Process Evaluation Executive Summary
Abstract
A manufacturing company's success depends on its manufacturing system design. The concept of the manufacturing system design has been the fundamental driving force in the advancement of manufacturing, perhaps even civilization itself. For without this concept of manufacturing system design, manufacturing would still be trapped in the intellectual darkness of the middle ages. The invention of the forerunner of the modern factory 200 years ago was the first system design. Periodically, a new design concept sweeps through the industrial world, igniting the fires of better and more productive manufacturing systems. These modern systems are directly responsible for the improved standards of living in the world today.
The essential task of the manufacturing, planning and control system is to manage efficiently the flow of material, the use of people and equipment, and to respond to customer requirements by utilizing the capacity of the suppliers, that of internal facilities, and (in some cases) that of customers to meet customer demand. Important ancillary activities involve the acquisition of information from customers on product needs and providing customers with information on delivery dates and product status. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief synopsis of the challenges Riordan is currently experiencing with information technology and what steps should be taken for improvement. IT developments will be examined, also key improvements that could be made to increase company productivity, increased collaboration, focusing on fast and easy access to customer and supplier information. Research has shown that by further developing our IT infrastructure, Riordan can stay competitive with the most up to date technology available in the field.
SR-rm-001 Process Evaluation Executive Summary
Currently Riordan Manufacturing has a common set of procedures in place for the management of raw materials, tracking products during manufacturing, and accounting for the finished goods. In an effort to streamline and improve processes, Mr. Hugh McCauley, COO has requested the development of specific system changes that will improve the inventory and manufacturing process. It has long been said that the Information Revolution will change the way organizations do business. In a world where time and information is money, information technology is critical to an organization's success and longevity. In order for Riordan Manufacturing to establish the organization as a leader and provide added value to customers, Riordan needs to evaluate their current business processes and learn how technology can scale operations in a cost effective manner at the same time focusing on using technology in areas that would provide immediate results.
Lowe’s is a home improvement warehouse that was founded in 1946 as a single store and since has grown to become the second largest in the world. As technology has evolved, Lowe’s has made many advances incorporating new systems and devices to stay competitive. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the information technology management systems used at Lowe’s. It will look at Porter’s Five Force Model, supply chain management; data base management system, five agent-based technologies, e-commerce and system development lifecycle. Furthermore, it will look at business continuity planning, emerging trends and security vulnerabilities relates to the organization to remain competitive.
In the past, college graduates would embark on careers in the business world with book learned business theory. Now the college curriculum can include practical use of real world situations in a web-paged virtual organization. This virtual organization allows students experience to review, analyze, troubleshoot and resolve real business problems. This paper will review the virtual company, Riordan Manufacturing, allowing students to review existing business systems, identify improvements or introduce new business systems to allow the company to thrive in the growing technology of the business world.
American manufacturing is moving into new era of proficiency through software based production systems that are qualitatively different than in the past impacting all aspect of manufacturing such as the way companies address customer needs and wants, research and development, the product development and production process, and the platforms and footprints employed in execution, testing, and servicing (Ludwig & Spiegel, 2014).
Technological developments and improvements have allowed for businesses to communicate information faster and better by the use of email, live chats, and video teleconferencing. These enhancements allow for a faster flow of information in which a business can easily distribute and receive responses in real-time from its customers. It helps employees to function more efficiently by using software programs such as word processing, spreadsheet tools, statistical analysis software and computer aided design programs. With the growth of the internet and social media, businesses expose its products to a larger customer base. Others advances such as inventory management software are able to track and fill orders, and replace stock when the volume fails a pre-determined quantity at much faster rates. Digital storage of documents and information on servers and multi-media storage
A factory system has four main characteristics; mechanized equipment, workers under one roof, division of labor, and supervision of employees.3 The technological advances of cotton jennies, water frames, and steam power quickly grew too large to fit into households leading to factories replacing the once domestic system.3 Once factories were in place, people in rural areas who were unable to find work took jobs in the factories. The Industrial Revolution in Britain was successful because of the investment of machinery, use of supervision, and improvement of quality control. 4The factory system allowed for materials and goods to be made faster and at a reduced cost. Pre-Industrial Revolution, work hours were erratic and long periods of inactivity were the norm. In the agriculture business, laborers worked in conjunction with the harvest schedule. With factories, a steady production schedule was mandatory to keep...
