srinivas research project report_12

An Investigation into improving the Efficiency of the Cockroach Bait Production Line at Tumblar Products Limited

A Project Report by:

Srinivas Rao Sanga - 99132138

Graduate Diploma in Project Management

Date: 04/07/2016

Academic Supervisor: Mr. John O’ Sullivan

Organisational Supervisor: Mr. Mark Patton

Word Count: 17882

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Research Project Report

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary............................................................................................................5

1.0 Background..................................................................................................................9

2.0 Organisational Objectives...........................................................................................10

3.0 Research Objectives....................................................................................................11

3.1 Overview...........................................................................................................11

3.2 Research Questions Outlined............................................................................11

4.0 Research Methodology...............................................................................................12

4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................12

4.2 Primary Data Collection.....................................................................................12

4.2.1 Population of Interest OR Unit of Analysis........................................................12

4.2.2 Sampling Plan..................................................................................................12

4.2.3 Primary Data Collection Methods.....................................................................13

4.3 Research Methodology Assumptions.................................................................13

4.4 Research Methodology Limitations...................................................................14

4.5 Ethical Considerations.......................................................................................14

5.0 Annotated Bibliography..............................................................................................15

5.1 Best Operations management measures for improving performance:...............15

5.2 Best Approaches to Selecting Efficient Plastic material that can replace PETG plastic:......................................................................................................................17

5.3 Technical Specifications of the Plastic Material that would be an efficient replacement for PETG plastic:...................................................................................20

5.4 Common Production Processes.........................................................................26

5.5 Best methods to recycle or utilize plastic waste after production:.....................30

5.6 Best Methods to improve Work Flow:...............................................................32

5.7 Project Management Tools................................................................................33

5.7.1 Work Breakdown Structure:................................................................................33

5.7.2 Project Management Office (PMO):.....................................................................34

5.7.3 Responsibility Matrix (R.A.C.I):............................................................................36

6.0 Results........................................................................................................................38

6.1 Introduction......................................................................................................38

6.2 Content Analysis of Production Records:...........................................................38

6.3 Observation of Machines working on the Bait Station Production Line:.............48

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6.3 Content analysis of Operational Documentation for Machines working on the Cockroach Bait Station and Mortein Production Lines:..............................................50

6.4 Observation......................................................................................................56

7.0 Analysis......................................................................................................................58

7.1 Best Practise in Operations Management for improving efficiency....................58

7.2 Alternate plastic material that could be used in the place of PETG:...................59

7.3 The Viability of Consolidating Two Manufacturing Lines at TPL:........................60

7.4 Review of Reducing Plastic material wastage in the Cockroach Bait Production line and alternate uses for the waste plastic:............................................................65

7.5 Application of Project Management theory to the Implementation of new Plastic Material and consolidating the Manufacturing lines: PMO, RACI, and WBS:..............66

7.5.1 Project Management Office:................................................................................66

7.5.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):......................................................................68

7.5.3 Responsibility Matrix (RACI Matrix):....................................................................70

8.0 Recommendations......................................................................................................74

8.1 Long-term Recommendations...........................................................................74

8.2 Short-term Recommendations..........................................................................74

9.0 Conclusions.................................................................................................................76

9.1 How to Improve the Efficiency of Cockroach Bait Production Lines:...................76

9.2 Further Research Areas.....................................................................................76

10.0 References................................................................................................................77

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Executive Summary This report sets out how the researcher has answered questions on how to improve the efficiency of production lines at TPL.

Tumblar Products Limited is a registered public plastics products company and was established on 27th April 1981. The ownership structure of Tumblar Products Limited (TPL) is a privately owned limited liability company; owned by Mr. John Robert Smith (New Zealand Companies Office, 2016, Company summary, para. 1). TPL is a contract manufacturer in the FMCG (Fast moving consumer goods) sector. They develop, manufacture and distribute FMCG goods for their clients. They export approximately 80% of their products; with destination markets including; Australia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong (Mark Patton, Manufacturing Manager, personal communication, February 17, 2016).

The purpose of this research that was carried out, was to answer the research question: How to conduct an Investigation into improving the efficiency of the Cockroach Bait Production Lines?

The main research question can be further divided into following sub-research questions:

What is the Best Practise in Operations Management for improving efficiency? What alternate Plastic material could be suggested in place of PETG for Cockroach Baits? Viability of consolidating the Current production process of Cockroach Bait to the other

manufacturing line? How could Plastic material be reduced in the Cockroach Bait Production line and are

there alternate uses for the waste plastic? How can Project Management theory be utilised to implement changes in future to

incorporate new Plastic Material and consolidating the Manufacturing lines?

A brief annotated bibliography was performed by the researcher to provide secondary data that was helpful in identifying best practices in operations management, selecting a plastic material, reducing plastic waste after production and project management theory for consolidating two production lines. This process covered topics such as operations management (from Section 5.1), production process practiced in packaging industries (from Section 5.4), recycling methods for plastics (from Section 5.5), Workflow (from Section 5.6) and Project management tools (from Section 5.7). They also have data included in Tables 5.1 and 5.3; Figure 5.1.

The researcher has documented relevant literature set out in the annotated bibliography section as follows:

i. Improving performance in operations management (from Section 5.1).ii. Best practices to select a material (from Section 5.2).

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iii. Technical Specifications of the Plastic Material that would be an efficient replacement for PETG plastic (from Section 5.3).

iv. Common production process (from Section 5.4).

v. Best methods to recycle or utilise plastic waste (from Section 5.5).

vi. Best methods to improve Workflow (from Section 5.6).

vii. Project management tools (from Section 5.7).

Primary data collection was also conducted by the researcher. The researcher identified the following populations of interest for his study; Production records of Cockroach Baits that were ranging two months, Machine specifications of two production lines (such as a Thermoformer, a filler, a Radio-Frequency welder and Piercing machine), the production process performed on Cockroach Bait Station Assembler and the behaviour of staff currently working on Cockroach Bait Manufacturing line. They were then sampled using Content analysis and Observations. Content analysis of production records was done by a census sampling method, where the researcher needed to gather entire information about production records that was ranging two months (Bryman & Bell, 2007, p. 182).

Content analysis (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 159) was performed by the researcher on the production records that were collected from two months during December – 2015 and January – 2016 (from Tables 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.4). Observations were made on how the current machines that were installed on two lines at TPL (from Section 6.3). Content analysis was conducted by the researcher based on the operating instructions of machines present in the cockroach bait production lines at TPL (from Tables 6.7 and 6.8) and observations were made on the behaviour of staff who work on the production lines (from Table 6.9). After performing content analysis and observation, it has been evident that TPL was facing problems in production in terms of inventory management and raw material wastage. Also, the observations show that some of the machines were quite old and weren’t efficient, as a result they cause raw material wastage.

The following key results were obtained from this study’s primary data collection methods of production records (see Tables 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.4) (see Figures 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5). Based on the results acquired, the researcher has analysed the report to answer the sub research questions by performing detailed analysis. Analysis includes the best practices for TPL to consider when they plan to execute the project work. Below is the summary of analysis that answers sub-research questions to TPL.

Process design is the key strategy for any organisation to obtain new product design or to adopt a new process (Gardiner, 2013, p. 198). Lean manufacturing is an approach that has the ability to eliminate waste in a production process (Gardiner, 2013, p. 199).

The feasible thermoplastics that can be welded after reviewing literature the researcher was able to source on Thermoplastics, are set out in Tables 5.1 and 5.2 that indicate that ABS plastic has best near welding factor; and gives best performance under dielectric heating.

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These factors are the most relevant to the packaging industry. ABS has no issues when it undergoes welding, whereas polystyrene is too weak (Clarke, 2016, p. 1.9).

The researcher has developed a Practical Workflow diagram (see Figure 7.8) that consolidates the two cockroach bait lines at TPL, and as also produced a workflow diagram for both of the production lines, please refer Figures 7.6 and Figure 7.7.

Lastly, an important aspect that TPL should understand is how to implement project management theory. The researcher has developed tools that were developed from the Project management methodology (from Section 5.7) that will assist in initiating the organisational and research objectives The contributions of the researcher include a Project management Office structure, Work Breakdown Structure, and Responsibility Assignment Matrix (From Section 7.5.1, 7.5.2 and 7.5.3).

The researcher has made the following recommendations for TPL; that are classified into long-term and short-term recommendations. The long-term recommendations include - Giving preference to an inventory management system for the production lines at TPL, application of lean manufacturing technology and utilising plastic waste either through recycling or using it in the construction of roads (from Section 8.1). The short-term recommendations are – to set up a Project Management Office at TPL and procuring a new customised Thermoformer as per the requirements of assembly line (from section 8.2).

This report concludes by stating TPL need to make decisions when they initiate the project. The first stage in improving the efficiency of TPL’s Cockroach bait lines was to determine whether they could be consolidated. So, the researcher has successfully shown a consolidated view of new workflow diagram (see Figure 7.8) and how the machines of two lines work in regards to the present workflow practices (see figures 7.6 and 7.7). The second part is about incorporating new plastic material that was equivalent to PETG, so the researcher has come up with a decision in incorporating new plastic material based on secondary data of plastics (from sections 5.2 and 5.3). The researcher recommends ABS plastic (Troughton, 2008, p. 58, para 3) for TPL to use in manufacturing cockroach baits (from Tables 5.1, 5.2 and figure 5.1).

The plastic waste that has been obtained after each production cycle was accounted to 38% of the raw material during two months (refer section 7.4). So, the researcher has analysed the problem and recommends that plastic recycling (La Mantia, 2002, p. 256, para 2) or usage in construction of roads (Vasudevan, 2006). The last key aspect is the project management theory, that how it can help TPL to plan, schedule and execute new processes on both production lines, so the researcher had provided a project management structure (see figure 7.9), two Work Breakdown Structures (see Figure 7.10 and 7.11) and RACI (responsibility matrix) chart (see Tables 7.11 and 7.12).

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Further, it is very important for TPL to think about the additional areas that has to be taken into consideration while consolidating the production lines and when they incorporate new plastic material to the line. They are:

Identifying the specifications of the welding machine. An investigation about the Ergonomic design when two production lines are

consolidated. Identify training programs for staff at TPL and costs that include in consolidating two

production lines at TPL.

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1.0 BackgroundTumblar Products Limited is a registered public plastics products company and was established on 27th April 1981. The ownership structure of Tumblar Products Limited (TPL) is a privately owned limited liability company; owned by Mr. John Robert Smith (New Zealand Companies Office, 2016, Company summary, para. 1). The organisation was earlier located in Aranui, Christchurch. But after the 2011 earthquake, they relocated to 648 Halswell Junction, Christchurch (Tumblar Products Limited, 2016, our location).

TPL currently employs 67 employees in their functional areas. The organisation assigns work activity depending upon the functional areas. Functional areas in the organization include Manufacturing Department, Office Administration, Maintenance Engineering Department, Health and Safety department, Quality Control Team and Warehouse Store Department. Manufacturing Department includes Thirty-seven Machine Operators and Eight Leading hands, Five Team Leaders /Supervisors, a Manufacturing Manager, a Product Development Manager and a Project Manager. Maintenance Team comprises a Maintenance Team leader, a Maintenance Engineer. Health and Safety department contain a Three Health and Safety Managers. The Quality Control team includes Four Quality team members. The Warehouse Store Department includes Five Warehouse workers (Mark Patton, Manufacturing Manager, personal communication, March 15, 2016).

TPL is a contract manufacturer in the FMCG (Fast moving consumer goods) sector. They develop, manufacture and distribute FMCG goods for their clients. Reckitt Benckiser, SC Johnson, Orica farmgaurd, Raven, Talus, Skintech, NZ botanicals are clients for Tumblar products. They export approximately of 80% of their products, with destination markets including Australia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong (Mark Patton, Manufacturing Manager, personal communication, February 17, 2016).

Tumblar Products Limited Manufactures Household products, Insecticide products, Liquids and Agrichemical products. The production process at TPL includes Radio Frequency welding, Thermoforming, Ultrasonic welding, Blister and carton packaging, Inline forming-moulding and packaging, Shelf ready packaging. Alongside these TPL apply a Lean Manufacturing process (Tumblar Products Limited, 2016, OUR FACILITIES, para. 1).

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2.0 Organisational Objectives Tumblar Products Limited would like to improve the quality of their products by

identifying and implementing a new plastic material to use in their manufacturing process. They currently use PETG plastic for manufacturing Cockroach Baits and would like to investigate if they can consolidate production of this product line onto one line for better production efficiency, as they already make two different versions of cockroach bait product (Mark Patton, Manufacturing Manager, personal communication, February 17, 2016).

Tumblar Products Limited would like to reduce their current raw material waste rate of 38% that is collected after production on the Cockroach line and would like to utilise the waste in a way that reduces operation costs (Mark Patton, Manufacturing

Manager, personal communication, February 17, 2016).

