Saturday, December 12, 2015
Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) - UK
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is an energy assessment and energy
saving scheme and is established by the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Regulations
2014 (ESOS Regulations).
The scheme applies to large undertakings and groups containing large undertakings in the
UK.
The qualification date for the first compliance period is 31 December 2014.
A large undertaking is:
- any UK undertaking that meets either one or both of the conditions below:
it employs 250 or more people1
it has an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euro (£38,937,777), and an annual
balance sheet total in excess of 43 million euro (£33,486,489)
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466515/LIT_10094.pdf
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/techniques-slash-73-off-your-energy-bill-how-much-do-you-kit-oung
New Technologies to Help in Energy Conservation and Efficiency Improvement
Energy-management system
Advanced analytics
Smart grids
Immersion-cooling technology
Liquid-desiccant systems
Pressurized-plenum-recirculation-air system
Automated-compressor-staging and capacity control systems
Variable-head-pressure controls
Direct-contact water heaters
Power
Ultra-supercritical plants
High-efficiency combined-cycle gas turbine
Trigeneration
Cement
Fluidized-bed advanced-cement-kiln system
Combustion-system improvements (gyrotherm)
High-efficiency grate coolers (reciprocating)
Improved preheating/precalcining
Oil refining and chemicals
Advanced-process control
Membrane gas separation
High-pressure recovery
Steam compressors
Pulp and paper
Advanced-thermomechanical pulping
Heat recovery in thermomechanical pulping
High-consistency paper making
Impulse drying in wet-pressing process
Steel
Coke-dry quenching
Cyclone-converter furnace
Endless-strip production
Top-gas-recycling blast furnace
Mining Automated-mine-ventilation control and
Mining
Automated-mine-ventilation control and air reconditioning
High-pressure grinding rolls
In-pit crushing-conveyance and high-angle conveyance systems
Low-loss conveyor belts
Stirred-media mills
From
McKinsey & Co.
Greening the future: New technologies that could transform how industry uses energy
August 2015
Authors
Harsh Choudhry
Mads Lauritzen
Ken Somers
Joris Van Niel
You can download the report from McKinsey Company website
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Robust Design - Productivity during Design & Development
Robust Design is an engineering methodology for improving productivity during design & development so that high quality products can be produced at low cost.
Robust Design is an engineering methodology for improving productivity during design & development so that high quality products can be produced at low cost.
Robsut design optimization is systematic and efficient way to meet the challenge design optimization for performance, quality & cost.
It is capable of
Making product performance insensitive to raw material variation, thus providing scope for the use of lower grade alloys,
Making designs robust against manufacturing variation, thus reducing material cost for rework & scrap,
Making the design least sensitive to the variation in operating environment.
It uses a new structured development process so that design engineering time is used more productively.
The Robust Design method uses a mathematical tool called Orthogonal Arrays to study a large number of decision variables with a small number of experiments. It also uses a new measure of quality called signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio to predict the quality from the customer's perspective.
http://www.casde.iitb.ac.in/mdo/sigmdo/sigmdo3/prior/shyam.php
To be updated using material from Ulrich and Eppinger
To be updated using material from Ulrich and Eppinger
Development Cost of Cars - Efficiency Practices and Lean Product Development
January 2014
Maruti invested 5.7 billion rupees ($91.7 million) to develop the Celerio in the belief that Indians want an automatic car. 5.7 billion rupees is equal to Rs. 570 crore.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/01/25/new-maruti-celerio-to-offer-automatic-transmission/
September 2013
Hyundai
Grand i10, which is built upon a new platform with a development cost of nearly Rs 1,000 crore, features India specific dimensions and is 100 mm longer than its European version.
http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/hyundai-grand-i10-price-features-competition-future-plan/1/198335.html
May 2013
General Motors opened a new $130 million enterprise data center, which will serve as its computing “backbone” for its global operations. The facility is located at its Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.
GM Says the new IT Center Will Reduce Vehicle Development Costs. The company also plans to build another $100 million facility in Milford, Mich.
http://www.automotive-fleet.com/news/story/2013/05/gm-says-new-130-million-it-center-will-reduce-vehicle-development-costs.aspx
Tata Nano
Engine Management System for Tata Nano
http://web.tatatechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/Nano_SAE.pdf
2006
Chevy Volt Development Cost $1 to 1.2 billion
1999
Mahindra & Mahindra launched its multi-purpose vehicle Xylo
Xylo, with its competitive price ranging from Rs 6.24 lakh to Rs 7.69 lakh, is pitched against MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) market leader Toyota Innova . While Toyota’s low-end Innova E costs Rs 7.60 lakh, the low-end version of Mahindra MPV, Xylo E2, at Rs 6.24, comes with additional comfort features including power steering, power windows and central locking. Toyota’s high-end Innova G4 is priced Rs 9.29 lakh while Mahindra’s high-end variant Xylo E8 costs Rs 7.69 lakh and offers additional comforts including digital drive assist system and flatbed front seats.
Xylo, which was under development for four and a half years, has come out of an all-new platform called Ingenio. The entire product development has cost Rs 550 crore. According to managers of the company, the product development process has improved significantly in the last six and a half years. The development cost of Scorpio and Xylo is the same, even though Xylo was developed recently.
1995
Ford spent an estimated six years and $6 billion developing its world car - the Mondeo/Contour/Mystique.
The Mondeo was launched on November 23, 1992, and sales began on 22 March 1993.
Instigated in 1986, the design of the car cost Ford US$6 billion. It was one of the most expensive new car programs ever. North American models were marketed as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique until 2000, and as the Ford Fusion from 2013 onwards.
http://wardsauto.com/news-amp-analysis/ford-limits-cost-new-car-development
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mondeo
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1993/06/28/78013/
Corvette 5 Upgrade - Budget $200 million
http://bakerstreetpublishing.com/2014/02/02/design-of-the-c5-corvette-a-product-planning-tutorial/
1987
Product Development in the World Auto Industry
KIM B. CLARK
Harvard University
W. BRUCE CHEW
Harvard University
TAKAHIRO FUJIMOTO
Harvard University
1982
GM-10 Development Project - W-Body by General Motors - $7 billion budget
1975
Ford Fiesta
Development Cost - $1 billion
1969
Ford Management decides to study the possibility of producing a class "B" car, smaller than the European Escort Mk. 1, The commitment: seven men, $100,000 and 8 months to create a firm proposal.
1970
Lee Iacocca, then President of Ford, and Henry Ford II, Chairman, agree that the proposal looks promising,.
1972
Ford Fiesta project is code named "Bobcat." The Ghia design studio in Turin, under De Tomaso, produces styling model which is used in marketing studies. Other pre-prototypes studied are produced in England and Germany, and all are rated along side compeitors. $1.3 million total is spent in marketing studies, including showing prototypes and competitors to 900 customers from 7 countries.
1973
Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca introduce Bobcat prototype to Ford of Europe staff in Germany 1000 days before start of production. This prototype has styling almost identical to the final production version. Styling is later finalized, with a compromise between two similar Ford Europe design studio efforts approved.
1974
Construction of an automobile production complex is started in Valencia, Spain to produce Fiesta. Annual capacity to be 400,000 engines, and 300,000 complete automobiles. First prototype Ford Fiesta driven by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca.
1975
Ford Fiesta is upgraded in minor ways to exceed the new higher targets set by the latest competition. European pre-production engines produced, and the Ford Fiesta is transferred from the development to production startup stage. Board decides to produce federalized version of the Ford Fiesta at Saarlouis, Germany, for export to the United States. Plans are made to produce 1600cc 'Kent' engines at Dagenham, England, to be shipped to Germany and mated with transmissions made in Bordeaux, France. All to be assembled into Fiestas to be exported to the U.S.
1976
Total Ford Fiesta production: 109,838 units (partial year).
Production is started of 957cc European version, which weighs approx 1650 lbs.
1977
Total Ford Fiesta production: 440,969
Sales of U.S. Fiestas begin, 1978 model year designation. Four model variants are available: Base, Decor, Sport and Ghia. All have the same engine and four speed manual transmission, with interior trim and instrumentation being the primary differences. The exceptions are the Sport model, which includes stiffer shock valving and a 12mm. anti-sway bar at the rear, and the Ghia which includes servo assisted brakes.
http://archive.is/54YD
Why does it cost upward of a billion dollars to develop a new car?
Car companies have to spend enormous amounts developing new models. The price tag to develop a new vehicle starts around $1 billion. According to John Wolkonowicz, Senior Auto Analyst for North America at IHS Global, "It can be as much as $6 billion if it's an all-new car on all-new platform with an all-new engine and an all-new transmission and nothing carrying over from the old model." $6 billion was spent by Ford in developing Monde model during 1986-1993.
