Smith And Absson Case Summary

670 Words2 Pages

Smith & Wesson is very efficient at the manufacturing of firearms. Smith & Wesson’s new handgun will be manufactured in different stages. The individual parts are manufactured at different times and in different places. The barrels and frames are manufactured in their main Springfield plant. The rest of the pieces are then brought to the Springfield plant to be manufactured and shipped. The assembly of the entire handgun should take less than an hour, start to finish. This should be close to the estimated takt time. Since the handgun is very similar to products the employees are already manufacturing, the production time should be the same.
There are various bottlenecks which could slow down production of the new pistol. Smith & Wesson has become increasingly dependent on a small group of third-party manufacturers and vendors for various small parts and raw materials used in their firearms (S&W 2016). A shortage or lag time from any of these suppliers could seriously hamper the introduction of the new handgun.
Smith & Wesson’s main manufacturing plant is in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was built in 1945 using a war-footing design. The facility operates utilizing LEAN manufacturing techniques. Raw materials are continuously being delivered, because the facility houses less than a seven-day supply of raw steel needed as the …show more content…

The employees on this line are already familiar with the assembly process for this design of firearm. There is minimal risk of mixing up parts due to Smith & Wesson’s new assembly line process. As the frame comes down the line, “a scan tells the employee what SKU it is, which automatically illuminates lights under each part they’re supposed to pick.” (Hessman 2012). This process will allow the firearm to be produced with very minimal additional training. It will also provide minimal disruption to current assembly

More about Smith And Absson Case Summary

Open Document