Production Challenges at Shuzworld Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Production Challenges at Shuzworld - Term Paper Example To increase production efficiency, the managers have the great responsibility of realigning operations including the production flow layout, making changes to the staffing plan, as well as other logistics such as warehousing and distribution. This memorandum looks at three key issues at the Shuzworld namely improvement of the current workflow, the introduction of a new project, and staffing plan in order to increase efficiency and output). The memorandum also looks at some short-term scheduling techniques and rules that can be used to achieve efficient movement of units through Shuzworld production systems. Re: Improvement of the Current Workflow The current workflow in the plant can be improved through the process of assembly line balancing. According to Heizer and Render (2011) in order to produce at a particular rate it is important that management is aware of the current work methods, tools and equipment that are in use. The length of time that each task requires must also so be determined. Additionally, the sequence in which each task should be performed must be identified. The precedence diagram which is shown below illustrates the precedence relationship among the tasks to be performed on the workboot assembly line, the time taken to carry out the tasks labeled A to H, and the tasks which can be done at the same time. Although the current Workboot Assembly Schedule indicates that there are eight tasks involved in the production, it is clear that tasks B and C can be performed simultaneously to save time. The same logic applies to tasks E and F such that performing these tasks simultaneously with further save the time spent on production. The restructuring of the production process in order to allow processing of multiple tasks can lead to reduced production time. Using this logic, 3 minutes will be saved between tasks A and D and the same amount of time saved between D and G. Therefore, the total amount of time saved after restructuring will be 6 minutes . Task C takes 3 minutes but when performed simultaneously with C (8 minutes), it will take 8 minutes to complete both tasks. Similarly, it will take 4 minutes to complete both tasks E and F thereby saving 3 more minutes. Therefore, the total time taken for production of Workboot will be reduced to 40 minutes. The correct number of workstations can be found after making a determination of the cycle time. The calculations are as follows: Cycle time = Production time available/units required = (8hrs/day* 60mins per hr)/48 units per day = 480/48 = 10mins/cycle The cycle time of 10 minutes can then be used to determine the minimum number of workstations as follows: Minimum number of work stations = Total task time (?ti)/cycle time = 46/10 = 4.6 or 5 stations The information suggests that the minimum number of work stations required is 5. However, the cycle time is 10 minutes and so only tasks that can be done in 10 minutes or less can be performed at the same work station. This means th at Task A takes 10 minutes and will be done at one workstation; Task B and C can be done together in a total of 9 minutes at another workstation; Tasks D takes 8 minutes and can be done at another workstation; Tasks E, F and G takes a total of 10 minutes and can be done one workstation while Task H takes 9 minutes and will therefore be performed at another workstation. Therefore, a total of 5 workstations are required. The layout would therefore appear as follows: The most following tasks heuristic were used to assign jobs to