Thousands of parts have to work every time one turns the key and every time one presses the accelerator and every time one presses the brake. And they have to do it for about 15 years. And they also have to pass all the government inspections.
When an automaker designs a new car, it has to identify consumer tastes a few years down the road, and also it has to create a car that is feasible to produce on an assembly line and still make a profit.
A new car development team usually includes a few hundred of engineers, split into such groups as chassis and body, suspension, drivetrain, control systems and other major subsystems. Other teams may be dedicated to control noise, vibration and harshness, meeting government regulations, or finding the most ergonomically correct setup for the widest variety of differently sized humans that could get behind the wheel. With the rise of in-car infotainment systems, there are engineers working on the latest gadgets to include in the car.
Lot testing goes in the development process. They test, test, and test some more until they get it right. They test to meet performance requirements. They test for durability. They test for fuel mileage. They test for aerodynamics. They test for safety compliance. Testing costs money.
Today many tests can be done on the computer before prototypes are built, but those computers and the software cost more money and eventually, real-world tests must be done and unique prototypes must be built. Some of that real-world testing can take place at automakers' private proving grounds or closed test tracks, but the need to test in extreme weather conditions lures them to the roasting desert of Death Valley and the frigid winter of Lapland. The logistics of getting humans, prototypes and test equipment to these regions does not come cheap, either.
You will find designers (interior and exterior), model makers, marketing people, manufacturing specialists, assembly line workers, industrial engineers, purchasing analysts, and number of outside consultants and also number of accountants -- working on new product development at any given time. You require many executive decision makers. There is also support staff assisting with human resources, IT and other essential services of a modern corporation. As a part of development assembly plants have to designed and tooling to stamp parts out has to be created.
At an average total compensation for each engineer, designer, accountant, marketing person and executive in the neighborhood of $100,000 per year (counting benefits such as medical insurance, pensions, education, vacation and other perks) and a team of 1,000 people would mean $100,000,000 per year. With four years to develop a car, that's at least $400,000,000 for compensation alone. Those employees need computers, office space, engineering laboratories and many other resources required to design and engineer such a complex machine. The mobile bill alone is probably in the neighborhood of a million bucks a year for such a group. One billion dollars can be easily accounted for.
Re-tooling a factory can easily eclipse the human cost of developing a new car.
In the Book "The Machine That Changed the World" Womack et al. note that average American producer requires 60.4 months and 903 employees to come out with a new car design. The prototype lead time is 12.4 months and die development time is 25 months.
http://translogic.aolautos.com/2010/07/27/why-does-it-cost-so-much-for-automakers-to-develop-new-models/
Related Articles by Narayana Rao
Lean Product Development and Product Development Productivity - Bibliography
To be updated
25 Nov 2015, 22 feb 2014
Lean Product Development and Product Development Productivity - Bibliography
Siemens NX 9 Delivers up to 5X Product Development Productivity across Industries
Technology Breakthroughs Establish New Flexibility and Productivity Paradigms for Working with 2D Data and Massive Assemblies
New Functionality Expands NX Leadership in Freeform Shape Design, PLM Integration, and Product Development Decision-Making
PLANO, Texas, October 14, 2013
http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_in/about_us/newsroom/press/press_release.cfm?Component=212122&ComponentTemplate=822
Sustaining LPD program - A Presentation - Katherine Radeka
http://www.norskindustri.no/Global/Dokumenter/KBD2013KatherineRadeka.pdf
Book - Design Productivity Debate - 1996 - Alex H.B. Duffy
Preview Google Book
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=cmjgBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Ebsco
Improving the NPD Process by Applying Lean Principles: A Case Study.
By: Nepal, Bimal P.; Yadav, Om Prakash; Solanki, Rajesh. Engineering Management Journal. Sep2011, Vol. 23 Issue 3, p65-81. 17p. 4 Diagrams, 9 Charts, 1 Graph.
A Framework for Organizing Lean Product Development. Full Text Available
By: Hoppmann, Joern; Rebentisch, Eric; Dombrowski, Uwe; Thimo Zahn. Engineering Management Journal. Mar2011, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p3-15. 13p. 3 Charts.
Lean Product Development Research: Current State and Future Directions. Full Text Available
By: León, Hilda C. Martínez; Farris, Jennifer A. Engineering Management Journal. Mar2011, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p29-51. 23p. 2 Diagrams, 7 Charts, 1 Graph.
A Multilevel Framework for Lean Product Development System Design. Full Text Available
By: Letens, Geert; Farris, Jennifer A.; van Aken, Eileen M. Engineering Management Journal. Mar2011, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p69-85. 17p. 4 Diagrams, 2 Charts.
Lean Product Development as a System: A Case Study of Body and Stamping Development at Ford. Full Text Available
By: Liker, Jeffrey K.; Morgan, James. Engineering Management Journal. Mar2011, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p16-28. 13p. 3 Diagrams.
Improving the NPD Process by Applying Lean Principles: A Case Study. Full Text Available
By: Nepal, Bimal P.; Yadav, Om Prakash; Solanki, Rajesh. Engineering Management Journal. Mar2011, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p52-68. 17p. 5 Diagrams, 7 Charts, 2 Graphs.
The Toyota Way in Services: The Case of Lean Product Development. Full Text Available
By: Liker, Jeffrey K.; Morgan, James M. Academy of Management Perspectives. May2006, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p5-20. 16p. 1 Diagram, 3 Charts. DOI: 10.5465/AMP.2006.20591002.
Rediscovering the kata way. (cover story). Full Text Available
By: SOLTERO, CONRAD. Industrial Engineer: IE. Nov2012, Vol. 44 Issue 11, p28-33. 6p. 1 Color Photograph, 2 Diagrams, 1 Chart.
The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development by Donald G. Reinertsen. Full Text Available
By: Radeka, Katherine. Journal of Product Innovation Management. Jan2010, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p137-139. 3p. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2009.00705_1.x
MAXIMIZING PRODUCTIVITY IN PRODUCT INNOVATION. Full Text Available
By: Cooper, Robert G.; Edgett, Scott J. Research Technology Management. Mar/Apr2008, Vol. 51 Issue 2, p47-58. 12p.
Emerald
Johannes Hinckeldeyn , Rob Dekkers , Jochen Kreutzfeldt , (2015) "Productivity of product design and engineering processes: Unexplored territory for production management techniques?", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 35 Iss: 4, pp.458 - 486
Focus on implementation: a framework for lean product development
Type: Conceptual paper
Author(s): L. Wang, X.G. Ming, F.B. Kong, D. Li, P.P. Wang
Source: Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management Volume: 23 Issue: 1 2012
Rethinking lean NPD: A distorted view of lean product development
Type: General review
Source: Strategic Direction Volume: 23 Issue: 10 2007
Towards lean product lifecycle management: A framework for new product development
Type: Conceptual paper
Author(s): Peter Hines, Mark Francis, Pauline Found
Source: Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management Volume: 17 Issue: 7 2006
Updated 25 Nov 2015, 19 Feb 2014
Lean Product Design - How Toyota Designs Cars - Womack, Jones and Roos
Chapter 3 Content
Product Development and Engineering in Lean Enterprise
Ohno and Toyoda decided early that product engineering inherently encompassed both process and industrial engineering.. They formed product design teams with experts from process and industrial engineering teams. Career paths were structured so that rewards went to strong team players without regard to their function. The consequence of lean engineering was a dramatic leap in productivity, product quality and responsiveness.
Lean Production and Changing Consumer Demand
Toyota's flexible production system and its low cost and time product engineering let the company supply the product variety that buyers wanted with little cost penalty. In 1990, Toyota offered consumers around the world as many products as General Motors even though Toyota was only half of GM's size. Toyota requires only half the time and effort required by GM to design and produce a new car. So Toyota can offer twice as many vehicles with the same development budget. Japanes car makers offer as many models as all of the Western firms combined. The product variety offered by Japanese is growing where that offered by Western companies is shrinking.
Japanese on an average are producing 500,000 copies in four years, whereas western companies making 2 million copies in 10 years.
Toyota is making profit by producing only two-thirds of the life-of-the-model production volume of European specialist firms and therefore it can attack the craft-based niche producers like Aston Martin and Ferrari. American mass producers could not attack them due to insufficient volume.
Chapter 5 Designing the Car
Honda's product development process is different from that of General Motors. The Large Project Leader in charge of car development is given great power. He recruits appropriate persons from various functional departments for the life of the project.
In 1986, Professor Kim Clark of Harvard Business School undertook a world wide survey of product development activities in motor industry. Clark found that a totally new Japanese car required 1.7 million hours engineering effort on average and took forty-six months from first design to customer deliveries. By contrast, the average U.S. and European proect of comparable complexity took 3 million engineering hours and consumed sixty months. Thus the Japanese methods have a two-to-one difference in engineering effort and a saving of one-third in development time. It turns on its head one of our most common assumptions. A project can be speeded up with increase in cost and effort.
