functioning specifications are measured, measurement systems are validated, and initial capabilities for the Y’s are established. Analyze: The function of this stage is to scrutinize the figures and procedure maps to distinguish the type and scope of the fault. Performance objectives are set, potential X’s is documented, and analyse the origin of inconsistency. Improve: The point of this stage is to do away with faults in both superiority and procedure swiftness by screening possible causes and spotting suitable working environment. Control: The function of this stage is to secure in the advantages realize by performing the earlier stages. It entails determining procedure inconsistency for X’s, put into practice procedure controls, and keeps a record what has been learned. 4. Analysis of Arrod garden Equipment Company The Arrod Garden Equipment Company is operated as dynasty trade missing proficient workforce as well as resources to put into practice new expertise for enhancing production and adaptability. As a result of this, the business has been operating in a fixed system for years and is inflexible to transformation (Womack & Jones, 2003). In Arrod Garden Equipment Company there is no self-assurance and will in the direction of modernization over and above old procedures. Owing to this, workforce efficiency is poorer in the company. In the same way, the price of wood which is the sole raw material is a major element of the furniture products is affordable and so there is high need for development in this area (Fled, 2000). In the present competitive economy, there is need to fight with worldwide market demands and seize the market segment if the aim is to develop the company high so as to curve and set its place in the market. This explosive nature of stylishness is only dealt with by changes in production. The most excellent means to handle all these confrontations is lean manufacturing and six-sigma implementation. These techniques are flexible and will save money (Gersten & Riis, 2002). 5. Discussion Continuous Improvement (CI) intended to enhance the operation of Arrod garden Equipment Company and allow growth is missing. There are no premeditated, prearranged and organized procedures of progress, progression and overall changes in the company’s active customs intended at enhancing operations (Gersten & Riis, 2002). Furthermore, there is no training of employees on the relevant and new skills. This is also worsened by the fact that employees themselves are not ready to teach one another since there is specialization where everybody does his part. When we look at Just in Time (JIT) employed by the company, there is no assimilated collection of tasks intended to attain extraordinary outcome utilizing the least record of unprocessed items, time of processing and completed items. Products are manufactured and stored in the warehouse. There is no establishment that not anything will be manufactured unless a need a rises (Shivanand, 2006). Therefore, the correct products with the correct value and amount in the correct position at the accurate period are not manufactured. This result in overwhelming capacity to handle cost that matches with market needs or altering manufactured goods conditions and can significantly worsen returns and decrease a company’s aggressive status by increasing costs and leftovers. In the pull and push structure where when a job is completed at a terminal, the end product is moved to the subsequent point or moved to the last point; Arrod garden Equipment Company employs the method but here task is not moved to the next stage as it is completed with consideration of the next stage status (Roy, 2005). A long term production programme is not set and divided so as to give finer details for creating or buying parts so that this comprehensive programme then forces the assembly section to construct a section and press on to send to the subsequent position (Shivanand, 2006). When we look at work consistency, there is uniform job essentially guarantee that every work is arranged and performed in a similar way; with no consideration of the kind of labour running on it. However, the job is not harmonized, and no identical results will be obtained even when employees are altered in the course of production. Consequently, by performing this line balancing is not attained, unsolicited job in progress inventory is increased and actions with no value are increased (Heizer & Render, 2000). Method study is technique concentrates on the way in which a chore is undertaken. It employs ergonomics information and technique testing; approaches which engineers are entrusted with making certain that excellence and capacity benchmark are attained competently and securely. The technique is not handy in Arrod garden Equipment Company place of work surroundings. There is no scrutiny of workers and material movements, human, equipment, and crew activities, and movements of the body (Heizer & Render, 2000). Labour standards and work measurements are techniques that have been set aside and are measured against some known standards. For successful process administration, it necessitate important principles that can assist a company to establish quantity of workforce input for every outcome, employment requirements, price and period approximation preceding manufacturing, team magnitude and job equillibrium, usual fabrication, sensible motivation, and effectiveness of workforce and management. The diagram below illustrates these factors. Benefits of successful process administration Factors Benefits Team magnitude Decreases Job equillibrium Balanced processes Employment needs Improved motivation Work duration Lessen Cost Reduced operational cost Appropriately put industry principles correspond to the quantity of time that it must last a common worker to carry out