Supply chain reengineering-

What is your assessment of the manufacturing operations at ForeFront Manufacturing?

The current operations procedure as followed at Forefront:-

PLANNING PRODUCTION

ENGINEERING CUTTING CARPENTRY FORMING FINISHING ASSEMBLY & PACKING

The assessment of the manufacturing procedure as followed at forefront-

1. Initial starting of the manufacturing where the company needed to start the production planning before it got the final contract handed over to it was the first major issue which percolated through the whole manufacturing system on and was a major issue which affected the whole manufacturing process in the company.

2. Developmental work though primary performed during lunch hours and when machine was not running, was often done during the normal running hours of the machine which affected the production time.

3. The company was maintaining a good coordination between different legs of manufacturing department and thus overall the flow of information in the line was well streamlined.

4. The way company came up with production plan by trading off the resources to be utilized by making some minor alteration in manufacturing process was very innovative and very important to reduce the total time of production for the whole manufacturing process.

5. The insufficient ordering of the raw material to produce the required number of doors led to some issues such as borrowing raw materials from other orders and thus this was a major issue the company should tackle.

6. The lead time of ordering the wood from North America was very high. As most of the times contract was being awarded at the last moment, the company has to start the procurement process much before the final order was handed over to them.

7. Damaged caused to the wood in the process of transportation further induced later inefficiencies in the manufacturing process.

8. The process of second stage cutting using computer –numerical-controlled machining centre was an efficient process.

9. The finishing department was the slowest in the line and was thus the weakest link in the manufacturing process.

10. There is no proper demand forecasting method in place and thus it was leading to lots of inefficiencies in the process of manufacturing.

11. The automation followed at different legs of manufacturing process makes the whole process more efficient but at the same time it puts limiting constraint on the output too.

12. Finishing is the most critical and most complex manufacturing process.13. Re working associated with every manufacturing cycle is very high ie around 20-30%

of the work done is spent on reworking again.

14. The regular needed maintenance of the pipe really constraints the whole process and delays it overall.

15. Maintenance procedure is not documented and is individual dependent. Thus, when two maintenance personnel left the company, repairs became excessively critical.

16. The workforce involved in the whole operation process is quite large and to an extent tough to manage for an aligned objective.

17. As the company was working seven days a week that means on an average the operations were running 30 days a month. Based on the average production quantity of 350 doors per day the company was producing approximately only 8750 doors in a month which was just 84 % of the maximum efficiency it can achieve by producing 10500 doors in a month.

18. WIP inventory was lying here and there and they was no proper storage for it.19. The worst part of the working system was the blame game people used to play. They

were not ready to accept the blame for the inefficiencies in the system.20. There was no proper reporting procedure laid down in the company to record the

defects or problems which came along the manufacturing system.21. Factory layout design was very absurd It was not based on an efficient model to reduce

the workload.

StrengthsCompany's mainly concentrates on door

manufacture its core competency.High quality product

Manufacturing process is well definedLarge workforce

WeaknessMaintenance procedures are not efficient

Start of project work before order finalizationRaw material and spare parts forecasting is

not accurateNo process documentation

OpportunitiesReliable customer base.

The company is coming up with new fac.Easy access to skilled and unskilled labor.

ThreatsLimited market reach

High employee attritionrate.Pre order production leading to financial losses

Technological innovation

SWOT analysis

What changes would you propose to implement in the first five months before the move to the new factory?

Before we discuss about the major changes to be implemented in the manufacturing system being followed at Forefront , we need to identify the various inefficiencies in the company which has led to various wastes developed at various legs of the manufacturing process. Until and unless a company is not clearly aware of the various wastes which are there in a company’s manufacturing process it cannot work on to eliminate those waste and thus revamp its manufacturing process.

Following is the list of various inefficiencies the company might need to eradicate well before the company shifts to the new factory-

Time spent in removing defects Length between two legs of production is very long and thus it induces unnecessary

inefficiencies in the process. Preproduction ie production ahead of actual contract is handed . Excess and waste inventory at various legs of the manufacturing process.

So these wastes can be tackled by introducing Lean philosophy in the manufacturing system. The lean philosophy basically works to remove waste through the entire manufacturing process.

Revamping Manufacturing process by application of Lean philosophy –

Thus the implementation of lean process causes following efficiencies in the process-

First of all the in factory movement of the material is too much and it needs to be controlled. Thus a way it can be done is through attaining cellular manufacturing ie removing the travelling time between different leg of manufacturing.

As the process of manufacturing is cellular it will be much easier to identify the source of defect.

Each worker will be more efficient since they are aware of their exact requirements to the production line Reducing labour costs gives ForeFront the ability to raise wages. This places a higher value on the workers which will introduce a systematic increase in job security and therefore result in a stronger employer-employee relationship. 

Some other Lean strategies which can be employed will be-

Introduction of philosophies like JIT or inducting proper MRP in the system to reduce the various wastes and to remove inefficiencies in the manufacturing process-

Implementation of Proper MRP system-

A proper MRP system in place can help the company meet following objectives-

Reduction in Inventory Cost: By providing the right quantity of material at right time to meet master production schedule, MRP tries to avoid the cost of excessive inventory.

Meeting Delivery Schedule: By minimizing the delays in materials procurement, production decision making, MRP helps avoid delays in production thereby meeting delivery schedules more consistently.

Improved Performance: By stream lining the production operations and minimizing the unplanned interruptions, MRP focuses on having all components available at right place in right quantity at right time.

Changing the way error is defined -

A homely environment with very good understanding between the various workers is there in the organization.

The company should encourage an environment where the people are awarded for bringing to notice the defects caused by them instead of hiding it with trying to remove that defects thus wasting time on inefficient reworks in manufacturing process.

Introduction of Andon chord system-

As the company is wasting lots of efforts on wasting time on reworks which are Introduced due to various defects which are introduced in the production system here and there , the company should introduce something like andon chord where if any defect is introduced in the production system , the workers instead on improvising on that defect which can be realized as a basic defect later on immediately sound a warning and rectify the defect introduced there only before proceeding ahead with that defect and making it worse.

Tackling Human resources issues-

Company can increase the wages of the employees greater than as per the wages stipulated as though state labor laws.

Introducing various sporting activities for the employees such as table tennis etc. There should be weekly meetings to mitigate employee conflicts, workplace

conflicts and all. Introducing frequent training modules.