The authors say there are four basic differences between lean design and western design methods.
1. Leadership of the product design team
The lean producers invariably employ some variant of the Shusa system pioneered by Toyota (Honda terms it Large Project leader (LPL)). The Shusa is the leader of the team and his job is to design and engineer a new product and get it fully into production. In Japanese auto industry, the cars are commonly known by the Shusa's name.
2. Teamwork
In American or European companies 900 engineers are involved in a typical project over its life, but Japanese companies use only about 485 engineers. But importantly, there is little turnover in the Japanese teams. There is more turnover in American teams.
3. Communication
In the best Japanese lean project, the numbers of people involved are highest at the very outset. Difficult trade-offs are decided at the start stages of the project. As development proceeds, the number of people involved drops as some specialties complete the job.
4. Simultaneous Development
Example of Die development:
The die designers in Japanese projects are in direct, face to face contact with the design team and they know the number of panels to be made and approximate sizes. So they go ahead and order blocks of die steel in parallel to the design process. They even make rough cuts before the detailed design of the panels is done.
The Consequences of Lean Design in the Market Place
Lean design companies can offer a wider variety of products and replace them more frequently that mass-production competitors. The Japanese firms are using their advantage in lean systems to expand their product range rapidly, even as they renew existing products every four years. Between 1982 and 1990, they nearly doubled their product portfolio from forty-seven to eighty-four models.
Training of Engineers in Japan
All engineers including design engineers first assemble cars. At Honda, for example all entry-level engineers spend their first three months in the company working on the assembly line. The're then rotated to the marketing department for the next three months. Then they spend an year in various engineering departments - drive train, body, chassis and process machinery. Then design engineer's assignment starts in an engineering department. As a first assignment, they are assigned to a routine new-product development team. In the next assignment they may be put on a more challenging task. After this, they are given additional academic inputs and then put on advanced projects, which involve using revolutionary and advanced materials.
But Honda, asks all its engineers to spend one month in operations and ensures that even people working in advanced technologies are connected to the current demands of the market.
Japanese Became High-Tech Wonders
Not only in manufacturing, even in design practice Japanese have a gone a notch or two ahead of its Western Competitors.
Japanese bet on increase in fuel prices and made investments in small four cylinder engines. But fuel prices fell and consumers were looking for larger cars with more power. Japanese engineers made use of many known technologies to increase power of four cylinder engines. There features were: fuel injection rather than carburettors, four valves per cylinder, balance shafts in the bottom of the engine, turbochargers and superchargers. a second set of overhead cams, and even an additional set of cams. The engineers work very hard on what is known as refinement - paying attention to the smallest details of an engine design that gives better performance. Finally, attention was given to manufacturability so that complex engines work properly every time. These innovations convinced buyers in North America that Japanese cars are now high-tech. When the American producers wanted to do similar innovations, problems have cropped up.
Japanese companies are now having patents than American companies in automobiles.
So far, Japanese have not made epochal innovations. They did a brilliant scavenging process that used ideas nearly ready for the market. How will they fare in more difficult challenges? The authors concluded..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6346315.stm
http://www.lean.enst.fr/wiki/pub/Lean/LesPublications/LeanDevBalleBalle.pdf
http://www.sae.org/manufacturing/lean/column/leanfeb02.htm
Set-based concurrent engineering
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/toyotas-principles-of-setbased-concurrent-engineering/
To be updated
25 Nov 2015, 20 Oct 2013
Monday, October 19, 2015
Increasing Efficiency of Coal Transportation and Utilization in India - 2015 Project
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/government-to-allow-companies-to-divert-coal-supply-to-efficient-power-plants-swapping-to-start-with-ntpc-plants/articleshow/49446151.cms
Coal transport plans are being reoptimized to send coal over shorter distances and more coal to efficient plant. Expected savings Rs. 6000 crores.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Improving R & D Productivity
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 9, 203-214 (March 2010) | doi:10.1038/nrd3078
How to improve R&D productivity: the pharmaceutical industry's grand challenge
See also: Correspondence by Denee et al.
Steven M. Paul1, Daniel S. Mytelka1, Christopher T. Dunwiddie1, Charles C. Persinger1, Bernard H. Munos1, Stacy R. Lindborg1 & Aaron L. Schacht1
http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v9/n3/full/nrd3078.html
Thursday, September 10, 2015
A Study of the Toyota Production System from an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint - Shigeo Shingo - Google Book
http://books.google.co.in/books/about/A_Study_of_the_Toyota_Production_System.html?id=RKWU7WElJ7oC
The first and only book in English on JIT, written from the industrial engineer's viewpoint. When Omark Industries bought 500 copies and studied it companywide, Omark became the American pioneer in JIT.
Here is Dr. Shingo's classic industrial engineering rationale for the priority of process-based over operational improvements in manufacturing. He explains the basic mechanisms of the Toyota production system, examines production as a functional network of processes and operations, and then discusses the mechanism necessary to make JIT possible in any manufacturing plant.
#Provides original source material on Just-in-Time
#Demonstrates new ways to think about profit, inventory, waste, and productivity
#Explains the principles of leveling, standard work procedures, multi-machine handling, supplier relations, and much more
#If you are a serious student of industrial engineering, you will benefit greatly from reading this primary resource on the powerful fundamentals of JIT.
Table of Contents
Chapters
Mechanism of the production function
Improvement of process
Improvement of operation
Development of non-stock production
Interpretation of the Toyota Production System
Mechanism of TPS
Development of a "kanban" system
Regarding TPS
Course of TPS
Introduction and development of TPS
Summary
My Summary of the book
Industrial Engineering in Toyota Production System - Lean Productionhttp://nraoiekc.blogspot.in/2013/12/toyota-production-system-industrial.html
Detailed Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Production Mechanism
2. Improving process
Process Elements
Basic Process Analysis
Process Improvement
Improving Inspection
Transport Improvement
Eliminating Storage (Delays)
3. Improving operations
Common Factors in Operations
Improving Setup (Exchange of Dies and Tools)
Improving Principal Operations
Separating worker from Machine
Development of Pre-automation or Autonomation
Improving Margin Allowances
4. Conclusions on Developing Non-stock production
Naturally Occurring Stock
"Necessary Stock"
Interpretation of the Toyota Production System
5. The Principles of the Toyota Production System
What is the Toyota Production System?
Basic Principles
Waste of Overproduction
Just-in-Time
Separation of Worker from Machine
Low Utilization Rates
Perform an Appendectomy
Fundamentals of Production Control
Adopting a Non-Cost Principles
Elimination of Waste
Mass Production and Large Lot Production
The Ford and Toyota Systems Compared
6. Mechanics of the Toyota Production System: Improving Process - Schedule Control and Just-in-Time
Schedule Control and Just-in-Time
Production Planning
Schedule Control and Stockless Production
Adopting SMED
Flexibility of Capacity
Elimination of Defects
Eliminating Machine Breakdowns
7. Mechanics of the ToyotaProduction System: Improving Process - Leveling and the Nagara System
What is Leveling?
Balancing Load and Capacity
Segmented and Mixed Production
Segmented Production Systems and Small Lot Production Systems
The Toyota Complex Mixed Production System
Lveling and Non-Stock
The Nagara System
8. Mechanics of the ToyotaProduction System: Improving Operations
Components of Operations
Preparation and After-Adjustment
Principal Operations
Marginal Allowances
Standard Operations
Standard Operations and Toyota Production System
Three Temporal Aspects of Standard Operations
From Worker to Machine
Manpower Cost Reduction
Improving Methods of Operation
Development of a "kanban" system
Regarding TPS
Course of TPS
Introduction and development of TPS
Summary
Updated 10 Sep 2015
First Published 16 Sep 2014
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Flexibility and Efficiency - Both Can be Improved - Paul S. Adler
Flexibility Versus Efficiency? A Case Study
of Model Changeovers in the Toyota
Production System
Paul S. Adler • Barbara Goldoftas • David I. Levine
School of Business Administration, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1421
Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Much organization theory argues that efficiency requires bureaucracy, that bureaucracy impedes flexibility,
and that organizations therefore confront a tradeoff between efficiency and flexibility. Some researchers have challenged this line of reasoning, arguing that organizations can shift the efficiency/flexibility tradeoff to attain both superior efficiency and superior flexibility
The authors analyze an auto assembly plant that appears to be far above average industry performance in both efficiency and flexibility. NUMMI, a Toyota subsidiary located in Fremont, California, relied on a highly bureaucratic organization to achieve its high efficiency. Analysis of two recent major model changes, the authors find that NUMMI used four mechanisms to support its exceptional flexibility/efficiency combination.
