Benefits of Manufacturing Cells
Manufacturing practices are a top priority and concern for companies in today’s changing marketplace. Due to volatile customer demands, companies have to find innovative ways to manufacture consumer goods. As consumer demands change companies must be flexible enough to respond to meet the needs of their customers or make themselves susceptible to lost business and market share. One way that many companies are achieving these needs is through manufacturing cells. Manufacturing cells themselves must be robust in the light that demands change. There are many different ways that manufacturing cells can be established and each has their benefits. Utilizing manufacturing cells in conjunction with computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) is where the biggest benefit can be found. Manufacturing cells have a direct connection to several key bodies of knowledge within CIM. Identifying concepts that will work for a company’s specific needs and incorporating the right tools to achieve the desired outcome is critical to the sustainability of a company in today’s marketplace.
Most companies that manufacture goods have some type of manufacturing cell already established. However, in many cases the cells leave a lot to be desired. Many manufacturing cells are not laid out properly, have excessive movements within them, long changeover and setups, and many other factors. All of these combined place a large burden on a company to remain competitive and flexible. Improving the understanding of how a manufacturing cell should be implemented is the first step in achieving the benefits that they can provide.
When discussing possible manufacturing cells, there are two types of cells to choose from. The first is a p...
... middle of paper ...
...it according to Stefanides (1989), “included slashed time-to-market by speeding transfer of design data and engineering changes to manufacturing” (p. 89). This is important to note since it has a direct correlation to meeting the changing needs of customers.
Allen-Bradley’s new CIM cell also provided other quantitative benefits through reduced setup times, more flexible manufacturing, and more accurate testing (Stefanides, 1989, p. 89). All of these benefits benefit the company and the customer. The customer’s needs are met in a higher-quality product that is delivered to the marketplace quicker. The company sees a lower operating cost as production is more efficient in light of reduced setup times and time-to-market. This is just one of many examples of how businesses have been adapting CIM to their existing manufacturing cells and meeting their customer’s needs.
In today’s operational management arena, there are certain expectations from a managerial aspect that must be met in order to be successful. A comprehensive look at the Space Age Furniture Company will show exactly what the Materials Requirement Planning (MRP) calculations are for this company at present time and then take the information given in order to properly suggest ways to improve the sub-assemblies. In addition, there will be an analysis on the trade-offs between the overtime and inventory costs. A calculation will be made on the new MRP that will improve the base MRP. This paper will also compare and contrast the types of production processing to include the job shop, batch, repetitive, or continuous, and determine which the primary mode of operation should be and exactly why. A detailed description on how management can keep track of the job status and location during production will also be addressed. Finally, there will be a recommendation on they type of changes that need to occur that will be beneficial to the company and at the same time add value to the customer. This paper will conclude with summary of the major points.
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).
Throughout the history of modern civilization, there have been a number of inventions, contraptions, and processes to have made profound impacts on everyday life, and redefine the world, as we know it. With effective quality management, measures American industrialist and innovator Henry Ford used the assembly line to streamline the automotive manufacturing process and transform the American Industry. With the implementation of the assembly line in his manufacturing process Ford was able to offer the American consumer an affordable automobile, while at the same time cutting costs to his company, therefore maximizing his overall productiveness and profit while ensuring his customers’ needs were met.
Different jobs require various amounts of labor, expenses and raw materials subject to the superiority of the jobs to be carried out. The quality and size of items demanded can vary. Therefore, such a job might not need a standard manufacturing method. On no account are two jobs precisely similar. The finished product may not be the same. Clearly, the cost of every job will be different depending on the individuality of the work order obtained from clients.
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.
In 1913, Henry Ford revolutionized product manufacturing by introducing the first assembly line to the automotive industry. In the 1980’s, Ford picked suppliers based on lowest cost and the overall costs of the supply chain were ignored. Dealing with so many suppliers led to a higher overall costs and a complexity that was difficult to control. In the 1990’s, Ford cut down on the number of suppliers drastically and shifted towards more long term relationships with a set of suppliers that would provide entire vehicle sub systems. Although the number of suppliers were lower, our supply base was different and more complex then the one used by Dell.
The business is related to a manufacturing concern; therefore, the importance of enhancing manufacturing operations seems to increase. Manufacturing operations management is commonly known as MOM (Daft, Kendrick & Vershinina, 2010). Management of operations is basically a process which reviews the manufacturing or production process with an intention to maximize the production efficiency. Manufacturing operations management is thoroughly divided into many different arenas like production management, supply chain management, analysis of performance, quality and compliance and many others. Manufacturing operations management revolves around all the underlying production processes (Hills & Jones, 2009).
Today, mass production still reigns supreme. Products move along an assembly line much the same way, being assembled in a formulaic manner by unskilled workers. Modern businesses have developed strategic operations in order to provide higher volumes with more customer choice, such as mass
Materials engineering and computer engineering are two of the modern examples of industrial engineering. Industrial engineers have the challenge of incorporating today’s leading technological advances with the production of them in manufacturing facilities. Their purpose is to maximize output, while minimizing the costs for materials and production. This is why industrial engineers must have knowledge of product development, materials processing, optimization, queuing theory, production techniques, and engineering economy. Industrial engineers must have adequate skills in computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing.
The second way is to achieve low direct and indirect operating costs is gained by offering high volumes of standard products and offering basic no-frills products. Production costs are kept low by using less parts and using standard components. Limiting the number of models produced to ensure larger producti...
The business environment is increasingly becoming competitive and challenging. In the recent past, manufacturers have found themselves facing the threat of dwindling profit margins due to unfortunate global events such as the 2007 global financial crisis and the on going Europe economic crisis. The need to improve operation efficiency so as to ensure current and future investment yield the highest rate of return has therefore become extremely important. Manufacturers are now actively engaged in, managing their costs, Research and Development, adopting best procurement strategies, among other Actions. While such actions might eventually lead to positive results, additional business value can be achieved through proper management of the supply chain (Waymer, Ivanaj & Mussa 2009; Krivda 2004).
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.
It provides significant efficiencies in cost and delivery in exchange for minimal customization and represents a shift of operational risks from the consumer to the provider.
Manufacturing Execution: consistency on manufacturing throughput the cycle of production with different execution capabilities to ensure maximize production flexibility, improve execution process and increase efficiency of the plant by planning and management of inventory.
Manufacturing the process design also faces the same challenge in the optimization of the product (ARAUJO, JOSÉ AUGUSTO DA ROCHA DE; Costa, Reinaldo Pacheco da, 2004, p. 4).