PRODUCTIVITY AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
Assignment Overview
The Excellent Manufacturing Company & Productivity
Note: In the attachment-EMC Additional information. You will find information on (A) EMCBackground Information; (B) Product Brochure; (C) Plasti-Brack Information; (D) Manufacturing Processes; (E) Basic Financial Information about EMC; (F) Organizational Chart; (G) Plant Layout
Scenario
Company E-Mail
FROM: Gerald Garcia
SUBJECT: Annual Productivity Plan
The Plasti-Brack product line is an important part of our business and with your qualifications, I am looking for some good things to happen with these products.
I am announcing the annual productivity plan and goal, which is for EMC to improve productivity this year by 5% overall. I am asking each manager to develop a productivity plan for their areas. This plan is to identify areas of productivity, the productivity measurements, and provide a plan for how the productivity will be accomplished.
I want you to consider using this multi-factor productivity measure: (Total Production of Plasti-Bracks) / (Total Paid Labor Hours). Using the most recent data available, this Productivity Measure is 332.73 pieces produced per paid people hours, for Plasti-Brack. You can review the detailed data to see how I determined this measurement. A 5% increase translates to 349.37 pcs/pd ppl hr.
You can plan on a 3% to 5% increase in demand for the next year.
Here is the data that has been collected and analyzed for the Productivity Index for Plasti-Brack. (ATTACHED)
Note: There is a lot of non-production time. I am sure we can eliminate some of this and convert it into productive use.
Given this overall productivity measure and the 5% goal, you should consider your next steps. First, do an assessment of the current situation. Then determine other subordinate productivity indices or factors that will be measured in your area of responsibility. What are the main issues and concerns about improving productivity this year? What are some of the possible processes that should be considered for process re-engineering or lean analysis? What improvements do you plan on making, and how will they achieve the 5% productivity goal?
Please do this analysis for your area. You should consult with the production managers as necessary. I want a report that provides an assessment of productivity measures and process improvement issues for the Plasti-Brack product line and related production processes. Your report should include the following sections: Review of the Current Situation, Goals & Objectives, Action Plans, and Explanation/Justification.
Since you are new to EMC, your report also should include a process flow diagram of several key Plasti-Brack processes. (See Section C: Plasti-Brack Information, Figure 2.) (ATTACHMENT-EMC additional info.)
I will be looking for your report in the next several weeks. Thank you. ~GG
PS – I know you are new to EMC and you may not be familiar with how we write reports. So I have attached a copy of a blank report template that I would like you to use: Report Template for Case Assignments.in ATTACHMENTS
And I also have attached a copy of a report that was done awhile back by Manny Jones. It is a report providing a plan to solve a big problem we were having in the Zinc Die Cast Machine Group. It is not about productivity, so you will need to taylor your report with appropriate content that I am looking for. Manny Jones Sample Report (attached)
******** Assignment
Analyze the processes that are used to produce the Plasti-Brack product line. Determine appropriate productivity measures and then develop a productivity & process improvement plan. Justify your plan. Write a report to the VP of Operations.
Assignment Expectations
Use the information provided in the Background readings. It is not necessary to do any additional research.
Review the information about the Excellent Manufacturing Company and become familiar with the products and processes.
Analyze the processes and determine productivity measures for the various processes.
Determine a plan for improving productivity via process improvement and lean thinking.
Justify your plan based on the concepts of process improvement
BACKGROUND MATERIALS
How the U.S. Dept. of Labor measure productivity (n.d.). U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/bls/productivity.htm
Keberdle, C. (2008). Reducing Machine Setup & Changeover Times. Retrieved from https://www.leansolutionsgroup.com/images/Setup_Reduction_Master.pdf
Lean Enterprise Research Center (2015). What is Lean Thinking? Retrieved from https://www.leanenterprise.org.uk/what-is-lean-thinking/what-is-lean-thinking-and-key-lean-thinking-principles.html
OPM500-systems view of OPS-Pt.1 (2011). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/jLlOyqD9UKQ
OPM500-systems view of OPS-Pt.2 (2011). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ZUn6lB07-yM
OPM500-systems view of OPS-Pt.3 (2011). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/mUz4OZlQrKQ
What is Lean? (n.d.). Lean Enterprise Institute, retrieved from https://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/
Optional Reading
Arnst, C. (2010). A Team Effort to Re-Engineer Care at Hospitals, U.S. News & World Report. Washington: Jul 2010. p. 1, retrieved from: https://health.usnews.com/health-news/best-hospitals/articles/2010/07/26/a-team-effort-to-re-engineer-care-at-hospitals
Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management (n.d.). NetMBA, retrieved from: https://www.netmba.com/mgmt/scientific/
Frederick Winslow Taylor (2011). Wikipedia, retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor
Lean Manufacturing (2011). Wikipedia, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing
Productivity improving technologies_(historical) (2011), retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_improving_technologies_(historical)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_improving_technologies_(historical) (This website provides many different examples of improving productivity)
Productivity slide presentation
Purdue\’s Online Writing Library (OWL) (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/)
Torres, C. and Feld, A. (2010). Campbell\’s Quest for Productivity, Business Week. New York: Nov 29, 2010. p. 1, retrieved from https://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_49/b4206015275454.htm?chan=magazine+channel_news+-+global+economics