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE/Vol. 10, No. 1, January–February 1999 pp. 43-68
Friday, August 28, 2015
Analysis of Material - Methods Efficiency Improvement Analysis - Illustrations
Analysis of Material
Material cost is a very important part of the total cost of any product. Therefore the analyst should check the material for the possibility of using lower cost materials.
Questions. The following questions will prove suggestive in connection with an analysis of material:
1. Does the material specified appear suitable for the purpose for which it is to be used?
2. Could a less expensive material be substituted that would function as well?
M30 concrete in place of M35 concrete in India.
3. Could a lighter gage material be used?
Example: Reduction of automobile body sheet thickness by Maruti Suzuki in India.
4. Is the material furnished in suitable condition for use?
5. Could the supplier perform additional work upon the material that would make it better suited for its use?
6. Is the size of the material the most economical?
7. If bar stock or tubing, is the material straight?
8. If a casting or forging, is the excess stock sufficient for machining purposes but not excessive?
9. Can the machinability of the material be improved by heat-treatment or in other ways?
10. Do castings have hard spots or burned-in core sand that should be eliminated?
11. Are castings properly cleaned and have all fins, gate ends, and riser bases been removed?
12. Is material sufficiently clean and free from rust?
13. If coated with a preserving compound, how does this compound affect dies?
14. Is material ordered in amounts and sizes that permit its utilization with a minimum amount of waste, scrap, or short ends?
15. Is material uniform and reasonably free from flaws and defects?
16. Is material utilized to the best advantage during processing?
Change of design and cutting patter in Maruti Suzuki in India.
17. Where yield from a given amount of material depends upon ability of the operator, is any record of yield kept?
18. Is miscellaneous material used for assembly, such as nails, screws, wire, solder, rivets, paste, and washers, suitable?
19. Are the indirect or supply materials such as cutting oil, molding sand, or lubricants best suited to the job?
20. Are materials used in connection with the process, such as gas, fuel oil, coal, coke, compressed air, water, electricity, acids, and paints, suitable, and is their use controlled and economical?
Special materials will evoke special questions, but the list here given will indicate the kind of questions that should be asked and will stimulate suggestions for improvement on many kinds of the more common materials.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Analysis of All Operations in a Process - Method Efficiency Improvement Analysis - Illustrations
1. Can the operation being analyzed be eliminated by changing the procedure or the operations?
2. Can it be combined with another operation?
3. Can it be subdivided and the various parts added to other operations ?
4. Can part of the operation be performed more effectively as a separate operation?
5. Can the operation being analyzed be performed during the idle period of another operation?
6. Is the sequence of operations the best possible?
7. Would changing the sequence affect this operation in any way?
8. Should this operation be done in another department to save cost or handling?
9. If several or all operations including the one being analyzed were performed under the group system of wage payment, would advantages accrue?
10. Should a more complete study of operations be made by means of an operation process chart?
Individual Operation Purpose Analysis - Methods Efficiency Improvement Analysis Illustrations
1. What is the purpose of the operation?
2. Is the result accomplished by the operation necessary?
3. If so, what makes it necessary?
4. Was the operation established to correct a difficulty experienced in the final assembly?
5. If so, did it really correct it?
6. Is the operation necessary because of the improper performance of a previous operation?
7. Was the operation established to correct a condition that has since been corrected otherwise?
8. If the operation is done to improve appearance, is the added cost justified by added salability?
9. Can the purpose of the operation be accomplished better in any other way?
10. Can the supplier of the material perform the operation more economically?
Monday, August 10, 2015
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Neyveli Lignite Corporation - Productivity Initiatives
April 9 2015
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/nlc-kobe-steel-sign-pact-for-power-plant/article7084900.ece
Conveyor Efficiency
NLC has also entered into an agreement with National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi for improving energy efficiency of conveyors.
The project tests use of Programme Logic Control Circuit in the conveyor systems which will permit all motors to work only while starting the conveyor and then depending on the load will operate just the required number of motors automatically.
Over two million units of electricity can be saved in each conveyor system. NLC uses 50 conveyor systems in its second mine and can save over 31 crore annually. The research project is estimated to cost about 1.22 crore with NLC contributing 58 lakh and the NIT 63 lakh.
Presentation by CMD on 2.1. 2015
2013
http://www.ijeat.org/attachments/File/v2i4/D1418042413.pdf
http://www.sari-energy.org/pagefiles/what_we_do/activities/regional_clean_coal-sep_2008/Clean_coal/Day2-session7/NLC's%20Experienceinlignitemining-Session%20VII.pdf
Benchmarking Thermal Efficiency of Coal Based Plants in India with Mature Systems in Other Countries
Economic Times Editorial of 4 August 2015
For a Tech Boost to Energy Efficiency
Revving up efficiency in the energy economy cannot but focus on dirty but abundant, coal. The fuel conversion efficiency in state electricity board-owned plants is abysmally close to 30%. In contrast, in the mature power systems abroad, thermal efficiency levels approach 50%. It follows that by raising thermal efficiencies, we could generate up to two-thirds more power with the same amount of coal, reducing the carbon intensity of growth, besides pollution. This is achievable using existing technology. India needs to invest in coal gasification and integrated gasified coal combined cycle technologies, to utilise our natural endowment of coal while clamping down on green gas emissions.
Report of CSE's Study - Study of 47 Thermal plants
Old technologies, poor maintenance worsen performance
India’s landscape is dotted with many inefficient plants; its fleet is among the least efficient in the world. Improving efficiency is key to meet India’s energy needs, consume fewer resources and have the least impact on the environment.
A quarter of the total capacity under the study had exceeded operational life. Second, just 1 per cent of the power sector’s capacity in 2012 comprised supercritical (SC) or ultra supercritical (USC) plants, which operate with efficiency that is 3-7 percentage points higher than that of “subcritical” technology, the most commonly used. In comparison, 25 per cent of Chinese capacity was SC/USC. Around a third of plants under the study had efficiencies of less than 32 per cent. The worst performers typically have small capacity units, poor technology and are old..
Over half the plants in the study were found to be running inefficiently due to bad operation and maintenance practices. A particularly poor performer is MPPGCL, Birsinghpur, a 13-year-old plant, whose efficiency was 22 per cent below design. On the other hand, well-maintained plants like Reliance-Dahanu had a deviation of 3.8 per cent from design.
Only four plants in the study experienced less than 15 days of outages, which is considered a desirable level of availability. Poor maintenance, which results in increased outages, meant that average availability was low for the sample—11 plants experienced an average annual outage of more than 73 days during 2010-13. Even some new private plants such as Adani-Mundra and Maithon Power experienced outages as high as 95 days.
Auxiliary Power Consumption (APC), the power consumed by the plant’s own equipment, in most cases was almost 50 per cent higher than global best practices—APC of 12 of them was over 10 per cent. Higher APC means less power supplied to the grid. Most plants in India do not monitor APC for individual equipment, which makes it impossible to identify areas of excess consumption.
The government launched the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) programme to encourage efficiency improvement in eight industrial sectors, including thermal power generation.
GRP study exposed weaknesses in the PAT scheme. Of the 31 plants that were analysed, five achieved target efficiency in 2010-11 (even before the scheme started) while four more did so in 2011-12.
Shortcomings like these meant that plants like UPRVUNL, Obra, whose efficiency was 27 per cent during baseline period, achieved their PAT target after R&M—but its present efficiency at 31 per cent is still quite low.
Low efficiency is directly related to high CO2 emissions. The average emission rate of plants was 1.08 tonne CO2/MWh, which is seven per cent higher than the global average and 14 per cent higher than China’s. In 2012, coal-based power generation accounted for half of India’s total CO2 emissions from fuel combustions. During 2011-12, India’s total CO2 emissions grew by six per cent which was mostly on account of coal in energy production.
JSEB, Patratu, was again the worst performer with an unacceptably high emission of 1.80 tonne CO2/MWh (see ‘Specific CO2...’). There were just 13 plants in the study whose average emissions were lower than the global average. No plant conformed to the global best values. Even super critical plants in the study had emissions 35 per cent higher than the global best. It is estimated that a one percentage point improvement in efficiency can reduce CO2 emissions by 2-3 per cent. Apart from improving efficiency of existing plants, adopting state-of-the-art technologies can help achieve big cuts in emission rates.
See for more details and figures of efficiencies
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/coal-toll-48581
http://www.cseindia.org/content/india%E2%80%99s-first-ever-environmental-rating-coal-based-power-plants-finds-sector%E2%80%99s-performance
21 February 2015
Efficiency of India's Power Plants way below global standards
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-21/news/59363102_1_plants-cse-national-thermal-power-corporation
http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/most-power-plants-in-india-falter-on-green-regulation-cse-115022100616_1.html
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Singareni Collieris - Productivity Issues
SCCL's coal reserves in Godavari Valley Coal Field (GVCF) are expected to last for 60 years. This coal field has approximate reserves of 10,000 million tonnes.