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3.0 Research Objectives This research project had three aims:

o To identify for Tumblar Products Limited a higher quality plastic material for their manufacturing process

o Investigating the feasibility of consolidating production of the Cockroach Bait product lines, through mapping work and material flow for these product lines

o Identifying ways to reduce plastic wastage and find alternate financially viable usages for the waste

3.1 Overview The Main Question to solve the research problem at TPL is:

This research will be made on Investigation into improving the efficiency of the Cockroach Bait Production Lines.

3.2 Research Questions Outlined

Based on the main research question, researcher had categorised them into Sub-Questions and they are:

o What is the Best Practise in Operations Management for improving efficiency?

o What alternate Plastic material could be suggested in place of PETG for Cockroach Baits?

o Is it possible to consolidate the Current production process of Cockroach Bait to the other manufacturing line?

o How could Plastic material be reduced in the Cockroach Bait Production line and are there alternate uses for the waste plastic?

o How can Project Management theory be utilised to implement changes in future to incorporate new Plastic Material and consolidating the Manufacturing lines?

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4.0 Research Methodology.4.1 Introduction

The contents of this section discuss the population of interest for this study, the type of sampling method to be used by the researcher, how primary data was collected, the assumptions and limitations of the methodology and ethical considerations of the project report.

4.2 Primary Data Collection

4.2.1 Population of Interest OR Unit of Analysis

The Population of Interest /Unit of Analysis of this Study are:

A. Production records of Cockroach Baits for last two months.B. Machine specifications of Cockroach Bait Station Assembler.

Thermoformer. Filler. Radio-Frequency welder. Piercing.

C. The production process performed on Cockroach Bait Station Assembler. D. The behaviour of staff currently working on Cockroach Bait Manufacturing

line.

4.2.2 Sampling Plan

As the population is the entire set of existing production records for Cockroach Bait’s in TPL from last two months, the researcher is able to use a Census method (Bryman & Bell, 2007, p. 182).

Census sample will be employed to obtain all the information about the machines Specifications of Machines used in TPL manufacturing line (Bryman & Bell, 2007, p. 182).

Convenience Sampling is a sampling method which has unrestricted samples. It is simple, cost effective and easy to conduct. The researcher has the flexibility to collect a Convenience sample based on current production process active on TPL Manufacturing line such as Thermoforming, Radiofrequency welding, Piercing and Packaging conducted when the researcher is present during his shifts (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p. 385).

A Convenience sample will be conducted to study the behaviour of all staff working on TPL-Manufacturing line during times the researcher is present at TPL (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p. 385).

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4.2.3 Primary Data Collection Methods

The following methods by which the primary data will be collected by applying sampling methods as previously described.

Content Analysis – Production records and Machine specifications

The Researcher develops a framework to analyse documents. A Sample of production records related to Cockroach Bait station assembler in the form of batches and Machines active on the Line during the last two months at Tumblar Products Limited will be subjected to make a Content analysis in a systematic way (Bryman & Bell, 2007, p. 302).

The Machine specifications/operating manual documentation obtained through Census method will be subject to a content analysis in a systematic & quantitative approach (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p. 410)

Observation – Production Process, Automated process, and Staff

The researcher develops a framework in making an Observational data that is made from the perspective of the subject /process. It includes by carrying out a scientific enquiry about the Production process that can answer the research questions. This helps the researcher to plan systematically (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 298).

The Researcher will employ process or activity analysis as part of Observation to study, automated process in the Cockroach Bait Manufacturing line (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p. 190). A Direct Observation is done by the researcher to study the behaviour of the staff working when he is present physically and in an assembly line (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p. 193).

4.3 Research Methodology Assumptions

The Research methodology conducted by the researcher holds to be reliable and valid (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 156). Some of the assumptions in this research include:

The convenience sampling method selected for the automated and human components of the production process will be reliable (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 156). The findings hold Validity reflect accurately on all the steps involved while conducting research (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 157).

The content analysis framework of documentation detailing of the Production records and Machine Specifications at Tumblar Products Limited are complete and authentic (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 159). This is important for the data to be valid (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 156).

The Researcher’s direct Observation of the Automated and human Production process data will be complete and accurate (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 156). If this

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does not occur, this would affect the validity of the final data (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 157).

4.4 Research Methodology Limitations

The Proposed research project’s Methodology has certain constraints on validity and reliability (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 156). Some of the research limitations include:

The convenience sampling method selected for the automated and human components of the production process would not be reliable (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 156). The findings do not hold Validity and reflect inaccurately on all the steps involved while conducting research (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 157).

The content analysis framework of documentation detailing of the Production records and Machine Specifications at Tumblar Products Limited are incomplete and unreliable (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 159). This may lead to false assumptions and affect the validity of the research (Saunders et al., 2009, p.158).

The Researcher Observation of the Automated and human Production process data will be incomplete and inaccurate (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 159). This may lead to false assumptions and affect the validity of the research (Saunders et al., 2009, p.158).

4.5 Ethical Considerations

Ethics are standards or norms of behaviour that one would expect in return based on our relationships with each other’s in a society or organization. The main intention of ethical research is to safeguard participants without being harmed during the research activity (Cooper Schindler, 2011, p. 32).

Avoid Harm: The Researcher should not harm respondents by disclosing any information which hurts their feeling (Bryman, Bell, 2007, p.132).

Confidentiality: It should be clear that researcher should collect information and held it confidential so that it limits only for using in answering research questions (Bryman, Bell, 2007, p. 134).

Privacy: The Researcher does not have the right to encroach on the respondent’s privacy or company’s privacy while conducting research (Bryman, Bell, 2007, p. 139).

Right to Quality research: This is an important ethical consideration in between researcher and sponsor which gives the researcher a right to obtain quality from the information (Cooper, Schindler, 2011, p. 43).

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5.0 Annotated Bibliography In this section, the researcher has summarised key ideas from a range of publications including books, articles, and other documents; on the topics of Operations Management, project Management, and Manufacturing Technologies. The annotated bibliography is structured by the literature topics reviewed and includes a full APA citation for each document the researcher read. Under each full citation is a brief summary of the key ideas from the document. The purpose of the annotated bibliography is to inform the reader of the relevance and accuracy of the cited sources.

5.1 Best Operations management measures for improving performance:

Gardiner, D. (2013). Operation management for business excellence (3rd ed.). Auckland, NewZealand: Pearson.

Key ideas: Operations management plays a crucial role in an industry, as its main function is to improve the overall performance of the organisation. Conducting performance measures can provide advice on progress in the areas of production and supply chain that requires high attention (p. 196). Potential areas that require attention are: Process design and Improvement:

A process can be cost addition or value addition. The main objective is to improve all value- adding processes and reduce the cost- addition processes (p. 198). Process improvement is a strategy in operations management which enables the organisation to develop new ideas by process innovation followed by product innovation.

Lean thinking: Lean thinking is a process that is related to technical or process issues that are having little or no - value to the customer (p. 199). Real lean thinking is the process of measuring value added to a process; remembering that value is determined by the customer. A further issue in lean thinking is identifying the waste produced in a production process and determining how waste could be reduced or eliminated Lean thinking is always about eliminating waste (p. 199).

Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano. (2006). Operations management for competitive advantage withglobal cases. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.

Operational measurements to improve performance are as follows:

1. Inventory: This relates to a situation of an organisation making a purchase of goods when it intends to sell them. Inventory is the value of material and goods held by an organisation to support production, support activities like maintenance and consumables and sale or

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customer service. It is advisable to prevent the continuation of production of goods under the thinking that goods will be completely sold out (p. 722).

2. Operating Expenses: These are the costs or budget incurred in an organization which includes production costs. Production costs could mostly be direct labour costs, indirect labour costs, inventory carrying costs, equipment maintenance, and depreciation and raw materials and supplies used in production (p. 723).

Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2006). Operations management. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson. (Heizer & Render, 2008, p. 23)

Operations management means to continuously improve operations in a firm mostly dealing with manufacturing products and providing a service. To improve the performance of operations in any firm quality is the key (p.194).

Quality can be improved by applying many techniques. One of the most effective technique is Statistical Process Control, as it measures the performance of the process. It is a statistical method widely used to assure that an organisation’s processes meet set standards. Statistical Process Control is an important operations management tool because all processes in production are subjectable to variation. Variations in this method refer to natural and assignable variations. Control charts are used to detect these variations. Natural Variations are those which affect almost every production process. These variations are normal and can be characterised as a mean and standard deviation. As long as distribution is within prescribed limits, the process is said to be in control. Assignable variations are the variations traced on factors such as equipment, Fatigue of workers and machine wear (p. 223). The best examples for Natural Variations are samples with weighted distribution and Control charts (p. 224).

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5.2 Best Approaches to Selecting Efficient Plastic material that can replace PETG plastic:

Black, J.T, Kosher, Ronald, A. (2012). DeGarmo's Materials and Processes in Manufacturing(11th ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons. Key ideas:

Key ideas: The selection of an appropriate material and its subsequent transformation through a production process into a useful product with desired shape and properties can be a rather complex process. Feedback can involve possible modification or redesign at one or more of the preceding steps (p. 253).

The case-history method is one of the simplest. Begin by evaluating what has been done in the past in terms of engineering material and method of manufacture, or what a competitor is currently doing. The real issue when selecting a new material is, "how similar is similar". A minor variation occurring in service requirement may be a different operating temperature or a different corrosive environment. This may justify a totally different material (p. 253, para 2). Other design and selection activities may relate to modifying an existing product, generally, that has been encountered (p. 253).

Before making any decisions on new material, three major requirements should be considered (p. 254, para 2).

1. Geometric Considerations are (p. 254): What is the size of the product/component? Should the uniform cross section be considered? How many dimensions are desired? How precise should these dimensions be?

2. Mechanical properties include (p. 255): How many loads can be applied, specifically when stresses like tension, compression,

torsion and shear and acting on the material? How much can the material twist, bend, compress under loads acting and work

properly after loading?3. Electrical and Thermal properties comprise (p. 255):

What are the electrical requirements, like conductivity and insulation? What is the thermal conductivity, thermal expansion of the material? What are the

changes in dimension with a change in temperature?4. Environment Considerations (p. 255):

What is the desired lifetime of the product? Is toxicity, disposal and end-of-use recycling a concern for the product?

5. Manufacturing Concerns (p. 255): Quality control and inspection requirements. What is the scale of quality when it is compared with the other materials in the

market?

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What are the thickest and thinnest sections of the material? Does thickness of the material uniform or varying?

Will the material ease the facility of manufacturing? Are there any concerns with regards to the recycling the materials and utilising them

in manufacturing activity?

Gruenwald. (1998). Thermoforming: A plastics processing guide. (2nd ed.). PA: TechnomicPublishing Company.

Key ideas: Thermoforming –Related Material Properties

Generally, all thermoplastic materials are suitable for the thermoforming process. Materials of that type when heated, will start showing a reduction in their modulus of elasticity, stiffness, and their load -bearing capacity (p. 111).

Glass transition temperature:Glass transition temperature is a characteristic point in a material where it can rotate and translate. Above this temperature point the material remains solid but shows properties of flexibility (p. 111).

Heat deflection temperature:This temp is also called as no-load deflection temp and is also extremely significant for thermoforming since the temp of material informed part must be lesser than this temperature; so that it can be taken from the mold (p. 112).Heat deflection temperature is a Thermoforming small parts reach heat deflection temperature at a load of 66 psi (p. 112).

Softening range and hot strength:At higher temperatures the materials behaviour will stabilize to its original state from rubbery state. AT this point, the sheet is easily stretchable but retracts when the force is released. Generally, broad, upper, semi-elastomeric range is best suggestible for thermoforming (p. 112). The temperature range for the amorphous resins, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and Polycarbonate (PC) is most suggestible for processing with respect to the softening range and hot strength (p. 114).

Thermal conductivity:The thermal conductivity of the thermoplastic should be in a state to deform through thermal heat conduction per square foot of the plastic sheet. This should not impact the quality of the sheet. As per new observations, the heating range is set to a minimum value so that uniform temperature is maintained throughout the sheet (p. 116).

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Water absorption:Plastics vary differently in their capacity of water absorption. Few plastics absorb no water, while some plastics absorb water to an extent. The phenomenon of water absorption is all about surface-absorbed water that will permeate into the central point of the sheet (p. 119).

Troughton, M.J. (2008). Handbook of plastics joining: A practical guide (2nd ed.). Norwich, NY: William Andrew Inc.

Key ideas: Radio Frequency welding is generally used in joining films and thin sheets, because of sufficient string electric field to produce material melting can only be achieved when the gap between the electrode and the opposing platen is less than around 1.5 mm (0.006) Inches (p. 57, para 6).

The plastic industry has been increasingly on growth from the 20 th century. Most of the plastic industries manufacture from raw material which is synthesized from the sources. One of the main processes in plastic industries is packaging, usually, they use thermoplastics for forming and packing consumer goods. PETG is one of the most used packaging material since it meets all the requirements for consumer and production usage. If the industry wants to use another efficient plastic material in the place of PETG, then it should meet all requirements and standards for Radiofrequency welding (p. 58, para 2).