The factory system was the key to the industrial revolution. The factory system was a combination of Humans and new technology. New technology was arriving every day. The greatest invention during this time was the steam engine. The creation of the steam engine was credited to James Watt. There had been other steam engines before James Watt’s but none of them were efficient. Watt’s engine was the first efficient engine that could be used in a factory. The steam engine had the strength of ten thousand men.(Pollard) This was not the only invention that helped the factory system evolve. Textiles were a major product of the Industrial Revolution. Production was slow at first in the factory. In 1764, a British inventor named James Hargraves invented the “Spinning Jenny.” This lowered production time which enabled the factory to produce more per day. In 1773, John Kay, an English inventor, created the “flying shuttle” which lowered the production time even more.(Encarta) If production had not been speed up, the Industrial Revolution would have not had that big of effect as it did in North America.
Continuous improvement (CI) refers to a philosophy consisting of improvement activities that increase successes and reduce failures in a production process (Bhuiyan & Baghel 2005, p. 761). It involves activities and processes that focus on continuous and incremental innovation (Bessant et al., 1994, p.17). CI is a new approach that enhances productivity, performance, and achieves competitive advantage needed in the highly competitive industries. It may also serve as a complementary approach to other quality improvement initiatives such as total quality management (TQM) (Pike, Barnes, & Barnes 1995, p. 23; Larson 2003; Lassen, Gertsen, & Riis 2006; Oakland 2007, p. 227). The purpose of this research is to explore the application of production systems engineering methods in the CI at manufacturing plants.
Harkness, W. L. (1996, Sep). Process Improvement and Innovation in the Information Services Function: Lessons Learned at the Bose Corporation. pp. pp.349-368.
The assigned reading for forum 8 discussed operations management. The text provided significant discussion around TPS, Six Sigma, the House of Quality Matrix. Further study included the stages of product development, project management process, and supply chain management. According to Satterlee (2013), operations management considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources. Determining the location of manufacturing plants, supply chains, production management, production scheduling, inventory management, and equipment maintenance policies are all decisions that are made by operations management.
So it’s important to research the product and the vendor to make certain that you select the right system for your business. You’ve got to have a system that fully integrates all aspects of running your manufacturing business, offers advanced features and options but is intuitive and easy to use so employees can grasp hold quickly, and adapts to the way you do business rather than forcing you to adapt to the software.
It is undeniable that Inventory Management is an important key to success at Walmart. This paper will discuss the two main methods of Inventory Management used by Wal-Mart: Material Requirements Planning and Just-in Time. Next we write about the technical means of keeping track of inventories, like RFID tags. We conclude by discussing how Wal-Mart, one of the world’s largest retailers, manages its inventories. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) Walmart needs to make sure that consumers are satisfied all the time, not only with the quality of service being provided to them, but with the quality of the product they are planning.
Kanban is an information system that is used to control the release of materials in operation (Monden, 1998). In this way, organizations know when to acquire more materials from suppliers (Slack et al., 2007, p. 480). This also provides visual signal that helps organizations to have products according to customers’ needs (Melton, 2005).
Operations – To work out the right layout and work flow process in the company. The manpower resource allocation is also critical in the situation on the right balance of resource to handle the production. If possible, adopt a hybrid model to handle the flexibility in the product nature, make both the production line being able to configure standard and customized so to reduce setup and changeover time and cope with the demands.
By adopting the value chain into a manufacturing company, it will gain efficiency, effectiveness, reduce the product cost and improve continuously. For example, Toyota has implemented Toyota Product System (TPS) integrated information system with the business process which allowed the company to be more efficiency, effectiveness and reduce inventory cost. (Toyota
In this report we want to know how process in manufacturing is done, what they consider in this manufacturing process and different organizations in production process.