As of now, SCCL has 32 underground and 16 opencast mines across four districts of Telangana - Karimnagar, Warangal, Adilabad and Khammam - covering an extent of 17,500 sq km. The company produces about 50 million tonnes a year.
Earlier, the chief minister of the state asked the SCCL officials to give preference to underground mines instead of opencast as opencast mines are causing pollution in the area. He also asked officials to make efforts to reduce the pollution. But SCCL has been giving preference to opencast mines due to its operating cost advantages.
In opencast mining as the cost of production is very less in opencast compared to underground mining. While the cost of production in opencast is about Rs 1630 per tonne, it may go up to Rs 3740 per tonne in underground coal production while the realization through sales is Rs 2,000 per tonne for SCCL.
Of the company's total production, 79% of the coal production is being produced from opencast and only 21% from underground mines.
Singareni is planning to open 17 new mines in the next few years. Of the proposed 17 mines, 11 are opencast and six underground, which are expected to generate 31.85 million tonnes of coal.
SCCL has also decided to close 12 mines in the next few years including eight underground and four opencast especially several inclines in Godavarikhani.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Singareni-Collieries-Company-Limited-sets-up-task-force-to-explore-mining-overseas/articleshow/40824554.cms
Adriyala Long Wall Project of Singareni Collieries
Mining Ideas and Coal
by Dattatreyulu Jammalamadaka
Gives the background with failure of longwall mining earlier and initiation of new project in his book
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=hI0JCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Project IRR 17.3 percent
http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/singareni-to-invest-rs-846-cr-in-adriyala-project-109121400003_1.html
Sep 30, 2014
Cost of Production: Rs. 863 per tonne
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/singareni-hopes-to-bounce-back-with-adriyala-project/article6462062.ece
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/adriyala-underground-coal-mine-set-to-start-commercial-production/article6500924.ece
Mechanization in Mining in India
http://dipeshbiv.blogspot.in/2012/10/mechanization-in-indian-mines-raising.html
Long wall Mining - Slide Share
http://www.slideshare.net/venkoos/longwall-mining
A Wireless Factory Floor
http://www.mbtmag.com/articles/2015/07/modern-manufacturing-part-ii-wireless-factory-floor
Engineers may control factories remotely using wireless technology
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Artists' Exhibition on Time and Motion Study - FACT Liverpool 2013
The exhibition is on digital labourers of the modern day.
http://www.furtherfield.org/features/reviews/time-motion-fact-punchcard-protocol-and-creative-capital-our-modern-times
Friday, July 17, 2015
An Enduring Quest: The Story of Purdue Industrial Engineers - Book Information
An Enduring Quest: The Story of Purdue Industrial Engineers
Ferdinand F. Leimkuhler
Purdue University Press, 2009 - Technology & Engineering - 290 pages
The profession of industrial engineering improves the economic efficiency of the technology that drives industrialization.
This book describes how industrial engineering evolved over the past two centuries developing methods and principles for the redesign of production and service systems to make them more economical and efficient. The story focuses on the growth of the discipline at Purdue University where it helped shape the university itself and made substantial contributions to the industrialization of America and the world. The story includes description of prominent industrial engineers like Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Charles B. Going.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=SfJ_FbYtA2IC
Purdue University IE Magazines
Fall 2010
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/News/Publications/EngineeringImpact/2010_2/IE/IMPACT_IE_Fall_2010.pdf
October 2012
https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/Spotlights/ie-impact-magazine-focuses-on-rethink-ie/IE%20IMPACT%20Magazine%20-%20October%202012.pdf
Fall 2014
https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/IEMagazine/ie-magazine/2014%20IE%20Magazine.pdf
Ferdinand F. Leimkuhler
Purdue University Press, 2009 - Technology & Engineering - 290 pages
The profession of industrial engineering improves the economic efficiency of the technology that drives industrialization.
This book describes how industrial engineering evolved over the past two centuries developing methods and principles for the redesign of production and service systems to make them more economical and efficient. The story focuses on the growth of the discipline at Purdue University where it helped shape the university itself and made substantial contributions to the industrialization of America and the world. The story includes description of prominent industrial engineers like Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Charles B. Going.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=SfJ_FbYtA2IC
Purdue University IE Magazines
Fall 2010
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/News/Publications/EngineeringImpact/2010_2/IE/IMPACT_IE_Fall_2010.pdf
October 2012
https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/Spotlights/ie-impact-magazine-focuses-on-rethink-ie/IE%20IMPACT%20Magazine%20-%20October%202012.pdf
Fall 2014
https://engineering.purdue.edu/IE/IEMagazine/ie-magazine/2014%20IE%20Magazine.pdf
What's a Coal Miner to Do?: The Mechanization of Coal Mining
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=km4z1ePwI0oC
Sunday, July 12, 2015
The Anatomy of Japanese Business - Kazuo Sato - 11 Essays - Book Information
The Anatomy of Japanese Business
Kazuo Sato
Routledge, 18-Oct-2010 - Business & Economics - 384 pages
This volume collects eleven essays written by Japanese experts on various aspects of Japanese business management and is a sequel to the volume Industry and Business in Japan. It examines the mechanisms for Japan’s phenomenal economic growth since the Second World War by analyzing Japanese management, business groups, production systems and business strategy.
Essay by Taichi Ohno on development of Toyota Production System is there in the book as one essay.
Preview Google Books
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bY1dBwAAQBAJ
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Scientific Management: Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Gift to the World? - 2012 Book Information
Scientific Management: Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Gift to the World?
J.-C. Spender, Hugo Kijne
Springer Science & Business Media, Dec 6, 2012 - 192 pages
Many of those interested in the effect of industry on contemporary life are also interested in Frederick W. Taylor and his work. He was a true character, the stuff of legends, enormously influential and quintessentially American, an award-winning sportsman and mechanical tinkerer as well as a moralizing rationalist and early scientist. But he was also intensely modem, one of the long line of American social reformers exploiting the freedom to present an idiosyncratic version of American democracy, in this case one that began in the industrial workplace. Such as wide net captures an amazing range of critics and questioners as well as supporters. So much is puzzling, ambiguous, unexplained and even secret about Taylor's life that there will be plenty of scope for re-examination, re-interpretation and disagreement for years to come.
There is a surge of fresh interest and new analyses have appeared in recent years (e. g. Wrege, C. & R. Greenwood, 1991 "F. W. Taylor: The father of scientific management", Business One Irwin, Homewood IL; Nelson, D. (Ed. ) 1992 "The mental revolution: Scientific management since Taylor", Ohio State University Press, Columbus OH).
There are other books are under way. The authors offer this additional volume with the hope that it will provoke fresh thought and discussion.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=WcLkBwAAQBAJ
J.-C. Spender, Hugo Kijne
Springer Science & Business Media, Dec 6, 2012 - 192 pages
Many of those interested in the effect of industry on contemporary life are also interested in Frederick W. Taylor and his work. He was a true character, the stuff of legends, enormously influential and quintessentially American, an award-winning sportsman and mechanical tinkerer as well as a moralizing rationalist and early scientist. But he was also intensely modem, one of the long line of American social reformers exploiting the freedom to present an idiosyncratic version of American democracy, in this case one that began in the industrial workplace. Such as wide net captures an amazing range of critics and questioners as well as supporters. So much is puzzling, ambiguous, unexplained and even secret about Taylor's life that there will be plenty of scope for re-examination, re-interpretation and disagreement for years to come.
There is a surge of fresh interest and new analyses have appeared in recent years (e. g. Wrege, C. & R. Greenwood, 1991 "F. W. Taylor: The father of scientific management", Business One Irwin, Homewood IL; Nelson, D. (Ed. ) 1992 "The mental revolution: Scientific management since Taylor", Ohio State University Press, Columbus OH).
There are other books are under way. The authors offer this additional volume with the hope that it will provoke fresh thought and discussion.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=WcLkBwAAQBAJ
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Operation Analysis - Common Possibilities for Operation Improvement
These common possibilities are indicated by principles of motion economy.
A good analysis of efficiency improvement opportunities has to include examining the 10 efficiency aids.
Gravity Delivery Chutes.
Gravity delivery chutes are useful for bringing material close to the point of use, thereby shortening the motions required to obtain the material. The usual arrangement consists of a hopper that will hold a reasonable supply of material with an opening at the bottom through which a few pieces may pass. Material may be removed directly from the opening at the bottom of the hopper. If the workplace is crowded, the hopper may be set out of the way and a chute provided between the bottom of the hopper and the point of use along which the parts may slide by gravity.