Suitable materials for Radio frequency welding:

To ensure weldability with the RF process, the materials must have the following properties:

High Dielectric loss High Dielectric constant. High Dielectric Breakdown.

Such materials include PVC, thermoplastics, nylons, polyurethanes, PET, cellulose acetate, PVDC, and some ABS resins. Materials not considered not compatible with this method of welding include PTFE, PC, acetyl and PS plastic (p. 58, para 3).

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5.3 Technical Specifications of the Plastic Material that would be an efficient replacement for PETG plastic:

Branson. (2011, March). Ultrasonic Welding [Brochure]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.emersonindustrial.com/en/US/documentcenter/BransonUltrasonics/Plastic%20Joining/Ultrasonics/Technical%20Info/PW-1 Polymer-Ch-Weldability.pdf

Weldability of polymers:

Key ideas: The main theory behind ultrasonic or radiofrequency welding involves application of high-frequency mechanical vibrations transferred to thermoplastic materials that will generate heat at the surfaces to be joined (p. 1).

Polymer structures:

Amorphous polymers- They have a randomly molecular arrangement structure that characterises (p. 2). These polymers have a broad glass transition temperature that makes them melt and soften (p. 2).

Semi crystalline polymers:

These polymers have an orderly arrangement of molecules in the structure. They are very sharp when it comes to melting points and they have good re-solidifying points, when these polymers exhibit solid state they are spring-like structures (p. 2).

Plastic polymers that are feasible to impart properties for welding are discussed below in the table that considers the material suitability for high frequency welding:

Table 5.1 Characteristics of plastics for Ultrasonic welding:

Material Welding Near Welding Far

Amorphous polymers

ABS 1 2

Polycarbonate alloy 2 2

Acrylic 2 3

Butadiene-styrene 2 3

Phenylene-oxide based resins

2 2

Polycarbonate (a) 2 4

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http://www.emersonindustrial.com/en/US/documentcenter/BransonUltrasonics/Pl


Polyethermide 2 4

Polyethersulfonate (a) 1 1

Polystyrene (general purpose)

2 2

Polystyrene (rubber modified)

2 2

Polysulfone (a) 2 3

PVC (rigid) 3 4

PBT/polycarbonate alloy 2 4

Semi-Crystalline Polymers (b)

Acetal 2 3

Cellulosics 3 5

Fluoropolymers 5 5

Liquid Crystal polymers (c) 3 4

Nylon (a) 2 4

Polyester, thermoplastic

Polyethylene teraphthalate /PET

3 4

Polybutylene teraphthalate /PBT

3 4

Polyetheretherketone – PEEK (c)

3 4

Polyethylene 4 5

Polymethylpentene 4 5

Polyphenylene sulfide 3 4

Polypropeylene 3 4

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The codes range from 1 to 5. Code 1 is easiest option and code is 5 Difficult option.

The Table 1 has codes that describes the ease for welding the available common thermoplastics. The process of welding depends on functions of part size, geometry, Design of joints and the energy required for welding (p. 4).

[Note: * Near-field welding refers to a joint of 6.35 mm from the horn cast surface; far field welding refers to a joint more than 6.35 mm from the horn cast surface.

(a) Moisture may inhibit welds/joints. Consider to use welder of 2000f for achieving hermetic seals.

(b) Semi-Crystalline Resins that are general would require higher amplitude and high electrical energy levels due to the type of polymer structure and high melting point temperatures of the resins.

(c) For these polymers, it is optimal to uses 40 kilo hertz near-field welding.

Caldan machinery private limited. (N.d). New South Wales, Australia. Reckitt & ColemanHandbook.

Key ideas: Plastic welding process can also be obtained without the application of dielectric heating, but it is slow and expensive. It is important that it should heat two sheets effectively so that they bond together and hold them under huge pressure so that the die can cool them for best joint. This will enable to apply maximum heat on the surface of the materials. (p. 21)

Heat times have a duration of 0.5 seconds to 15 seconds (p. 21). If the welding doesn’t happen under 15 seconds, then it is assumed that it might be impossible to make a joint. As the heat provided to the die by electrodes is lost to the cold dies, where it actually works on speed joining of the sheet (p. 21).

The materials that are to be welded must possess weld able qualities, or any plastic coating should be applied to the material in order to perform welding. Below is the table that provides a clear data (see table 5.1) that has the best sealability of different materials by dielectric heating technique (p. 21).

Table 5.2 Dielectric heating methods of plastics with approximately loss sealability response

MATERIAL LOSS FACTOR GOOD FAIR POOR

NONE

ABS polymers 0.025 X

Acetyl copolymer 0.025 X

Cellulose acetate 0.15 X

Cellulose acetate butyrate 0.15 X

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Diallyl phthalate polymer glass filled 0.04 X

Epoxy resins 0.12 X

Melamine formaldehyde resin cellulose fill

0.2 X

Nylon, type 6 0.16 X

Nylon type 6/6 0.14 X

KEL-F 0.03 X

Phenol formaldehyde resin wood flour filler

0.2 X

Polyamide 0.16 X

Polycarbonate 0.03 X

Polychloroflouroethylene 0.025 X

Polyester 0.05 X

Polyethylene 0.008 X

Poly (methyl methacrylate) 0.09 X

Polypropylene 0.001 X

Polystyrene 0.001 X

Polytetrachlouroethylene 0.0004 X

Polyurethane film (estate) 0.35 X

PEP fluorocarbon 0.0006 X

Polyvinylchloride plasticised 0.04 X

Polyvinylchloride unplasticised 0.06 X

Polyvinylidenechloride 0.03 X

Rubber, compounded 0.13 X

Rubber, hevea 0.015 X

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Area seals are the continuous areas that undergo heating and sealing of materials during plastic welding. An area seal is generally an area that covers the material that is long and narrow shape of a line. The shape of the area is well defined by the design of die used on the plastic (p. 22).

Clarke, CR. (2016). Introduction to Thermoforming. Retrieved from CR Clarke website:http://www.crclarke.co.uk/Products/PDF/data/1plastic.pdf

Most of the thermoplastics undergo two phases when are heated (p. 1.3, para 4). The first phase is elastic, at this stage the plastic becomes springy and behaves resistant to forming (p. 1.3, para 5). As the heating continues, it comes in plastic state which makes it easy for thermoforming (p. 1.3, para 5)

Temperature ranges at which Thermoplastics’ behave elastic or plastic depend on the material type:The Figure 5.1 (Clarke, 2016, ELASTIC/PLASTIC WINDOW COMAPRISON, p. 1.3) below depicts the temperature range for thermoplastics. This is helpful to perform thermoforming, as they pass through blowing unit. Further the plastic material is exposed to air to cool (p. 1.3, para 7).

Figure 5.1 Thermoforming temperature ranges for thermoforming plastics

25

http://www.crclarke.co.uk/Products/PDF/data/1plastic.pdf


Further the report suggests plastic material that are suitable for heating or thermoforming. Some of them are listed below:

Extruded Acrylic (PMMA):

It has good vacuum thermoforming properties and provides high definition when thermoformed. But pre drying is essential (p. 1.6).

It is technically not possible to weld this acrylic, because of the stresses produced during welding and ill damage the quality of material if welded.

ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene):

It has good quality to thermoforming and gives high definition after thermoforming. But needs pre drying and produces rubber smell when heated (p. 1.7)

Jointing techniques that include welding this plastic works fine as the reason for the ABS plastic has good tensile strength for welding (p. 1.7).

Polycarbonate (PC): When it comes to quality it is the optimum as per the pre drying is considered, as it

has to be pre dried 120° before thermoforming and drying times consume lot of time since it has different material density that impacts on the water absorption property. So heating times will take too long (p. 1.7).

Poor welding characteristics (p. 1.8).

Polystyrene (PS):

One of the best feasible plastic due to low temperature range that is well suited for thermoforming and also performs well for vacuum forming. As a result, the plastic possesses good quality and high definition (p. 1.8).

Welding can be done, but it can cause aesthetic and structural problems (p. 1.9).

Polypropylene (PP):

Performs exceptionally well wen thermoformed and provides high definition of formed parts. This plastic has excessive sagging when heated, as the mechanical strength reduces with heat (p. 1. 10).

Welding the best suitable option for joining the plastic sheets (p. 1.11).

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5.4 Common Production Processes

Thermoforming, Radiofrequency welding and Piercing Operations are the common production process carried out by manufacturers to manufacture plastic products for FMCG.

5.4.1 Thermoforming:

Black, JT, & Kohser, Ronald. A. (2012). Materials processes in manufacturing (11th ed.).Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons.

Thermoforming is one of the Fabrication techniques used to manufacture plastic products. In this process, a thermoplastic sheet material, as in a continuous roll is heated up by passing through a heating device to working temperature and then it is formed into a desirable shape. The sheet/material emerges over a male or female mold, with the application of pressure and vacuum in the mold it causes the material to draw inside the cavity or die (p. 352).

Ashter, Syed Ali. (2014). Thermoforming of single and multilayer laminates plastic filmstechnologies, testing, and applications. Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier.

The thermoforming process begins with heating the plastic sheet above the glass transition temperature (p. 15, para 2). The heating is done by application of radiant heaters until the temperature to reach forming temperature range in the sheet. After the sheet has been heated, it is subjected to a force against the mold cavity contours, either by pneumatically or mechanically. Mostly by applying a vacuum in the mold cavity, which stretches the sheet until it touches the mold surface (p. 15, para 3).

Rosen, S. (2002). Thermoforming. Dearborn, Michigan: Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Thermoforming is a secondary process in the plastics industry. The inputs for the process are materials, plastics sheet. The plastics sheet is produced by extrusion and casting. A fundamental process in thermoforming is sheet preparation that has to load the sheet into the process (p. 17, para 1).

Sheet thickness is categorised by gauge. The gauges are the thin gauge, thick gauge, Mid-range materials. Thin gauge is less than 1.5 mm in thickness. Thick gauges are greater than 3 mm. Mid-range materials are 1.5 mm to 3 mm thick. (p. 17, para 5).

The process of loading depends on the material type and forming equipment used. Thin gauge materials are roll fed using a continuous process. Thick gauge materials are loaded manually into the sheetfed machines (p. 20, para 1).

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The purpose of the heating process is to maintain the heat in sheet evenly throughout (p. 20, para 2). Radiation is the method that uses to heat the desired forming temperature. Conduction is the method applied to heat the core of the sheet. Stretching the sheet into a required shape using some force may be a vacuum. Common heat sources used in this process include combustion heaters, calrod heaters, ceramic heaters and quartz heaters. (p. 20, para 3).

Thermoforming is a stretching process where properly heated thermoplastic is deformed into a new shape using some type of force. There are typically four options to form the sheet (p. 22, para 3).

1. Mechanical Force.2. Atmospheric pressure which pushes the sheet into a new shape after a vacuum is drawn between the sheet and the mold. 3. Pressure forming the sheet up to a pressure of 150 PSI.4. The combination of forces to form the sheet followed by vacuum to draw the sheet into the mold.

Cooling the sheet to a temperature that can sustain the formed sheet. Next is unloading the formed part from the process and trimming up the part to the final form.

5.4.2 Radiofrequency Welding:

Troughton, M. J. (2008). Handbook of plastics joining. Norwich, NY: William Andrew.

Radiofrequency (RF) welding is also known as high frequency or dielectric welding. It uses high frequency, normally up to 27.12 MHz electromagnetic energy to generate heat. The material that has to be RF welded has to provide an alternating electric field into heat (p. 57, para 1).

An RF welding machine has two platens namely upper and lower, where the upper platen is movable and lower platen is fixed. RF generator is connected to the upper platen and lower platen is connected to the electrical earth. The tooling, mainly electrode or welding rule is installed in upper and lower platens and they describe the shape and dimensions of the weld (p. 57, para 4). Plastic material / film to be welded is placed in between the platens and a hydraulic/pneumatic press lowers the upper platen so that a pre-set amount of pressure is applied to the joint area. After the parts are clamped, the RF energy is induced for a pre-set time, called the heating time, when the heating time elapses the electrodes continue to clamp the parts until the weld joint solidifies. This is defined as hold or cooling time, then the press opens and releases the welded assembly (p. 57, para 5).RF welding is generally used for joining films and thin sheets. The reason is that it uses a sufficiently strong electric field to produce material melting and where the gap between electrode;

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platen is less than around 1.5 mm (0.06 inches) (p. 57, para 6). Following are advantages and disadvantages of the RF welding (p. 58, para 1).

29


Advantages: Economical, Fast Cycle times, well suited for thin and flat components and Good weld

appearance.Disadvantages: Material limitations, Component size limitations, Weak joint thickness and Poor joint

complexity.

Ebnesajjad, S. (2015). Fluoroplastics, Volume 2: Melt processible fluoropolymers: Thedefinitive user's guide and data book (2nd Edition). Oxford, United Kingdom: ElsevierScience.

RF welding is a most common production process used in packaging and sealing applications and is particularly suitable for medical device industry, where are possible sources of contamination (p. 606, para 1).