particular tasks under ordinary operating circumstances. The labour values are put in through past knowledge, learning, prearranged time principles and job variety standards. Standard have been set out by international organizations that stipulates how tasks, machines, and the workforce can be organized so as to ensure safety of the employees and production of products that meet the required standards that conform to set standards (Heizer & Render, 2000). This is a technique that is totally lacking in the company. Layout design is not well organized in Arrod garden Equipment Company. This is how workspace has been arranged so as to ensure maximum utilization of labour, machines, and materials for effective production of a product within the required set time. When the layout is not organised well, there is no efficient operations and the company’s competitive advantage is not uplifted above that of competitors. Therefore there is no differentiation, and increases costs. A good layout must provide proper use of space, enhanced movement of facts, material or workforce; enhanced members of staff confidence and secure operating surroundings, better client contact, and must be adaptable to future modifications (Heizer & Render, 2000). In Arrod garden Equipment Company balancing assembly line is not done well and therefore there is unevenness in linking machines or workforce whereas getting a necessary production from the unit. The manufacturing speed is compromised and the best possible use of labour force lies on the foundation of yield standards to be met. The real productivity of one person may be dissimilar from the yield standards. The duration to run the machine, therefore, continues changing. It is, for that reason, essential to cluster particular tasks to workspace be in tandem with the optimum time for each station. The line of assembling parts ought to be balanced in order to lessen waiting time due to operation time in every workspace. The arrangement of work operations is to enhance proper balancing and maximum use of resources and facilities (Heizer & Render, 2000). In comparison with the similar company companies with the use of lean six sigma techniques, we can see that those companies have improved quality of their products, increased efficiency, safer working environment, and improved employee morale. Furthermore, the work is easier to manage, working space is utilized, and there is improved visual management (Heizer & Render, 2000). 6. Recommendation There is need of cellular manufacturing as it provides extremely little work in progress in the procedure, so the queue can be altered instantly if necessary. This assists to build diverse kinds merchandise in a similar manufacturing queue based on the requests, but in situation of old manufacturing layout this is impossible to put into practice. For that reason if there is a necessity to alter the approach, the work in progress will pile up and consume time to complete the task prior to starting new method. In a number of cases it might take some days to clear out while the distribution period possibly will elapse by that period. Even though, in a number of special situations, if the administration endeavour to make pressing products for orders in the present sequence it is extremely hard since the running work in progress must be packed for upcoming and new methods will be applied in the process. This raises the probability of combining trims of dissimilar techniques which improve alteration percentages. Secondly, by abiding by JIT for manufacturing and acquisition of goods lessens in house work in progress which handles two issues. To start with, the unwarranted use of bulky quantity of unprocessed materials and completed merchandise is decreased which rescue store workforce’s time and the storehouse room. In order for the company to attain flourishing continuous improvement in operations, training of the workforce in operating equipment and procedures is mandatory. This is achieved by setting up a favourable study atmosphere further constant learning within the company. Therefore constant development is a procedure that is continuous and never ends. It gauges the accomplishment achieved from the use of one method on top of the methods that exist. In choosing a constant development one ought to deliberate on the section that needs more consideration and which put in more significance to the goods produced There is need of JIT technique. If employed it will assists to utilize business reserves such as funds, apparatus, and workforce. The objective the technique is to get rid of leftover in the mechanized procedure. The belief of JIT is a constant progress stresses on avoidance instead of rectification, and calls for a business concentration on value. The necessity of JIT is that tools, assets and workforce are availed in the quantity necessary and at a point essential to perform a job. It is centres on generating the required units in the needed amount at the essential instance by making assembly rates precisely coincide with the need. 7. Conclusion and future works There is need to develop self-assurance, will, and geared in the direction of modernization over and above old procedures and methods of doing business. In the present competitive economy, there is need to fight and compete with worldwide market demands and seize the market segment if the objective is to develop an enterprise. There is need for further research on performance measurement of the company through the utilization of KPI technique so as to follow up on performance of the company. Furthermore, in the implementation of lean manufacturing, environmental measures ought to be taken into account in future research, and in particular consequences of environmental changes, difficulty and philanthropy may also be taken into account. Read More