If parts are of a suitable shape, special delivery devices may be built that are more effective than the common chute. Small, uniform parts with no projections may be handled in an arrange-ment that delivers the parts at the bottom in predetermined quantities. The coin holders used by street-railway conductors, newsboys, and others who must make change frequently are a well-known example of this sort of delivery device.
Many parts are by no means free from projections or even symmetrical in shape. The design of chutes and hoppers that will handle irregular parts is more difficult, and considerable cutting and trying may be necessary before an arrangement can be devised that will deliver parts uniformly at a given point and will neither jam nor overflow. If the chute is used in conjunction with moving machinery, the delivery problem is much easier. Even the smoothest running machine has a certain amount of vibration, and if the chute Is rigidly attached to some part of the machine, the vibration mill cause the parts to move slowly and uniformly down the chute and even around bends.
Illustration: Chute used in conjunction with a trimming machine for a leather of machine.
As originally designed, the parts tended to jam in the hopper. Removing the key of the jam brought a rush of parts which sometimes overflowed the sides of the chute. The parts did not slide easily, and, therefore, the chute had to be steep. An angle sufficient to overcome starting friction was too steep when the parts were in motion, and the parts shot down so quickly that they were continually falling to the floor. These difficulties were overcome by slight design changes, but principally by attaching the chute to the machine so that the vibration from the machine kept the parts in motion. After this, the parts fed uniformly down the chute and arrived without interruption at a point where they could conveniently be grasped by the operator.
Drop Delivery.
Drop delivery, as the name implies, consists of getting rid of a part by dropping it. It is used when placing finished parts aside. Sometimes, it is possible to arrange a setup In such a way that the finished part falls off into a container or chute as it Is completed, and the operator does not have to handle it after completing work upon it. For example, after completing the trimming operation on the machine, the operator merely opens his fingers, and the finished part falls into a box placed directly beneath the cutter. On operations where the finished part must be carried aside by the operator, drop delivery is still obtained if the part is carried over a container or a chute and is released by opening the fingers as the hand continues on its way to the next point, which is usually the raw-material supply. Not all parts can be dropped, of course. Fragile, brittle, or soft parts would be damaged if dropped with any appreciable jar. Even with parts of this kind, however, drop delivery can sometimes be used if the parts are dropped onto some sort of soft, yielding surface. A canvas chute may be provided, for example, which first breaks the fall of the part and then permits It to slide gently into a container.
When drop delivery is employed, the relative position of the raw- and the finished-material containers is Important. Many times workplace layouts are encountered In which the raw material Is close to the operator and the finished material farther away. This is Incorrect. The finished material should be closer to the operator and the raw material farther away and in the same line. When the operator finishes work on a part, he grasps the part. He moves toward the raw-material container and drops the part in the finished-material container on the way. With a little practice, he can do this without hesitation. Finished material is laid aside and raw material is obtained with two motions, one over to the raw-material container and one back to the work point. If the position of the material containers is reversed, three motions will be required, one to the finished-material container where the part is dropped, one to the raw-material container, and one from the raw-material container to the work point.
In order that parts may be dropped during a motion without hesitation, the object into which they are dropped must be large enough so that there is no danger of missing it. If the container itself is small or if the part must pass through a small hole in the bench, a funnel should be provided to make it easy to drop the part in the desired location.
Drop delivery suggests that the part falls away owing to the force of gravity. The same effect may be obtained by the use of springs that carry the released part aside, usually in an upward direction. The most common application of this arrangement is in the suspension of tools above the workplace. The tools are hung on a "spring. After the tool has been used, it is released by opening the fingers. The spring carries it away without further attention on the part of the operator.
A similar application of this principle may be made to the levers of small hand-operated arbor presses. When the handle of the press is released after the operation has been performed, a spring carries it out of the way and raises the arbor. The hand of the operator at the point of release is thus near the point where it must next go. Instead of some distance away as it would be if the hand had to return the press lever to the aside position.
Methods Used by Two or More Operators.
If no detailed instruction has been given, in at least 95 per cent of all cases observed by the authors, different operators on the same job will use different methods, even if the operation is fairly simple. The methods will all resemble each other, to be sure, but the trained observer will be able to detect many minor differences, and it is these differences that account for variations in production, fatigue, and quality of work.
As a matter of fact, where no specific instruction regarding proper methods has been given, it is not uncommon to see the same operator using two or three different methods on the same operation. Questioning fails to reveal the reason for this. Most operators do not seem to realize that they are using different methods. They have not been taught to regard their job as a series of elemental motions, and therefore an extra motion or two may be made without conscious recognition.
On repetitive work, considerable difference is found in the output of different operators doing the same operation. The usual tendency is to attribute this to differences in skill and perhaps effort. In reality, however, the difference is usually primarily due to a difference in method. The high producers have the best methods. These may have been developed as the result of long experience, or they may have been hit upon the first day on the job. The low producers have poor methods. These operators may be new to the work, or they may be old operators following a poor method from habit.
With proper operator instruction, this condition will not exist. If the best existing method is first recognized and then taught, all operators but the obvious misfits may be raised to the levels of the highest producers.. This can be done by any supervisor who is able to recognize different methods when he sees them and who realizes the difference that minor variations make. If he is sufficiently interested to decide which of several methods is best and to teach that method in detail to each operator in the department, he can raise the performance level of his department within a short time without any outside assistance.
It must be recognized, of course, that it is not always easy to teach operators new methods. Old methods, because of constant repetition, become habitual, and habits are hard to change. Very often, the easiest and best method will seem harder and slower to an operator than his own method. His production will fall off at first, and he will want to return to his own way of doing things. Patience and persistence on the part of both the operator and his instructor will overcome these difficulties, however, and a better performance and higher earnings will eventually result.
Chairs for Industrial Workers.
The subject of chairs for industrial workers has received a good deal of attention, and most progressive concerns have tried to do something along these lines. Interest in the subject is usually not sustained, however, and therefore the analyst often finds room for improvement. Many chairs designed for industrial use have been placed upon the market, some of which are good.
To minimize fatigue, work should be done alternately seated and standing. Although it is less fatiguing to work seated than standing, even the seated position becomes tiring after long periods of time. Therefore, a workplace arrangement that permits the operator to vary his position from time to time is the best from the standpoint of fatigue.
In order to permit the use of the same motions seated or standing, the height of the chair must be such that the elbows of the operator are the same distance from the floor when he is seated as when he stands. The proper height of the workplace should be determined while the operator is standing.
This is the ideal condition, and like many ideals, is difficult to attain under everyday conditions. Operators vary in size which makes adjustable chairs and even adjustable work-station heights necessary- Where two or more shifts use the same equipment, the problem is further complicated. A tall operator may work a given operation on one shift and a short operator on the next. For example, a certain plant operated a large sewing department on a two-shift basis. When the first shift finished work, all the operators were required to leave the department. Then ; after a signal was given, the second-shift operators entered. The first few minutes were occupied by a confused search for suitable chairs. The sewing machines were all the same height from the floor, and so each operator had to search for a chair that was adjusted so that it would enable her to assume a fairly comfortable working position. Considerable time was lost in starting work, and it was not always possible for an operator to find a suitable chair.
Variable conditions of this sort may best be met by providing equipment that is suitable for a certain size range. Chairs may be adjusted for several classes of operators as very short, short, medium, tall, and very taU. If the chairs are marked as to class and the operator is informed of the class to which she belongs, she will have no difficulty in locating a proper chair at the beginning of the shift, provided that a sufficient number of all classes is available.
The height of the workplace is a point that has received too little attention throughout industry. Benches are made to a standard height. Thus, when an operator stands at the bench, if he is short, he stands on a box or a platform if he can get one. If he is tall, he stoops and as a result has an aching back at the end of the day. Conditions of this sort should be corrected wherever found. A slight change in the height of a workplace will often result in more production of a better quality and a more satisfied and less fatigued operator.
An industrial chair, besides being adjustable for height, should have a wide seat from side to side and an adjustable back rest. If, however, the seat is wide from front to back, many operators will sit on the front edge of the chair and will not use the back rest. This apparently is. because, when one is sitting far back on a wide seat, the front edge of the chair presses the underside of the thighs, cutting off circulation from, the feet and legs and causing general discomfort. A tired back seems preferable, and so operators sit on the front edge of their chairs. This condition may be avoided by providing narrow seats not greater than 13 inches from front to back.
Ejectors and Quick-acting Clamps.
The possibility of improving jigs and fixtures and of providing ejectors, quick-acting clamps, and other time-saving devices should have been considered when the tool equipment was analyzed. The point is so important, however, that it is brought up for consideration again under item 7 of the analysis sheet so that it will not be overlooked. Quick-acting clamps, for example, materially reduce the time required to fix a part in a holding device. Ejectors kick the part out of the holding device and make the removal of the part easier.
Foot-operated Mechanisms.