The RF welding press utilises two platens - a movable platen and a fixed platen called a bed. During the process, the press lowers movable platen which closes the electric circuit. Placement of parts are done in a set of metal dies or electrodes, and they are activated by a compressed air cylinder to apply a pre-set amount of pressure to join the plastic film. The materials get heated and melted by application of Radiofrequency heat generator. The weld joint cools under the pressure and after a certain pre-set time period the press opens and releases the welded assembly (p. 606, para 2).

Sharma, PC. (2012). A textbook of production technology. Delhi, India: S. Chand & CompanyLimited.

Induction welding process is a process that coalescence is produced by the heat obtained from resistance of the work to the induced electric current or another heating source with the application of pressure. The heat will be obtained by the source of current and frequency (p. 369). A coil is placed around the parts to be welded when a high-frequency current is passed on to the coil, a sympathetic current is induced in the workpiece, which generates heat. Then the temperature of the parts reaches the welding stage. This method is primarily applicable to low electrical conductivity. The best part of the process is, it delivers quality joints and high production output (p. 370).

Du wall, JB. (1996). Contemporary manufacturing process: Goodheart Willcox.

Induction Welding is a process of plastic bonding of laminar sheets which uses a Radio-Frequency magnetic field to heat the coils to create the heat at the joint. The difference is that there will be no requirement of lead wires for joining the parts. Usually, Magnetic Induction Bonding is applied for all Thermoplastics, which involves a high-pressure displacement of the heated coil through the sheet. Many types of Thermoset and Thermoplastics can be induction welded (p. 271-272).

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5.4.3 Piercing:

Black, JT, & Kohser, Ronald.A. (2012). Materials processes in manufacturing (11th ed.).Rosewood drive, Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons.

Key ideas: Piercing is a sub-operation which is classified in Shearing operation techniques. In this Process, a part is removed from sheet material by the full pressure of the forge forcing a shaped punch into to a shaped die. The punch out material in piercing is a scrap and workpiece is a remaining strip of the sheet. All piercing operations are done by a Mechanical Press. Notching is one of the same operations in Piercing, but it has some variations. During this process, a design area/segments are removed from the sheet along the edge (p. 444).

Kalpakjian, S & Schmid, SR. (2010). Manufacturing engineering and technology (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

Piercing is a process of Indenting a surface of a sheet material with a punch which produces an impression or desired cavity. Force in Piercing depends on the cross-sectional area of the punch, the strength of the material and magnitude of friction on sliding surfaces. The pressure may vary to Five times the strength of the sheet material (p. 345).

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5.5 Best methods to recycle or utilise plastic waste after production:

Francesco La Mantia, (2002). Handbook of plastics recycling. Shropshire, United Kingdom:Rapra Technology Limited.

Key Ideas: Plastic recycling has a series of processes that starts with the collection and sorting them as per their colour and material type. Here in case of PET plastic, it is collected once at a time when the production cycle is completed. Then the collected plastic waste is sent to the recycling plant (p. 256, para 1). The First phase of recycling is Pre-treatment. Initially, plastic pieces are washed and separated from dirt; other particles. Then they are further reduced by cutting mills to a uniform size. This process results in a mixture of all chopped particles of plastic pellets (p. 256, para 2).

The second phase is known as Main process where plastic pellets are mixed up with the caustic soda solution in a 26m rotatory kiln by the aid of mixing screw. This is continued for 26 hour cycle and then a mixture of plastic and caustic soda is passed through a front oven, as a result in removal of leftover dirt particles on the plastic pellets. At a specified temperature with an air flow, the dirt particles are removed out and this ends up with salt and clean plastic pellets (p. 256, para 3)

The third phase is the final process that further washes up the adhering salts in the pellets in a sifting machine. Then moisture inside the pellets is removed by the mechanical dryer (p. 256, para 3). A colour detecting spectrometer tests the colour of the plastic with a stored reference standard. There is also a pneumatic nozzle attached to remove any unclassified material. At the end of the process, the reclaimed PET recycled pellets are 100% pure and can be reused for industrial applications (p. 257, para 1).

Vasudevan, D. (2006). Indian Patents. 198254: A NEW MIX PROCESS OF WASTE PLASTICS-AGGREGATE-BITUMEN FOR FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT. Allindianpatents.com. Retrieved 16June 2016, from http://www.allindianpatents.com/patents/198254-a-new-mix-process-of-waste plastics-aggregate-bitumen-for-flexible-pavement

Key Ideas: The invention of this recycling technology generally relates to Construction technology that relates to road forming material. Main Scope of this technique is to form a composite in the form of a mixture of polymer and bitumen with reinforced gravel (para 2). It uses disposed waste polymer materials which are made out of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. Otherwise, these materials disposed of either by land filling or by incineration which is causing serious soil pollution. Polymers like polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene are hydrocarbons. Bitumen (Tar) also contains a higher percentage of hydrocarbons. Mixing of the two substances is possible to form a blend. A mixture of polymer-aggregate-bitumen is invented and such blends are used for road laying.

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http://www.allindianpatents.com/patents/198254-a-new-mix-%09process-of-waste



The invented process is a better way of disposal of polymer waste (para 3). Detailed study report has been carried out to the utility of the invention. The objective of this technology is to create a new method of disposing waste polymer in a useful way and thereby generating a value added product and it is a process whereby the solid waste disposal becomes easy, useful and eco-friendly.

The Technology has been described below clearly:

Polymers like polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene are mixed with bitumen. These polymers have a solubility from 2 to 3% in Bitumen by weight of Bitumen and thus forms a homogeneous mixture. This homogeneous blend shows better properties with respect to a softening point, penetrating values and ductility. The softening point increases: the penetration values decreases. This suggests that the mix is good for road laying. But, the addition of a higher percentage of plastic waste to bitumen i.e. more than 3%, does not result in homogeneous product and they get separated on cooling (para 4).

Simultaneously the Bitumen 60/70 or 80/100 or Crumb is heated to around 160°C. Precaution- Heating to a higher temperature equal to 160 degrees. The shredded plastics are sprayed uniformly over the heated aggregate, and we they get a uniform coating on the surface of the aggregate. The quantity of addition of plastic depends on the nature of the surface to be prepared (para 5).

The aggregate is coated with plastics waste. To this, add the Bitumen (60°C) and mix it uniformly, maintaining a temperature range of 155 to 163 degrees centigrade is very crucial that material withdrawn is around 140°C and the mix is used for road laying. The mix as an outcome is referred as waste plastics- aggregate-bitumen mix. The road laying temperature varies between 110-140°C. Hence, the polymer material is coated over hot aggregate (150 - 170 deg. C) and to the polymer coated aggregate, the hot bitumen is added. The mix is called - Polymer - Aggregate -Bitumen mix. It is tested for Marshall Test and stripping test. The Marshall value is 2,5times higher and there is no stripping even after 72hrs. The results are positive. Hence, the mix is used for road laying (para 6).

In this context, the use of plastic waste in road laying will be an answer to protect the environment. There is no disturbance to the ecosystem. There is good water resistance and formation of potholes are reduced. There is a binding property achieved due to the addition of plastics that helps to improve the road quality, that is quite capable of withstanding heavy loads, abrasion and preventing bleeding (para 7).

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5.6 Best Methods to improve Work Flow:

Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2011). Operations management. (10th ed.). Edinburgh, UnitedKingdom: Pearson Education Limited.

Workflow is a sequence of activities performed by an organisation to produce finished products and provide services. Each activity in the workflow is dependent on the previous one. Operations manager has to assign jobs to work centres. This can possibly lower costs, idle time and completion time. Many organizations face the difficulty of scheduling as they overload the production processes. The most common Technique to control this is by Input-Output control is by using a ConWIP card (p. 620), which controls the amount of work in a work centre. If the work comes faster than it is processed, then the facility is overloaded. If the work arrives late then the work centres may run out of work. Under loading may result in resource wastage. ConWIP cards limit the amount of work in a work centre and assists in monitoring backlogs (p. 621).

Vonderembse, M., & White, G. (2006). Core concepts of operation management. (1st ed.).NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Philosophies like lean systems and just-in-time can be adopted to optimise the workflow in an industry which helps in reducing waste and increasing the efficiency. As the organisation mainly relies on the supply chain to deliver the components at the time when expected and when it is needed for manufacturing. The departments of a company like procurement, marketing, engineering are influenced by JIT philosophy. It improves the relationship between company and its clients (p. 372-374). Planning and scheduling of the work can be done with ease by application of JIT philosophy. Hence, the components are ordered in a steady rate, and they are further maintained in small batches which will match the needs before production (p. 384). Lean systems gain a bigger view of the JIT by comprising the total supply chain network. Lean systems focusses on eliminating non-value added activities from the supply chain (p. 391).

Russell, R., & Taylor, B. (2006). Operations management: quality and competitiveness in aglobal environment. (5th ed.). NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The reasons for optimizing workflows include meeting customer due dates, minimizing completion time, minimizing idle time etc. According to the authors, there are three main steps involved in controlling workflows. They are loading, sequencing, and monitoring. Loading is the assigning of work to a resource (p. 720). Sequencing is prioritizing jobs to prevent backlogs. This is done when more than one job is assigned to a machine. Monitoring is done to maintain progress report on each job until it is finished (p. 722). Gantt Charts are visual aids that show the sequence of work, resources required in each step and duration of each activity. In Gantt charts, the activities are shown on the vertical axis. Time is shown on

34


the horizontal axis. Gantt charts can be created by computer or by hand. Microsoft Project is the most common software used to create Gantt charts (p. 730).

5.7 Project Management Tools

5.7.1 Work Breakdown Structure:

Project Management Institute (2013) A guide to the Project management body ofknowledge (PMBOK Guide) (5th ed.), Newton Square, PA, PN: Project ManagementInstitute

Key ideas: Work Breakdown Structure is defined as a procedure which involves subdivision of project work and its deliverables into shorter components which are easy to manage. The benefit of this process is that it enables a structured and systematic vision of deliverables in a project (p. 125). In other words, WBS is hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of the work to be done by the project team to achieve the project objectives. WBS defines total scope of the project and defines work approved inside the project scope statement. WBS has lowest level activities known as work packages after decomposition of work elements, these work packages can be applicable to group activities where scheduling and cost estimation is required (p. 126). Decomposition of work packages include following activities (p. 128), they are:

Determine and analyse the deliverables and work activities. Preparing and Organizing WBS. Subdivision of Upper-level elements into Lower level elements. Develop and assign identification of codes to WBS components. Verify the decomposition of deliverables.

Nicholas, J. M., & Steyn, H. (2008). Project management for business, engineering, andtechnology (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier.

The process of subdividing a project into smaller components is known as Work Breakdown Structure or WBS. Dividing a project makes easy in preparing cost estimates, to assign workforce and work responsibilities. The initial step in creating a WBS is to divide the total project into main categories, these main categories are further divided into Sub-categories. Sub-categories are divided further and so on. This breakdown of each level is continued to achieve a reduction in complexity of work and scope. The tasks broken down into levels are termed as work packages, these packages become important while planning the project further (p. 164). To enable communication and prevent unnecessary complications in budgets and schedules. Generally, in large scale projects a Five-level structure is optimal and for small scale project it is advisable to go with Three- level structure (p. 165).

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Jeffery, K. (2010). Project Management Achieving Competitive Advantage (2nd ed.). NewJersey: Pearson.

WBS organizes a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements which organizes and defines the complete scope of a project. Each descending level shows an overall improvement in project component. A project component can be a product or service (p. 141).

WBS has six purposes (p. 142), which are:

It represents clear scoping for the project. It can be used to identify key tasks, subtasks and workflow from activity to activity. It can be used to communicate the status of the project. It can be applied to control the project in terms of resource allocation and

recruitment of staff. It can help in tracking expenditures in the project phase by phase, performance of

each element in the project.

Field, M., Keller, L. S., & Open University. (1998). Project management. London, UnitedKingdom: International Thomson Business Press.

Work breakdown is a task list that emerges equivalent to the statement of the work that describes in detail. WBS is a top-down approach. Advantages of WBS is that it allows the work to be divided into work packages among different teams, departments or contractors. (p. 94, para 3)Guidelines to be followed while preparing a WBS are:

The split of work into major 'packages' should be logical and compatible for cost controlling and report.

It should be able to test whether a package of work is complete. The work elements at a lower level should be well-defined tasks to perform by the

team or individual within a specified period of time.In practise, it may not be possible to meet these guidelines perfectly. Hence, project Manager should have to weigh up the possibilities and decide which split can meet the guidelines (p. 95, para 1)

5.7.2 Project Management Office (PMO):

Project Management Institute (2013) A guide to the Project management body ofknowledge (PMBOK Guide) (5th ed.), Newton Square, PA, PN: Project ManagementInstitute.

Key ideas: PMO is considered as a management structure which standardizes project-related governance processes and enables the sharing of methodologies, resources, tools and techniques. There are several structures of PMO in an organization, each vary in the function and influence they deal with projects, such as:

Supportive: In this type of structure, PMO’s provide a consultative support role in supplying training, best practices, and templates. The degree of control in such type of PMO is low.