Any time that an operation can be performed by parts of the body other than the hands, it should be so done, if there is other work that the hands can perform at the same time. In this way, the hands are relieved of performing certain motions, and time is saved. If, however, there is no other work for the hands to do, there is usually no point in transferring operations to the feet.
The foot-operated drill press is a common example of a foot-operated mechanism. The operator works the drill spindle by a foot pedal, leaving both hands free to place drilled parts aside and to get other parts to be drilled. Foot-operated ejectors are sometimes advantageous, as they leave both hands free to grasp the part as it is ejected. Vises may be opened and closed by foot with a considerable saving of time. When chips or cuttings must be removed from a fixture at the end of an operation, an air jet built into the fixture and controlled by a foot-operated valve may be provided. The possibilities for employing foot-operated mechanisms are many, and the analyst should constantly be on the watch for them.
Two-handed Operation.
Two-handed setups which permit the use of motions made simultaneously by both arms moving in
opposite directions over symmetrical paths are highly desirable, because they yield far greater output with the same or less expenditure of energy than do setups on which one hand only is able to work effectively.
Although when two-handed setups are once devised they are fairly simple to operate, it requires considerable ingenuity and a thorough understanding of the principles of motion economy to make them correctly. Two-handed-operation setups are usually made only after detailed motion study. The possibility of making such a setup should be considered during the analysis of all operations, however, for throughout the analysis process, the desirability of a subsequent more detailed study must be kept in mind.
Normal Working Area.
The concept of normal and maximum working areas (a principle of motion economy) has been discussed in under the head of "The Workplace Layout." If the arrangement of tools and material was not considered during the analysis of item 6, it should be studied during the analysis of item 7, for the proper arrangement of the workplace is highly important to effective performance.
Layout Changes and Machine Coupling .
(One operator manning multiple machines)
As the result of detailed analysis, the possibility of coupling machines may have occurred. Machine coupling or multiple machine operation is possible when the operator is idle during part of the operation cycle, usually because a machine is doing the work without attention on his part. The idle time can often be utilized in running another machine if the second machine is located near the first.
If no machine is available near by, it may be desirable to change the layout and move one or more machines about. It is usually best to avoid making many minor layout changes separately, for if all factors affecting the department as a whole are not considered, the layout is likely to become inefficient. Unless a change is obviously desirable and easy to make, it is better to accumulate suggestions for change until sufficient are at hand to make a detailed layout study advisable.
The possibilities for machine coupling are brought out by man and machine process charts. (discussed in another chapter). Plant layout is a study in itself. Some of the issues in related to making layout studies are described in another chapter.
Utilization of Improvements Developed for Other Jobs.
Each operation analysis should not be regarded as an entirely new investigation. Many different operations present points of similarity; if a good method has been worked out for one operation, parts of it may often be applied to another.
Full Knol Book - Method Study: Methods Efficiency Engineering - Knol Book
Updated 4 July 2015
First published 24 Nov 2013
Saturday, July 4, 2015
The Rules of Work: A Practical Engineering Guide to Ergonomics, Second Edition 2012 - Book Information
The Rules of Work: A Practical Engineering Guide to Ergonomics, Second Edition
Dan MacLeod
CRC Press, Oct 23, 2012 - 196 pages
The experience of the past decade since the publication of the first edition of The Rules of Work: A Practical Engineering Guide to Ergonomics proves just how central ergonomics is for effective production. Revised and updated to reflect new insights from workplace developments, the second edition continues the tradition of providing essential tools for implementing good ergonomics in a way that simultaneously improves both productivity and safety.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=_fvPqFox1LcC
Dan MacLeod
CRC Press, Oct 23, 2012 - 196 pages
The experience of the past decade since the publication of the first edition of The Rules of Work: A Practical Engineering Guide to Ergonomics proves just how central ergonomics is for effective production. Revised and updated to reflect new insights from workplace developments, the second edition continues the tradition of providing essential tools for implementing good ergonomics in a way that simultaneously improves both productivity and safety.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=_fvPqFox1LcC
Analysis of Purpose of Operation
Analysis of Purpose of Operation
In beginning the analysis of any industrial operation, the very first point that should be considered is the purpose of the operation. Why is the operation being performed?
In a number of instances where the authors (Maynard) have directed detailed studies of the operations performed on mass-production jobs, they have found that from 10 to 35 per cent of the operations were unnecessary.
In view of this experience, therefore, the logical point at which to begin an operation study lies in a consideration of the purpose of the operation.
Unnecessary Operations in Industry.
The reasons that unnecessary operations are performed in industry are several. In the first place, even the most standardized product at one time passed through the development stage. At the outset, the designer was the only one in all probability who thoroughly understood the product. When manufacture was begun, he had to tell the shop what was wanted through the medium of drawings and written and verbal instructions. This is not easy to do. No matter how clearly information is prepared, there are always questions that arise. Every designer has been called upon again and again to explain points that are clearly portrayed on his drawings. It requires a definite period of cutting and trying and developing before all the so-called "bugs" are worked out.
During this development stage, the operations by which the product is to be made are being devised. The operations are performed on a sort of hand-to-mouth basis; that is, one operation is performed before the next is considered. Even if an attempt is made to lay out in advance the proper sequence of operations on new work in the planning or methods department, difficulties are likely to develop in the shop that make changes necessary. The design may be changed, or the material, or the operations themselves as trouble is encountered.
As a result of this development condition, it is small wonder that the process is finally set up with certain unnecessary operations. These operations may have seemed necessary at one time, but owing to changes or development they are no longer necessary. Nevertheless, they are performed and are likely to continue in effect until, after the process has been reduced to a standard routine, someone with the questioning attitude comes along and begins an investigation.
After the initial-development state has been passed, manufacturing troubles are by no means over. A process may run smoothly for a number of months, and then suddenly a difficulty is encountered. The difficulty, of course, must be corrected immediately, and it is often much quicker to add an extra operation than to investigate the causes of the difficulty. If the operation corrects or seemingly corrects the difficulty, it soon becomes a standard operation, even if the causes of the difficulty disappear or are otherwise eliminated, and thus another unnecessary operation is born.
The difficulties referred to may be several. A shipment of poor or improperly prepared material may cause difficulties that can be eliminated only by extra work. The extra work may develop into a standard operation, even though good material is received in the future. If the product is an assembly, it may suddenly start to function improperly on test. If it is at all complicated, it may be difficult to determine just what the causes of the unsatisfactory performance are. Extra operations are added to overcome this or that supposed difficulty. When the product begins to function again, it is not always clear which operation corrected the difficulty and some or all are retained.
Those who are responsible for setting up manufacturing processes are no more infallible than other men. In the judgment of a certain individual, an operation may seem necessary, and he orders it to be performed. Regardless of the soundness of his judgment, the operation will continue to be performed until someone proves it to be unnecessary.
Again, certain operations are performed because of the snap judgment of someone who has the authority to enforce his decisions. Again and again, operations are discovered that are performed because an executive of the company in walking through the shop saw something of which he did not approve and at once issued orders that were followed ever since. When various department heads meet to consider a customer's complaint that may seem serious at the time, extra work may be insisted upon by the sales department and agreed to by the manufacturing department for reasons of policy. The cases of unnecessary work caused in this way are too numerous to attempt to list completely.
In the final analysis, unnecessary operations are due primarily to a lack of thorough investigation at the time the operations are first set up or to a natural inertia or an oversight that keeps operations in effect after changes have rendered them unnecessary. Detailed, searching analysis is needed to reveal these conditions, and it is this kind of investigation that methods studies bring. about.
It should be recognized, of course, that operations rendered unnecessary by new developments, inventions, improved machinery, and the like, are not being referred to here.
Questions
It is important to consider the purpose of the operation, but the mere question "What is the purpose of the operation?", mentally framed, may not be suggestive enough to develop a thorough understanding of the matter. If one approaches the supervisor in charge of the operation and asks the question, one will get an answer, of course, and usually the answer will appear logical on the surface. It is not until one begins to search and probe more deeply that the real answer is obtained. For this reason, questions similar to those contained in the following list should be asked. Further, they should be answered only after mature consideration, if the true answer is to be obtained.
1. What is the purpose of the operation?
2. Is the result accomplished by the operation necessary?
3. If so, what makes it necessary?
4. Was the operation established to correct a difficulty experienced in the final assembly?
5. If so, did it really correct it?
6. Is the operation necessary because of the improper performance of a previous operation?
7. Was the operation established to correct a condition that has since been corrected otherwise?
8. If the operation is done to improve appearance, is the added cost justified by added salability?
9. Can the purpose of the operation be accomplished better in any other way?
10. Can the supplier of the material perform the operation more economically?
Typical Answers.