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Controlling: This structure provides support and requires agreement through various means. Degree of control for this structure is moderate

Directive: Directive structure of PMO have direct control on managing the projects. The degree of control is high in this structure (p. 11).

Young, J. (2011). The Framework for successful project management (3rd ed.). Wellington,New Zealand: Printstop Limited.

The phenomenon of project management is to see an establishment of project offices within the organizations. The Project Management Office is a permanent office which represents a private administration support to various projects. The PMO may be a centre of excellence in presenting project performances and best practices throughout the organization. Their authorization comes normally from the experience in the field of project management. PMO normally does projects simultaneously with updating project plans, cost estimates and other project documents (p. 48). Responsibilities of an established PMO are (p. 49):

Maintain standards of the enterprise and organize project management framework. Explain the role of projects and project management in the organization. Benchmarking of projects. Search for the adoption of best practices in project management. Centralized Communications, this can reduce the effort to be done by project

managers to each and every stakeholder. Project database management for planning and estimating activities.

Hill, Gerrad.M. (2014). The complete project management office handbook, (3rd

ed.). Florida: Taylor & Francis group.

The project management methodology is a process that can be applied across all types of projects in the relevant organisations. In the same way, project management methodology could be applied in all business units in the relevant organisations. (p. 2, para 1)The project management methodology function enhances the project management office to:1. Initiate the standard approach to project management that is to be used by all project managers within the organisation.2. To present project management practices incrementally, beginning with those that have huge impacts on business success.3. To Obtain a consensus for implementing a project life cycle across the relevant organisations; technical and business areas.4. To supply a collection of pertinent project data used in individual and aggregate analyses of project performance (p. 2, para 2).

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5.7.3 Responsibility Matrix (R.A.C.I):

Baxter, R. (2015). Project Management for Success Handbook: Manage the Project – Ensurethe Results Celebrate Success. Naples, FL: Value Generation Partners.

Key ideas: RACI is a Responsibility matrix that assigns roles to the clearly define the assignments for complex projects. RACI is a powerful tool that helps to allocate roles by a sequence - Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each activity (p. 23, para 3). Project Manager, sponsor, etc., are the roles which are listed on RACI matrix and then they are correlated to the type of assignment, they are mentioned as follows (p. 23, para 4):

1. Responsible is the assigned role for an activity to complete.

2. Accountable is the role with approval to make decisions as guided by authority and assign the responsibility for the activity; the role accountable can also be responsible for the completion of the activity.

3. Consulted is the type of role which is assigned to a subject matter expert (SME) who provides input, two- way communication and advice with regards to the activities.

4. Informed is the last role assigned that keeps updating through one-way communication on completion and progress of the activities.

Biafore, B (2013). Microsoft project 2013: the missing manual. Sebastopol, CA: O’ReillyMedia.

A Responsible matrix is a document that identifies work groups and their responsibilities. The list of the project stakeholders is one of the better places to begin identifying groups involved in the project, such as departments, third-party vendors, and subcontractors. After clearly knowing what those stakeholders expect from the project that can provide their level of involvement (p. 196, para 3).

A responsible matrix briefly explains about the level of the responsibility, from the group. The levels in responsibility matrix are as follows (p. 197, para 2):

Accountable- means that a group can make decisions, allocate work and finalise deliverable or other group opinions.

Responsible depicts the people who work for a section of project Consulted represents that the group who participates in meetings or discussions

about a topic or a decision but they are not accounted for the outcome. Informed holds a group that receives information about the project.

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Verzukh, E. (2016). The fast forward MBA in project management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley& Sons.

A Responsibility matrix is ideally made to illustrate cross-organisational interaction (p. 130, para 1). It recognises the major activities in the project and key stakeholder groups. Using RACI matrix can avoid communication breakdowns between organisations and departments because everyone can clearly whom to contact for that specific activity Steps involved in setting up a responsibility matrix are (p. 130, para 2).:

1. Listing of major activities of the project (p. 130, para 3).2. List of stakeholder groups (p. 130, para 4).3. Code the responsibility matrix (p. 130, para 5).

The common codes used for this matrix are: R- Responsible person/group for execution. A- Approval authority or individual (p. 132, para 1). C- Group to be consulted (p. 132, para 2). I - Group or individual that has to be informed (p. 132, para 3).

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6.0 Results6.1 IntroductionIn this section of his project report the researcher will set out his results from the content analysis of; production records for Cockroach Baits and operational documentation of machines on the line and observations done chronologically of the behaviour of the staff working on the line.

6.2 Content Analysis of Production Records:

The researcher reviewed production records that were produced for the Cockroach Bait Station Assembler; covering the period of December (2015) and January (2016) at TPL. Table 6.3 below illustrates the comparison of production data; being a number of cases produced; against the actual target of production during day shifts in December 2015. Raw material flow and production schedule were planned and reordered before and after production activities as per the date and time of shift.

Table 6.3 Production Records of Cockroach Baits for December-2015 (Day shift):

Date and Shift

CASES PRODUCED ON COCKROACH

BAIT STATION ASSEMBLER

ACTUAL TARGET VARIANCE

1/12/2015 (Day Shift) 38 38.5 0.062/12/2015 (Day Shift) 23 36.3 44.23/12/2015 (Day Shift) 40 38.5 0.574/12/2015 (Day Shift) 26 38.5 39.075/12/2015 (Day Shift) 66 66.9 0.207/12/2015 (Day Shift) 40 40.8 0.168/12/2015 (Day Shift) 39 38.5 0.069/12/2015 (Day Shift) 31 35.1 4.2

10/12/2015 (Day Shift) 22 21.5 0.0611/12/2015 (Day Shift) 40 38.5 0.5712/12/2015 (Day Shift) 31 34 2.2514/12/2015 (Day Shift) 31 36.3 7.0215/12/2015 (Day Shift) 29.8 28.5 0.4216/12/2015 (Day Shift) 34 34 017/12/2015 (Day Shift) 35 34 0.2518/12/2015 (Day Shift) 25 27.2 1.2119/12/2015 (Day Shift) 34 34 021/12/2015 (Day Shift) 41 40.8 0.0122/12/2015 (Day Shift) 28 27.2 0.1623/12/2015 (Day Shift) 39 38.5 0.06

Average Volume of Work 34.64 36.68 0.75

40


After calculating both the average volume of work completed for cases produced and the actual target for cockroach baits, there was a slight difference of 95.22% between what was achieved and what was planned during the day shift of December- 2015. With the difference being just 4%.Table 6.4 which is shown below presents a comparison of production data which was a number of cases produced against the actual target of production. Raw material flow and production schedule were planned and reordered before and after production activities as per the date and time of shift.

Table: 6.4 Production Records of Cockroach Baits for December-2015 (Evening Shift):

Date and Shift

CASES PRODUCED ON COCKROACH BAIT STATION ASSEMBLER

ACTUAL TARGET Variance

1/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 72 70.3 0.722/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 66 61.2 5.763/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 67 66.9 0.00254/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 35 36.3 0.425/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 33 31.7 0.427/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 68 65.7 1.328/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 68 66.9 0.309/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 56 66.9 29.7

10/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 68 66.9 0.3011/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 64 63.5 0.0612/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 66 65.7 0.0214/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 64 66.9 2.1015/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 66 65.7 0.0216/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 66 66.9 0.2017/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 66 65.7 0.0219/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 32 31.7 0.0221/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 31 31.7 0.1222/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 68 66.9 0.3023/12/2015 (Evening Shift) 20 18.1 0.90Average Volume of Work 56.63 56.61 0.0001

After reviewing both average volumes of work between the number of cases produced and the actual target for cockroach baits, they were 100.04% successful in producing the products as production exceeded actual targets during the Evening shift of December- 2015.

41

Research Project ReportFigure 6.2 represents a graph plotting the data of actual production levels and production targets by a number of cases produced during the month of December – 2015 (Day shift).

The X-axis represent the date and shift when the production activity and Y-axis in the graph represents actual output after production has been executed.

1 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

2 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

3 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

4 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

5 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

7 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

8 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

9 / 1 2 /1 5 (Day )

1 0 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 1 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 2 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 4 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 5 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 6 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 7 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 8 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

1 9 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

2 1 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

2 2 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

2 3 /1 2 / 1 5 (Day )

38

23

40

26

66

40 39

31

22

40

31 31 29.8 34 35

25

34

41

28

3938.5

36.3 38

.5

38.5

66.9

40.8

38.5

35.1

21.5

38.5

34

36.3

28.5 34 34

27.2

34

40.8

27.2

38.5

CASES PRODUCEDBATCHES PRODUCED ON COCKROACH BAIT STATION ASSEMBLER TARGET

Figure 6.2 Graph showing comparison of cases produced Vs actual target on December-Day shift

43


Figure 6.3 represents a graph plotting the data of actual production levels and production targets by a number of cases produced during the month of December – 2015 (Evening shift).

1 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

2 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

3 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

4 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

5 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

7 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

8 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

9 / 1 2 /1 5 (Ev en i n

g )

1 0 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 1 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 2 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 4 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 5 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 6 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 7 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 9 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 1 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 2 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 3 /1 2 / 1 5 ( Ev en i n

g )

72

66 67

35

33

68 68

56

68

64

66

64

66 66 66

32 31

68

20

70.3

61.2

66.9

36.3

31.7

65.7

66.9

66.9

66.9

63.5 65

.7

66.9

65.7

66.9

65.7

31.7

31.7

66.9

18.1

CASES PRODUCEDBATCHES PRODUCED ON COCKROACH BAIT STATION ASSEMBLER TARGET

Figure 6.3 Graph showing comparison of cases produced Vs actual target on December-Evening shift

44

Research Project ReportTable 6.3 illustrates a comparison of production data, by no of cases produced, against the actual target of production during the month of January – 2016.

Table 6.5 Production Records of Cockroach Baits for Day Shift during January-2016

Date



TARGET VARIANCE

8/01/2016 (Day Shift) 40 38.5 0.569/01/2016 (Day Shift) 35 34 0.25

10/01/2016 (Day Shift) 35 36.3 0.4211/01/2016 (Day Shift) 51 49.9 0.3013/01/2016 (Day Shift) 23 23.8 0.1614/01/2016 (Day Shift) 95 98.6 3.2416/01/2016 (Day Shift) 28 34 918/01/2016 (Day Shift) 3.6 5.7 1.1019/01/2016 (Day Shift) 25.4 35.1 23.5220/01/2016 (Day Shift) 38 37.4 0.0921/01/2016 (Day Shift) 48 47.6 0.0422/01/2016 (Day Shift) 25 34 20.2526/01/2016 (Day Shift) 35 34 0.2527/01/2016 (Day Shift) 34 34 028/01/2016 (Day Shift) 43 43.1 0.002529/01/2016 (Day Shift) 38 38.5 0.0630/01/2016 (Day Shift) 28 34 9

Average Volume of Work 36.47 38.24 0.78

After reviewing both average volumes of work between the number of cases produced and the actual target for cockroach baits, the data reveals a minute difference, with the production team being 95.39% successful in producing Cockroach Baits during the day shift of January- 2016. With just a 4% difference between what was produced and what was forecasted.

Table 6.4 Shows the production data compared in between the no of cases produced against the actual target of production during the month of January – 2016.

Table 6.6 Production Records of Cockroach Baits for Evening Shift During January-2016:45


Date



TARGET VARIANCE

5/01/2016 (Evening shift) 36 38.5 1.566/01/2016 (Evening shift) 58 51 12.257/01/2016 (Evening shift) 64 55.5 18.068/01/2016 (Evening shift) 56.8 63.5 11.229/01/2016 (Evening shift) 37 34 2.25

10/01/2016 (Evening shift) 32 31.7 0.0211/01/2016 (Evening shift) 57 54.4 1.6912/01/2016 (Evening shift) 62 66.9 6.0013/01/2016 (Evening shift) 58 58.9 0.2014/01/2016 (Evening shift) 32 31.7 0.0215/01/2016 (Evening shift) 23 22.7 0.0216/01/2016 (Evening shift) 69 65.7 2.7217/01/2016 (Evening shift) 30 31.7 0.7218/01/2016 (Evening shift) 25 27.2 1.2119/01/2016 (Evening shift) 86 89.5 3.0620/01/2016 (Evening shift) 33 34 0.2521/01/2016 (Evening shift) 53 53.3 0.0225/01/2016 (Evening shift) 66 66.9 0.2026/01/2016 (Evening shift) 63 63.5 0.0627/01/2016 (Evening shift) 59 57.5 0.5628/01/2016 (Evening shift) 97 96.3 0.1229/01/2016 (Evening shift) 35 34 0.2530/01/2016 (Evening shift) 35 31.7 2.72Average Volume of Work 50.73 50.44 0.02

After reviewing both average volumes of work between the number of cases produced and the actual target for cockroach baits, they were 101% successful in producing the Cockroach Baits as production exceeded actual targets during the Evening shift of January – 2016.

46

Research Project ReportFigure 6.4 represents a graph plotting the data of actual production levels and production targets by a number of cases produced during the month of January – 2016 (Day shift).

The X-axis represent the date and shift when the production activity and Y-axis in the graph represents actual output after production has been executed.

6 / 0 1 /1 6 (Day )

7 / 0 1 /1 6 (Day )

8 / 0 1 /1 6 (Day )

9 / 0 1 /1 6 (Day )

1 0 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

1 1 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

1 3 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

1 4 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

1 6 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

1 8 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

1 9 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 0 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 1 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 2 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 6 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 7 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 8 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

2 9 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

3 0 /0 1 / 1 6 (Day )

34 34

40

35 35

51

23

95

28

3.6

25.4

38

48

25

35 34

43

38

28

34.0

34.0 38

.5

34.0

36.3

49.9

23.8

98.6

34.0

5.7

35.1

37.4

47.6

34.0

34.0

34.0 43

.1

38.5

34.0

CASES PRODUCEDCASES PRODUCED ON COCKROACH BAIT STATION ASSEMBLER TARGET

Figure 6.4 Graph showing comparison of cases produced Vs actual target on January-Day shift

47

Research Project ReportFigure 6.5 represents a graph plotting the data of actual production levels and production targets by a number of cases produced during the month of January – 2016 (Evening shift).

5 / 0 1 /1 6 (Ev en i n

g )

6 / 0 1 /1 6 (Ev en i n

g )

7 / 0 1 /1 6 (Ev en i n

g )

8 / 0 1 /1 6 (Ev en i n

g )

9 / 0 1 /1 6 (Ev en i n

g )

1 0 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 1 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 2 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 3 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 4 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 5 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 6 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 7 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 8 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

1 9 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 0 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 1 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 5 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 6 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 7 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 8 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

2 9 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

3 0 /0 1 / 1 6 ( Ev en i n

g )

36

58

64

56.8

37

32

57

62

58

32

23

69

30

25

86

33

53

66

63

59

97

35 35

38.5

51.0 55

.5

63.5

34.0

31.7

54.4

66.9

58.9

31.7

22.7

65.7

31.7

27.2

89.5

34.0

53.3

66.9

63.5

57.5

96.3

34.0

31.7

CASES PRODUCEDCASES PRODUCED ON COCKROACH BAIT STATION ASSEMBLER TARGET

Figure 6.5 Graph showing comparison of cases produced Vs actual target on January-Evening shift

49


6.3 Observation of Machines working on the Bait Station Production Line:

The researcher conducted an observation of the machines that are currently used on the Cockroach bait lines which produce two products.

Tumblar Products Limited manufactures two varieties of Cockroach baits. The First product is produced at Cockroach Bait Station assembler and the second one is produced at the Mortein line.

6.3.1 Cockroach Bait Station Assembler:The Cockroach Bait Station assembler utilises a range of machines to produce the final product. The machines that are active on the Cockroach Bait Station assembler are:

a) Lid Thermo-former: The Lid Thermo-former forms the Plastic lid by creating a vacuum between the plastic film and the tool die. As the PETG material is passed through a hot zone and this makes easy for the Thermo-former to form desired Lid profiles as per the tooling die installed.

b) Base Thermo-former: The Base Thermo-former is installed at the starting of the line, this forms the base for the bait. The working is same as the Lid Thermo-former. Once the Base part is thermoformed it is feed to the filler /injector by the aid of roller. The Base thermo-former forms six profiles at each cycle time. The cycle time for forming four profiles is three seconds. It has a tooling die fixed with the designed base shape.

c) Roller: The function of roller is to feed the thermoformed base plastic film towards filling station and radio frequency welding machine

d) Filler and Injectors: The Filler and Injectors assembly unit has four fillers located next to the former, as the thermoformed plastic is placed by conveyor under the fillers /injectors and they fill chemical solvent which is sixty degrees hot and it is poured proportionally into six plastic bases with a sequence consuming a cycle time of Three seconds. Soon after filling, the plastic is moved to Lid loading unit where process worker places lids on these bases.

e) Radio frequency welding machine: Radiofrequency welding machine is the next machine which joins two plastic parts namely Lid and Base to make a Cockroach Bait. After placing plastic Lids on the Base portion, the heated unit of the Welder is forced against the plastic materials at a designed weld points under the flat metal surface. The welding takes a cycle time of two seconds for welding twelve baits at the same

f) Blanking machine: The Blanking machine has the main purpose of separating the group of six baits once welding is completed. It uses a punch with a profile that is designed to cut corner surfaces of the baits.

g) Perforator: This is a part of the blanking machine which separates the plastic baits across the line by perforating a small line indent on the corner of each bait.

h) Cutters: It uses a group of knives which are positioned on the punch to cut out a batch of 6 cockroach baits. It punches on the plastic film once welding is complete. The cycle time for this process is less than 2 seconds.

50


i) Flip arms & Exit Conveyor: These machines control the flow of finished products. They use conveyors at the end of the line and guide the flow towards exit conveyors. Exit conveyors displace the finished products one after the other making the process worker easy for packaging.

6.3.2 Mortein Line:The Mortein line also produces another variety of Cockroach baits that has a designed layout of machines which have fewer operations compared to cockroach bait station assembler. Following machines are currently on the Mortein line:

i. Base loader Sub-module: Base loader is a machine that consists an array of loads all bases of the cockroach bait at Mortein line. The plastic components are directly issued from the Warehouse and they are stocked up next to the base loader before starting the production activity.

ii. Chain Conveyor: It is a crucial element in Mortein line because it gives feed to the next stations uniformly at planned time intervals for further manufacturing processes. It has three parts and they are an electric motor, chain drive, and Conveyor chain. When motor speeds up the chain drive, conveyor displaces the base parts from one station to other station in a sequence.

iii. Heating Unit: There is a heating unit which heats the plastic parts before processing to the welding machine. Cycle time taken to heat six baits is four seconds.

iv. Chiller Unit: The chiller unit has a mechanical blower installed that cools down the heat range of plastic before Welding. Cycle time for this station to cool six cockroach baits is four seconds.

v. Fillers/ Injectors: These fillers pour the chemical solution on the base portion of the plastic cavity that. It fills the solution simultaneously for six baits within a cycle time of 3 seconds. The chemical solution is used from the storage tank located on top of the Mortein line.

vi. Lid Loader: The Lid loader is situated next to the Radio Frequency Welder. The importance of this machine is, it loads the lid parts on top of the base part within exact weld points. This makes the RF welding more accurate and reduces the time for Lid loading as it is operated by a programmed pick and place actuators.

vii. Rotatory Radio Frequency Welding Machine: The Rotatory RF welding machine has four machine centres, these machine centres welds continuously one after the other completing four cycles. Welding for each batch of bait takes a cycle time of 10 seconds. The main advantage of this machine is, 54 cockroach baits are feed into the Flip arms one after the other.

viii. Flip arms & Exit Conveyor: This consists of Flipper assembly and an exit conveyor. These machines have a purpose of sorting out the finished products into each single flow towards Bradman Lake cartoner. Flip arms stop each product that comes outside from the RF welding machine by stopping them at regular time intervals, meanwhile exit conveyor pushes each welded product into the packaging cartoner area. This further helps process worker to complete required packaging in the form of cases.

51


6.3 Content analysis of Operational Documentation for Machines working on the Cockroach Bait Station and Mortein Production Lines:

The researcher reviewed the operation manuals for the machinery used for manufacturing the Cockroach baits at two lines in TPL. For some equipment, he needed to review online material about the machine provided on the suppliers’ website. The Table 6.5 a document of content analysis of Cockroach Bait Station Assembler is presented, which illustrates about the machines, their maximum operating capacities, and operational considerations.

Table 6.7: Content analysis of Cockroach Bait Station assembler.

Machine Name Maximum Operating Capacity Operational Considerations

Main Product Tank (A)

Can mix 645 kg (that includes mixture of Hydrogenated vegetable oil of 49.5 kg, CHEM2201 of 33 kg, 521 kg of

Pipe - 60/65˚C Pump enclosure - 60/65˚C Hose supply - 60/65˚C Valve block- 60/65˚C

Weekly: Check the

temperature of the Product circulation pump “A”

Check the temperature of tank A Product holding Tank Stirrer motors.

Check for bearing/noise vibration.

Lid Thermoformer

Form timer- 3.5 secCycle timer – 10.5 secPost weld – 2.5 secFormer start delay- 0.6secVacuum start delay – 0.2 secVacuum duration time – 2.0 sec2nd plate delay – 0.2 secVacuum Pressure(Thermoforming) – 80/95 kpa

Forms 2 Base units with a cycle time of 10.5 sec

Thermoforming temperatures for Cockroach bait lids when they are feed through the thermoforming unit:

The heating source comes from the radiant heater unit before the Thermoformer.

362˚C/58˚C/169˚C/169˚C/169˚C/169˚C/

Do not switch the small former off using the main isolating switch except in an emergency.

52


169˚C/58˚C

Forms 18 Lid units with a cycle time of three seconds

Small former (Base Thermoformer)

Forms 2 Base units with a cycle time of 10.5 sec with an operating capacity of:

Form timer- 3.5 secCycle timer – 10.5 secPost weld – 2.5 secFormer start delay- 0.6secVacuum start delay – 0.2 secVacuum duration time – 2.0 sec2nd plate delay – 0.2 secVacuum Pressure(Thermoforming) – 80/95 kpa

Thermoforming temperatures for Cockroach bait bases when they are feed through the thermoforming unit:

The heating source comes from the radiant heater unit before the Thermoformer.

362˚C/58˚C/169˚C/169˚C/169˚C/169˚C/169˚C/58˚C

Do not switch the small former off using the main isolating switch except in an emergency.

Piercing machine (A)

Can Cuts/Slices the formed sheet into 2 base units

Clean the rams and lubricate them every week.

Chemical Filler Filling /Injectors air pressure – 100psi

Fills the chemical into 2 base units per second

Check travel distance of nozzle.

Perform Head cleaning operations on monthly/ weekly basis depending upon the production schedule.

Lubricated oil must be changed every 1000 hours.

Lubricate drive chains, bearings, bevel gears, supports, gears and slide shafts, filter- regulator assembly

53


once every month

Piercing machine (B)

Cuts/Slices the formed sheet into 18 Base units

Disassemble all the piercing equipment, clean it as per operational requirement for each month.

Radiofrequency Welding machine

Welding parameters:

Weld power – 35% Dwell time preheat soak time - 2.5 sec Weld time- 3.5 sec Cool time – 2.0 sec Machine cycle time – 10.85 sec

Welding press upper plate air pressure- 100 psi Welding press lower plate air pressure-100 psi

Weekly: Check for R/F

welder earth straps for splits/damage.

Check R/F Welding tool flex strap for splits

Check R/F generator cabinet door filter.

Monthly:

Check two micro switches (V.O.C Plate Servo Drive) for manual operation-mounted externally at the R/F generator cabinet, inspect switch actuator arms for excessive vertical and horizontal play and the electrical power connections are secure.

Check for backlash and excessive play in vertical drive shaft connected to the V.O.C plate linkage arm.

Cutting knives Cuts and separates the lot into six bait units right after welding in 2 seconds

Check and reset the cutting points while starting the production activity

54


Table 6.8 is the document of content analysis of Cockroach Bait Station Assembler is presented, which illustrates about the machines, their maximum operating capacities, and operational considerations.

Table 6.8: Content analysis of Documentation related to Mortein Line.

Machine Name Maximum Operating Capacity Operational Considerations

Main Tank(A) Can mix 50 kg of solvent (that includes a mixture of soya bean oil, Indoxacarb, ground potassium sorbate, Anti-oxidant, Maple lactone, soya lecithin, Honey)

Never allow the tank to heat the chemical beyond/more than 65 ˚C.

It is critical that Soya lecithin and Honey are added slowly.

Base loader sub-module

Can transfer three bases together in 2 seconds on the conveyor.

Lubricate and clean the machine as per maintenance schedule (either periodic or operational maintenance).

Conveyor chain drive

Displaces each base part from filler unit to the Radiofrequency welding rotatory table

Periodic maintenance of the Conveyor chain drive by cleaning and lubricating all parts.

Chemical Filler Can Deposit semi-liquid poison for insects at 70˚C on following moulds sizes:

A. Moulds of 140 mmx210 mm having n.3x2 indents diameter of 25 mm.

B. Moulds of 114 mmx61 mm having n.3x2 indents having a diameter of 31 mm each one divided into two halves containing two different types of products.

Operating machine performance:i. 17 cycles/minute for

product ‘A’.ii. 20 cycles/minute for

product ‘B’.Injects the chemical in 3 base sets within two seconds

The machine loading and off-loading must be carried out by authorized personnel knowledgeable about the machine.

Check the temperature of chemical if it has reached 60 degrees and maintain it until the production activity has been completed.

Check travel distance of nozzle.