In a plant manufacturing frames for automobiles, the last operation before painting consisted of reaming certain holes which had previously been punched in the frame. Two operators equipped with air-driven reamers stood at the end of the assembly line and reamed the holes as the frames passed them on a chain conveyer. It was a full-time job for both men and had been for several months.
During the course of a study of frame-manufacturing methods, the purpose of this operation was questioned. The thought at first was that it might be possible to punch the holes sufficiently closely to size to eliminate the reaming operation. Reference to the drawing, however, showed that the customer demanded reamed holes.
It would have been natural, perhaps, to consider that the question "Is the operation necessary? " was satisfactorily answered by the drawing. One of the methods efficiency engineers in the plant, however, realized the danger of accepting the first answer that came to hand and decided to investigate more thoroughly. He went out on the plant parking lot and located a car of the model that used the frame in question. To find the ultimate purpose of the reaming operation, he crawled underneath the car to see what the holes were used for and discovered that they were not used at all. Obviously, then, not only the reaming but also the punching of the holes was unnecessary.
Subsequent investigation showed that at one time an engineering change in the construction of the frame had been made which eliminated the use of the holes. Through an oversight, the drawing was not changed, and the reaming operation continued until the time of the investigation.
This incident, besides confirming the fact that errors are made in connection with manufacturing information, illustrates two important points. In .the first place, it shows the necessity of constantly questioning the purpose of operations. The reaming operation was performed day after day for a number of months.
It would be entirely natural to assume that the operation was necessary just because it had been done so long. Unless a man is trained to question every factor connected with the manufacturing process he is studying, he is likely to accept familiar operations as necessary and to concentrate upon better tools or methods for doing the operations, rather than to attack them from a more fundamental viewpoint,
In the second place, the case illustrates the necessity of applying the questioning attitude with a real desire to get at the bottom of the matter. The asking of a question will nearly always bring forth an answer. The first answer is quite likely to be superficial, however, and more thorough probing is necessary to learn the real facts. Hence, repeated questioning is necessary.
For example, the first question in the above list is "What is the purpose of the operation?" Asked in connection with the reaming operation, the answer is "To make the holes a certain specific size." This might seem to be an answer , but the trained analyst would follow up with the second question on the list, " Is the result accomplished by the operation necessary? " Reference to the drawing apparently evokes an answer in the affirmative. The .basic reason for performing the operation is still not clear, however, so the analyst asks the third question, "If so, what makes it necessary? " His investigation to determine the answer to this question finally uncovers the fact that the operation is absolutely needless.
For many years, it was the practice to polish the edges of the glass windows that go in the doors of automobiles. The reason given was that a good appearance was desired. It is true that edge polishing improves the appearance of a window glass, but only when it is outside the car. When it is assembled, as it is when the customer sees it, only the top edge shows in most designs of window. Hence, three-quarters of the edge-polishing operation is unnecessary. A smooth edge is required so that the window will not mar the channels in which it runs, but a polished edge is a refinement that is in no way justified. This fact was obvious as soon as it was pointed out, but until that time thousands of dollars were spent unnecessarily by a large manufacturer of automobile glass.
In the manufacture of an electric-clock motor, four small pinion shafts were pressed into a bakelite housing. The first shafts received from the supplier went in nicely. On subsequent shipments, however, difficulty was encountered. The shafts had a small burr on the end formed by the cutting-off tool. In order to use the shafts, it was necessary to add the operation "grind burrs."
This condition was taken up with the supplier by letter, but the supplier said that it was impossible to avoid the burr. There the matter rested until a methods efficiency study was made of the operation. Preliminary questioning brought out the above-mentioned story. The analyst, however, was not convinced that the shaft could not be produced without burrs. As a matter of fact, an investigation showed that a similar shaft used for the rotor of the motor was received from a different supplier without burrs. The first supplier was again asked if he could not furnish shafts without burrs, but he again answered in the negative. The analyst then suggested a change of suppliers. This was made, and shafts free from burrs were received thereafter. The first supplier had been too indifferent to attempt to improve his product. The easiest thing to do was to correct the supplier's shortcomings by adding an extra operation. The correct procedure, however, was to persist until satisfactory material was obtained.
A certain metal article manufactured in large quantities required a label of directions. This label was stuck onto the outside of the article. During the course of a study of the product, it was learned that the label was pasted on with flour paste. Several labels were placed face down on a cloth. Paste was applied with a brush, after which the labels were stuck in place. The analyst questioned the use of paste. He was told that gummed labels had been suggested and undoubtedly would be supplied in the future. He examined the labels being used at the time and found that they were coated with gum. Seven operators were engaged in applying paste to gummed labels.
This case illustrates the strength of habit and inertia. The original labels were ungummed. Therefore, paste had to be used. A suggestion was made that gummed labels be substituted. They w^ere accordingly ordered and when the supply of ungummed labels was exhausted the gummed labels were issued. No one but the operators realized, probably, that the new labels had arrived, and they proceeded to apply paste as before either without thinking or in order to appear busy in a department that was facing part-time operation.
A stamping, was made, was formed in a series of punch-press operations. On a certain order, the first two operations were performed on about 5,000 pieces. A rush order for another part was then worked on. The 5,000 partly completed pieces remained in temporary storage in the punch-press department and during that time picked up considerable dirt, including particles from the rush job which was made of metal screen.
As a result, when the job was put back in work again, considerable difficulty was experienced on the third operation. The operator had to wipe each blank clean with a rag before he could put it in his press and, of course, could not meet the regular time allowance. He complained to the time-study engineer who arranged to have a boy wipe the parts clean. The operator could then go ahead without interruption.
About two months later, the time-study engineer found that the parts were still being wiped off between the second and third operations, although the particular dirty lot had long since been completed. When he asked why the operation was being performed, he was informed that he himself had authorized it. The operation was, of course, absolutely unnecessary on subsequent lots, but so strong is the reluctance to abandon an operation after it has once been performed that it was necessary for the time-study engineer specifically to authorize its discontinuance.
If an operation is necessary, it can sometimes be accomplished better in some other way. The pinions on the previously mentioned electric clock contained burrs which in this case could not be eliminated. They were removed by picking them off with a pointed instrument. Tumbling them in a tumbling barrel removed the burrs equally satisfactorily at but a fraction of the former cost.
Occasionally , a consideration of a better way of accomplishing a certain purpose leads to a major design change. For example, the coils used in large turbo generators are made up of a number of turns of heavy strap copper. These are formed on a bending machine and form rectangles some 30 or 40 feet in perimeter. The last three turns of each coil have to be about -^ inch narrower than the other turns to fulfill insulation requirements. Formerly, it was the practice to remove the J-g inch of metal from the last three turns by hand filing, the equivalent of filing a strip of copper 120 feet long for each large coil. Thousands of hours were consumed on this work in the department making the coils. During the course of a methods study, the question was asked, " Can the purpose of the operation be accomplished better in any other way?" The operation was at length eliminated by a design change. The last three turns were made of narrower strap copper and joined to the heavier turns of the coil by a single brazed joint.
The battery cable discussed in Chap. IV was originally purchased in 200-foot lengths. It was made up into leads 49 inches long, and the first operation consisted of cutting the cable into 49-inch lengths. The operation was necessary, of course, but the suggestion was made that the manufacturer of the wire might have a better cutting-off method than the comparatively crude method then in use. Investigation showed that the wiremaking machine could be set to cut off the wire in 49-inch lengths as easily as in 200-foot lengths. Thus the cutoff operation was eliminated, and the wire was obtained in 49-inch lengths at no additional cost.
Tfli.Tnitifl.ti.ng Operations.
The examples just given demonstrate the fact that many industrial operations can be eliminated if proper investigation is made, It is much easier to add an operation, however, than it is to eliminate one. Even after an operation has been shown to be unnecessary, it is not always easy to obtain its discontinuance. Habit is strong, and there is a natural tendency to resist change. If a process is working smoothly, there is a decided reluctance to abandon any part of it. It is common experience that operations that are added, almost one might say on the spur of the moment, can be discontinued only after serious discussion on the part of a group of interested supervisors and usually only after someone in a fairly responsible position gives the order and accepts the responsibility.
Thereafter, for a time, the change is likely to be blamed for any difficulty that crops up whether there is any justification for it or not. This is a peculiar condition, perhaps, but one that any progressive shopman encounters again and again. Its existence should therefore be recognized. Resistance to change should be taken as a matter of course, and those who desire to make a change must be prepared to make an effort to get it adopted probably out of all proportion to the effort that would be required if human beings were not human beings.
At the same time, the man who prides himself upon being progressive must be careful that he does not adopt a similar attitude when changes are suggested in his own work that he himself does not initiate.
Full Knol Book - Method Study: Methods Efficiency Engineering - Knol Book
Updated 4 July 2015
First published 23 Nov 2011
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