Perform Head cleaning operations on monthly/ weekly basis depending upon the production schedule.

Lubricated oil must be changed every 1000 hours.

Lubricate drive chains, bearings, bevel gears, supports, gears and slide

55


shafts, filter- regulator assembly once every month

Check stretching of the chains once every month.

Cooling tunnel Three columns of bases are indexed within adjustable guide fences through the entire length of the cooling tunnel. Cools 54 units i.e., 9 lots in five seconds

The cooling tunnel needs to turn on 30 minutes prior to the commencement of production.

Pneumatic Base placer

Picks and places 54 units within a time of two seconds

Check for compressed air supply, before operating the machine on a daily basis.

Rotatory disc Have four sections where initially the bases are loaded and then lids are placed on top of the bases and the assembly is moved to the Radiofrequency welding unit and next

Clean welder plates on carousel

Lid loader sub-module

It contains a suction pad that picks nine bases at a time interval of two seconds from the end of cooling tunnel conveyor and drops them into Four welding templatesLoads 54 units on top of the base in two seconds

Checking compressed air supply, before operating the machine on a daily basis.

Radiofrequency Welder

RF welding machine is a special purpose plastic welding press with a welding press with around index table installed, which rotates anti-clockwise. Pressure is applied to the work via 2 x 160 mm diameter up- stroking pneumatic rams.

Welds 9 bases with a time interval of two seconds.

Maximum pressure on work – 2000 kg.

Minimum pressure on work – 600 kg.

Maximum stroke – 230mm.

Following items must be checked daily: Clean dust from bearings Drain compressed air water

fillerFollowing items must be checked weekly: Check and adjust Earthing

fingers. Remove and clean generator

air filler. Clean dust from bearings and

lubricate moving parts with dry lube only as this prevents dust sticking

Following items must be checked monthly:

Vacuum or blow out dust in

56


generator compressed air, as it must be moisture free.

Unloader sub-module

Two large suction pads are used for each welded bait 3- set.It reciprocates downwards to up nine welded baits from the welding template and moves across to a position above flip louvres.

Checking compressed air supply, before operating the machine on a daily basis.

Flip arms and Exit conveyor

Each louvre is flipped sequentially to deposit three baits upside-down on the exit conveyor

Disassemble, clean and lubricate the flip arms and conveyor assembly for each month.

Labeller Labels each base within 2 seconds, soon after they get RF welded.

Lubricate drive chains, bearings, bevel gears, supports, gears and slide shafts, once every month

Lot separator machine

Separates each base before entering Bradman lake cartoner within 2 seconds

Clean and lubricate all parts including bearings once every month.

Bradman lake cartoner

Packs 12 baits in a box within 2 seconds of cycle time

Before operating Cartoner:

Adjust the three hopper guide.

Adjust the feeder.

Verify the pressure is set to 15psi/100 kpa.

7772 Videojet Laser coder

Prints on each box passing through it on conveyor continuously for the whole day until they

Adjust the printer height.

Cockroach case 2 packer

Packs 6 boxes in a cardboard for each cycle within 3 seconds of cycle time.

Before starting the case packer:

Adjust the Flap closing bar.

Adjust the cello tape height.

Set the height of case guide rail

Adjust the height of the Transport chain.

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6.4 Observation

The researcher observed the behaviour of staff working on Cockroach bait station assembler line at TPL. Table 6.9 sets outs these observations.

Table 6.9 Summary of Observations

Process Step Staff Behaviour Reflections

Assembly of lids and bases

They operate without safety gloves.

Health and safety are one of the important considerations while working in a manufacturing environment.

Loading plastic film (Raw material)

As in the middle of production activity, the line has no staff working and they leave the machine being unattended. This is an idle time on the line.

It is a serious concern where sometimes it might damage the machine components. This can disturb the production activity, which is a loss firm in terms of capital and time.

After obtaining radio frequency welds to the baits

Lack of information on the production records during day shifts, as there is a changeover of labour / staff

Correct information can help in measuring performance and this can thus reflect in improving operational efficiency

During Thermoforming process

There were unexpected machine maintenance and breakdowns during day time.

There should be a suitable action and it is feasible to maintain the machine before any shift begins.

RF welding and chemical filling process

The probability of the machine to undergo maintenance is very low as compared to day shift and the process is continuous.

This reflects an efficient situation, the results can be accurate and no lag/waiting in production

Thermoforming It’s a demerit that the Thermoformer used in Bait station assembler is limited for PETG and no other material can be thermoformed. The reason

Thermoforming is a vital process in manufacturing baits, since it is old it needs to be replaced with a new Thermoformer that has

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behind it is the machine set up which is quite old i.e., more than 25 years.

better operational efficiency than old Thermoformer

Maintenance activity of the machine

If any changes needed to improve the operation of the machine, then it might affect the working of other machines on the line and increases additional operation costs to improve the line.

In a manufacturing industry, maintenance is one of the background operations that makes production activities in a smooth way. Hence, it should be scheduled in a way that does not affect during production process

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7.0 AnalysisIn this section of his project report, the researcher will synthesise his findings from his annotated bibliography with the primary data he collected in order to answer his study’s sub-research questions.

7.1 Best Practise in Operations Management for improving efficiency

The researcher has identified the following important issues regarding best practice to improve operational efficiency.

According to Gardiner (2013), the first step in improving the efficiency of any process is to manufacture as per the inventory level, and also to create a good process design for current manufacturing lines. As process design is a best strategy for the organisation to develop new product designs and to implement new processes (Gardiner, 2013). The new process that TPL has to implement is lean manufacturing in the production of cockroach baits. Gardiner (2013) states that lean manufacturing process is a technical process that identifies waste produced during production and determining the reduction or elimination of waste.

Heizer and Render (2008) state that quality is an important aspect of production. As maintaining quality improves the performance of a process and reduces the risk of errors, and saves indirect labour costs; which indirectly also saves reworking of production items (Chase, Aquilano and Jacobs, 2007). By avoiding the need to rework products an organisation’s manufacturing process becomes more efficient as activities in the production process are focused solely (Heizer & Render, 2008, p. 23).

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7.2 Alternate plastic material that could be used in the place of PETG:

The researcher has analysed the technical specifications of various plastic materials through his annotated bibliography. Grunewald (1998) says that all thermoplastics can be thermoformed and the thermoplastics that can be formed in a RF welding machine should have following properties so that they can be adopted and take the place of PETG. The main properties that need to be considered in selecting a new plastic material were (Gruenwald, 1998, p.112):

Glass Transition temperature Water absorption Thermal conductivity Softening range and hot strength.

In order to ensure weldability during the RF welding technique, the materials must possess important properties such as (Troughton, 2008, p.58, para 2):

High Dielectric loss, Hi Dielectric Constant and Hi Dielectric Breakdown.

The feasible thermoplastics that can be welded are drawn from manufacturer’s informational material that are listed in Table 5.1. After reviewing all the Thermoplastics, it is evident from Table 5.1 that ABS plastic has best near welding factor, as this factor is suitable especially in the packaging industry.

Table 5.2, clearly illustrates the loss factors during the RF welding that include the intensity of dielectric heating and the materials that are feasible to this property. ABS has no issues when it undergoes welding, whereas polystyrene is too weak to undergo welding process because it has aesthetic and structural problems when welded (Clarke, 2016, p. 1.9).

Applying these criteria to alternative plastic materials the researcher determined that polystyrene and ABS plastic materials were the best thermoplastics to be considered for use in a RF welding process as they can also be recycled further.

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7.3 The Viability of Consolidating Two Manufacturing Lines at TPL:

Based on his secondary and primary data collection the researcher believes it is viable to consolidate both manufacturing lines by revising the workflows for each manufacturing lines, please refer Figures 7.5 and 7.6 for flow diagrams for both of the manufacturing lines. After optimising the findings from best workflow methods to improve the workflow in manufacturing industry, the researcher found an optimal solution by creating a new workflow diagram that describes about consolidating two manufacturing lines in future to run as per the supply and demand of the Cockroach baits. Below are two workflow diagrams of two lines at TPL.

Figure 7.6 Current Workflow on the Cockroach Bait station assembler at TPL.

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Loding Raw material Base Conveyor Heating the

plastic filmsThermoforming of Lids and bases

Chemical filling in bases

Assembly of Lids and bases

Radiofrequency welding of the bases and lids

Perforation of each base

Slotting of each base to a six bait

unit

Segregated units move to conveyor

Packaging Dispatch or stock


Figure 7.7 Current workflow on Mortein line at TPL:

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Base Loader Conveyor Warming unit Chemical Filling unit Cooling unit

Pneumatic displacement of Lids and Bases into the

RF Welding Disc

Radiofrequency welding Conveyor Labelling U shape conveyor

Lot separation Lot Packaging Laser Coding Cockroach Case packer Case printing

Dispatch or Stock

Research Project ReportFigure 7.8 Workflow Diagram to consolidate two production lines at TPL, Christchurch:

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Stock areaDispatch

Chemical Filler

Radiofrequency Weld

ing

Cooling Tunnel

Raw Materials

Radiant

Heating of

Plastic Film

Pneumatic base loader

New Thermoforming Machine

Displacement of Bases by Conveyor

Bradman lake Cartoner

Pneumatic Lid Loader

Lids

Assembly of lids and bases in RF

welding disc

Bases

U shape Conveyor

LabellerConveyor Lot separator

Tank A Tank B


To implement Figure 7.8 a range of issues need to consider; these issues are set out in Table 7.10 below.

Table 7.10

Machine Operations Performed on the line

Best Practices for Consolidating both lines

Filler / Injectors used on Mortein Line and Cockroach Bait Station Assembler

Fills chemical into the Base portion/Volume of the cockroach base part within a measured quantity.

Change the cycle time of the filler, so that it can fill the chemical into the new variety by making changes in feed system to the chain conveyor as per standards. The Filler tank and Chemical solution used for both lines are same and hence, this is one of the best advantages.

New Thermo-formers on Cockroach Bait Station Assembler: Obsolete old, not worthy to install while consolidating the machines

Thermoforming of detailed profiles in the plastic film by application of vacuum and heat on the plastic.

They can be relocated closer to the Mortein line in order to reduce operation costs. As Base and lid parts used in Mortein line are not Thermoformed in TPL.

Lid Loader and Base loader at Mortein Line:

Assembly of Lids and bases at the Radiofrequency welder rotatory disc.

When lids and bases are stocked after production Mortein Line, they can be loaded in this machine by making necessary changes in the tooling of Loaders. This can be an effective process and can save time, labour cost and Quality of the Product.

Rotatory Radiofrequency Welding Machine at Mortein Line:

Welding /Joining the plastic parts together (i.e., lids and bases) by the aid of Radiofrequency welders using dielectric currents as a heat source.

The Radiofrequency welder used at Cockroach bait station is quite older than one which is currently used at Mortein Line, welder used at Mortein line is efficient and runs faster. It has a good accuracy of weld joints and is strong enough.

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7.4 Review of Reducing Plastic material wastage in the Cockroach Bait Production line and alternate uses for the waste plastic:

From the Tables (see tables 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 & 6.6) the researcher has calculated the amount of raw plastic material wasted during December-2015 and January-2016 months on Cockroach Bait Station Assembler; this figure is estimated to be 24.6 tonnes of PETG raw materials in the form of rolls. Each roll weighs 50 kg, on the whole after using each 50 kg roll it makes a 38% of wastage which is folded as roll and stored in the recycling bin. After calculating the wastage, it comes around 9 tonnes of folded raw material which is stored and being idle in the production plant. The first effective option:

1. To utilise the waste raw material can be drawn from (Vasudevan, 2006). Knowing that, the recent inventions show a report about using the plastic waste especially like PETG plastic in the construction of roads. This process mainly deals in shredding the plastic waste from a shredder, heating them to 155 and then further adding them to hot Bitumen mixture. This mixture, when becomes to a uniform state, is used in the construction of roads. This can not only impact the benefits in operational costs but makes a good image in the environment-friendly process (Vasudevan, 2006).

2. The plastic waste after production is gathered or collected in huge quantities and then they are transported to the manufacturers (La Mantia, 2002, p. 256, para 1). The manufacturers start applying the principle of plastic recycling with a sequence of the process, such as pre-treatment, main process, and final process (La Mantia, 2002, p. 256, para 2). Here, these plastics are washed in big containers using a pre – set chemicals, heated to a glass transition temperature and then they are sent to the final process where colours are added and forms the new material (La Mantia, 2002, p. 257, para 1).

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7.5 Application of Project Management theory to the Implementation of new Plastic Material and consolidating the Manufacturing lines: PMO, RACI, and WBS:

Tumblar Products Limited should establish a project management office to define and execute the standards for project management. After setting up a PMO, TPL should create a Work Breakdown Structure to determine various tasks to be performed to consolidate the two manufacturing lines then a RACI matrix to assign all tasks identified to the staff/management.

7.5.1 Project Management Office:

A Project Management Office is a remarkable department within the business that is established to maintain the standards of project management. A PMO can help in executions of a project, documentation, and guidance in project management. The privilege/benefit in using PMO are; projects can be finished within deadlines, cost, and scope with ease (A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK© Guide), 2013, p. 11). It mainly centralises communications, which can reduce the effort to be done by project managers to execute the tasks of a project (Young, 2011, p.48). The researcher finds that at TPL, there should be a project management office set up to initiate two main projects in order to achieve organisational objectives. The project manager and other functional managers of TPL should form a PMO, so that they can start documenting the concerned reports. A PMO can also take some active measures beyond the standards and methodology. It can assist Tumblar Products Limited in creating a WBS and RACI matrix to initiate the process of consolidating two Cockroach Bait manufacturing lines. The structure of this PMO would be as follows in Figure 7.9.

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Figure 7.9 The PMO structure at TPL.

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7.5.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):The researcher has applied project management method and created two Work breakdown structures. The first WBS was created for the Industry project and second WBS for solving the research question, which is about consolidating two manufacturing lines at TPL. The main thing to consider while making first WBS for the research project was; as of time this report was published, activity some activities has already been conducted.

Figure 7.10. The WBS for a Research project on an Investigation into improving the Efficiency of the Cockroach Bait Production Line at Tumblar Products Limited.

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Figure 7.11. The WBS showing the framework of consolidating two production lines at TPL.

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7.5.3 Responsibility Matrix (RACI Matrix):

Responsibility matrix is a project management tool that clearly informs about the authority and tasks to be carried out by the project team members. The researcher has developed a RACI Table based on WBS of the research project.

Table 7.11. Responsibility assignment matrix made on WBS of Research project

Activity as per WBS Academic supervisor

Researcher Project manager

Chief Executive officer

Manufacturing manager

1.1.1 Plan scope meeting with academic supervisor

R A - - -

1.1.2 Complete research project agreements

A C I I R

1.1.3 Schedule the meeting for the project with organisational supervisor

C R I I A

1.1.4 Prepare Research brief A R - - C

1.1.5 Submit the research brief to academic supervisor

A R - - C

1.2.1 Write up annotated bibliography for all research questions

A R - - C

1.2.2 Collect Primary data of production records

A R I I C

1.2.3 Make Observations on both of the machines present on both lines

A R - - C

1.2.4 Collect primary data based on A R - - C

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operational documents of both lines

1.2.5 Make Observations on behaviour, processes and other technical aspects of both lines

A R - - C

1.2.6 Update the Project report A R - - -

1.3.1 Conduct analysis A R - - -

1.3.2 Update the Project report A R - - -

1.3.3 Make recommendations and derive conclusions for the project

A R - - -

1.3.4 Check the report for all APA referencing procedure

A R - - -

1.4.1 Organise regular meetings with academic supervisor

A R - - I

1.4.2 Organise regular meetings with organisational supervisor

C R - - A

1.5.1 Complete the Final report A R - - C

1.5.2 Submit the Final report to academic supervisor

A R - - I

1.5.3 Get approval A R - - -

1.5.4 Conduct a Presentation of the project

A R C I I

1.5.5 Submit the approved report to ARA and TPL

A R C I I

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Table 7.12. Responsibility assignment matrix made on WBS on consolidation of two production lines at TPL.

Activity as per WBS Academic supervisor

Researcher Project manager

Chief Executive officer

Manufacturing manager

Product development manager

Supply chain manager

1.1.1 Introduction with TPLSupervisor

A R I I C I I

1.1.2 Conduct scoping meetings with academic supervisor

A R I I I I I

1.2.1 Study and understand research objectives & sub-research questions

A R - - - - -

1.2.2 Collect primary data of production records

A R I I C I I

1.2.3 Make observations of two production lines

A R - - I - -

1.2.4 Collect primary data for machines for both lines

A R I I C I I

1.2.5 Document the project report

A R - - - - -

1.3.1 Make an analysis of the project

A R - - - - -

1.3.7 Estimate costs to consolidate both lines

I I R A I I I

1.3.2 Complete analysis of the report

A R I I I I I

1.3.3 Submit the report A R - - - - -

1.3.4 Get approval from academic and organisational supervisor

A R I I C I I

1.3.5 Start training activities to - I A C R I I

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the staff at TPL1.3.6 Relocate the main machines that require high attention

- I A C R I I

1.4.1 Schedule regular meetings with academic supervisor

A R - - I - -

1.4.2 Schedule weekly meetings with organisational supervisor

I R I I A I I

1.5.1 Make recommendations for the consolidation

A R I I I I I

1.5.2 Submit final report A R I I I I I

1.5.3 Conduct a presentation A R I I I I I

1.5.4 Finalise the project report A R I I I I I

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8.0 Recommendations8.1 Long-term RecommendationsThe researcher has made the following recommendations for TPL to take over the next year; based on issues he has identified from his literature review and primary data collection:

Finished goods inventory for Cockroach Bait Assembly line needs to be controlled. Currently, TPL has fluctuations in producing cockroach baits. So Inventory management should be given the main preference for TPL to produce any product on Cockroach Bait Assembler line. Since they have few issues in raw material wastage (see Tables 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 and 6.6), sometimes they produce beyond demand and sometimes lesser than the target (see Figures 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5). By incorporating these methods in practise on the line, TPL can save operational costs and maintain exact inventory levels.

Lean manufacturing technique should be adopted to control and monitor the raw material waste. The current raw material wastage is around 38% (from Section 7.4) and this leads in increasing operational costs such as storing, recycling and processing the waste material. Lean manufacturing concepts should be incorporated so that it can reduce material wastage and make an added value after manufacturing (Gardiner, 2013).

TPL should either try to establish recycling equipment or start utilising the waste in construction of roads. TPL wastes big quantity of raw material which is collected after each production cycle. They can recycle the plastic (La Mantia, 2002, p. 256), as TPL gains profit from the wastage. Also, they can utilise the waste by shredding the plastic waste into tiny bits and supply to the sources that is required in the construction of roads. This application has been widely implemented in many countries. This has been a cost saving technique and also an environment-friendly process (Vasudevan, 2006).

8.2 Short-term RecommendationsThese are recommendations for the organisation to take over the next six months based on issues the researcher has identified from the primary data collection.

There should be a Project management office set up at TPL, such that the consolidation of two production lines can happen in a planned and effective way by functional managers of TPL. In order to initiate the PMO setup, the researcher has found out some of the best project management tools to help PMO; tools like PMO structure (see Figure 7.9), Work breakdown structure (WBS) and Responsibility matrix (RACI) have been taken into consideration. The researcher has provided best Work breakdown structure (see Figures 7.10 and 7.11) and Responsibility matrix- RACI charts to smoothen the project for TPL (see Table 7.11 and 7.12).

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Procuring a new customised Thermoformer is the best viable option while consolidating both production lines (see Table 7.10). The Thermoforming unit p at TPL has less efficiency than the new one, and it cannot be used when there is a huge demand. It plays a vital role in the production of plastic components with the concept of lean manufacturing. It reduces consumption of time and maintains levels of supply and demand.

Prior to consolidating the Cockroach production lines TPL should conduct training sessions for the staff who will be working on the new line on the new process that the consolidation will create (from Figure 7.8 and Table 7.10).

Staff should also be trained on the proposed new methods for recycling plastic waste proposed by the researcher (from Section 5.5).

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9.0 Conclusions9.1 How to Improve the Efficiency of Cockroach Bait Production

Lines:The first stage in improving the efficiency of TPL’s Cockroach bait lines was to determine whether they could be consolidated. This required the researcher to provide secondary data on the current production processes that were being performed on two production lines. Then the researcher had worked on all factors to consolidate two lines and successfully shown a consolidated view of new workflow diagram (see Figure 7.8) how the machines of two lines work in regards to the present workflow practices (see Figures 7.6 and 7.7) they produce and the type of products they manufacture on both lines. The next part in improving efficiency was to incorporate new plastic material that was equivalent to PETG, so the researcher has come up with a decision in incorporating new plastic material based on secondary data that is by analysing literature of plastics (from sections 5.2 and 5.3). The researcher recommends ABS plastic (Troughton, 2008, p. 58, para 3) for TPL to use in manufacturing cockroach baits (from Tables 5.1, 5.2 and figure 5.1).

The plastic waste that has been obtained after each production cycle was accounted to 38% of the raw material during two months (refer section 7.4). So, the researcher has analysed the problem and recommends that plastic recycling (La Mantia, 2002, p. 256, para 2) or usage in construction of roads (Vasudevan, 2006). The last key aspect is the project management theory, that how it can help TPL to plan, schedule and execute new processes on both production lines. The researcher has recommended to set up a project management office and had provided a project management structure (see figure 7.9), two Work Breakdown Structures (see Figure 7.10 and 7.11) and RACI (responsibility matrix) chart (see Tables 7.11 and 7.12) by application of project management methodology.

9.2 Further Research Areas

The researcher feels that there were some areas that need further research by TPL in the future, in order to overcome issues related to finalise the consolidations of production lines.

The specifications of the welding machine should be identified to obtain strong bonding, at the moment TPL uses Radiofrequency welding. If they decide to change the plastic instead of using PETG, then conducting research on identifying a suitable welding machine would be advantageous.

An investigation into how the new layout could incorporate ergonomic design; when the two production lines are consolidated; is another important research area for TPL. This could contribute to a safer working environment for TPL staff.

What content a training programs for staff at TPL should be identified and the costs of that training programme factored into the cost of consolidating the two production lines at TPL.

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10.0 ReferencesAshter, Syed Ali. (2014). Thermoforming of single and multilayer laminates: plastic films

technologies, testing, and applications. Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier.

Baxter, R. (2015). Project Management for Success Handbook: Manage the Project – Ensurethe Results Celebrate Success (pp. 23-24). Naples, FL: Value Generation Partners.

Biafore, B (2013). Microsoft project 2013: the missing manual. Sebastopol, CA: O; ReillyMedia.

Black, J.T, Kosher, Ronald, A. (2012). DeGarmo's Materials and Processes in Manufacturing(11th ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons. Key ideas.

Branson. (2011, March). Ultrasonic welding [Brochure]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.emersonindustrial.com/en-US/documentcenter/BransonUltrasonics/Plastic%20Joining/Ultrasonics/Technical%20Info/W-1_Polymer-Ch-Weldability.pdf

Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2007). Business research methods (2nd ed.). New York, NY: OxfordUniversity Press.

Caldan machinery private limited. (n.d.). New South Wales, Australia. Reckitt & ColemanHandbook.

Clarke, CR. (2016). Introduction to thermoforming. Retrieved from CR Clarke website:http://www.crclarke.co.uk/Products/PDF/data/1plastic.pdf

Clarke, (2016, June 23). Introduction to thermoforming: [Graph]. Elastic/Plastic WindowComparison: Retrieved June 23, 2016 fromhttp://www.crclarke.co.uk/Products/PDF/data/1plastic.pdf

Cooper, Donald, R., Schindler, Pamela, S. (2011). Business Research Methods (11th ed.). NY:McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Field, M., Keller, L. S., & Open University. (1998). Project management. London, UnitedKingdom: International Thomson Business Press.

Francesco La Mantia, (2002). Handbook of plastics recycling. Shropshire, United Kingdom:Rapra Technology Limited.

Gardiner, D. (2013). Operation management for business excellence (3rd ed.). Auckland, NewZealand, Pearson

Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2006). Operations management. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle river: NJ:Pearson

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Hill, Gerrad, M. (2014). The complete project management office handbook,(3rded.). FL: Taylor & Francis group.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (2016). New Zealand Companies Office[Website]. Retrieved February 17, 2016, from Ministry of Business, Innovation andEmployment [NZ]website:https://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/search?mode=standard&type=entities&q=141026s

Nicholas, J. M., & Steyn, H. (2008). Project management for business, engineering, andtechnology (3rded.). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier.

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Rosen, S. (2002). Thermoforming. Dearborn, MI.: Society of Manufacturing Engineers.Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano. (2006). Operations management for competitive advantage with Global cases. NY: McGraw-Hill Companies

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students (5th edition). London, United Kingdom: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Troughton, M.J. (2008). Handbook of plastics joining: A practical guide (2nd ed.). 13Eaton Avenue, Norwich, NY: William Andrew Inc.

Tumblar Products Limited. (2016). [Website]. Retrieved April 6, 2016 from Tumblar ProductsLimited website: http://tumblar.co.nz/

Vasudevan, D. (2006). Indian patents. 198254: A New Mix Process Of Waste Plastics-Aggregate-Bitumen For Flexible Pavement. Allindianpatents.com. Retrieved 16June 2016, from http://www.allindianpatents.com/patents/198254-a-new-mix-process-of-waste plastics-aggregate-bitumen-for-flexible-pavement

Verzukh, E. (2016). The fast forward MBA in project management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley& sons.

Vonderembse, M., & White, G. (2006). Core concepts of operation management. (1st ed.).New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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http://tumblar.co.nz/

https://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/search?mode%09=standard&type=entities&q=141026

https://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/search?mode%09=standard&type=entities&q=141026

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