Kanban is a concept related to lean and just-in-time (JIT) production. The Japanese word kanban is a common everyday term meaning “signboard” or “billboard” and utterly lacks the specialized meaning that this loanword has acquired in English. According to Taiichi Ohno, the man credited with developing JIT, kanban is a means through which JIT is achieved. Kanban is a signaling system to trigger action. As its name suggests, kanban historically uses cards to signal the need for an item. However, other devices such as plastic markers (kanban squares) or balls (often golf balls) or an empty part-transport trolley or floor location can also be used to trigger the movement, production, or supply of a unit in a factory. Kanbans maintains inventory levels; a signal is sent to produce and deliver a new shipment as material is consumed. These signals are tracked through the replenishment cycle and bring extraordinary visibility to Continue reading
Operations Management
Importance of Production Planning and Control
For efficient, effective and economical operation in a manufacturing unit of an organization, it is essential to integrate the production planning and control system. Production planning and subsequent production control follow adaption of product design and finalization of a production process. Production planning is an activity that is performed before the actual production process takes place. It involves determining the schedule of production, sequence of operations, economic batch quantities, and also the dispatching priorities for sequencing of jobs. Production control is mainly involved in implementing production schedules and is the corollary to short-term production planning or scheduling. Production control includes initiating production, dispatching items, progressing and then finally reporting back to production planning. In general terms, production planning means planning of the work to be done later and production control refers to working out or the implementation of the plan. So, the system of production planning and control serves as Continue reading
Purchase Management – Meaning, Importance and Objectives
Purchase Management is a function of materials management in a company. Their basic function is procuring the inputs for production function. This function encompasses suppliers in the market external to the organization and several internal to the organization. Till recently, the purchasing process simply involved placing an order with the supplier who offered the lowest price. Nowadays, increase in competition and market demand and scarcity of resources have forced organizations to reexamine their purchasing activities. The purchasing department functions have expanded considerably and include activities such as verifying the credentials of suppliers, inspecting the quality of the material to be purchased, ensuring the timely delivery of the material, etc. While the value of purchased items varies from industry to industry, it adds up to more than fifty percent of sales in all industries. Purchase management is regarded as a significant activity in many organizations because of the high cost involved Continue reading
Agile Project Management – Concept and Stages
What is Agile Project Management? Agile project management has been defined as short cycles of product development that deliver incremental updates of the product rapidly based on the changing needs of the customer. This methodology is the opposite of waterfall project management, which values extensive planning and pre-production. The agile approach consists of a number of stages including rapid iterative planning and development cycles allowing a project team to constantly evaluate the project and obtain immediate feedback from users or stakeholders allowing the team to learn from their experiences after each cycle. After the streamlined planning requirements, definition and solution design phase is completed to get the project underway iterations or more detailed planning requirements are created. This allows for immediate modifications of the product as customer views change. Agile project management requires a dedicated full time team including a customer or end users. Agile project management differs to traditional Continue reading
Characteristics of a Good Plant Layout
The layout of a plant or facility is concerned with the physical placement of resources such as equipment and storage facilities, which should be designed to facilitate the efficient flow of customers or materials through the manufacturing or service system. The layout design is very important and should be taken very seriously as it can have a significant impact on the cost and efficiency of an operation and can involve substantial investment in time and money. The decisions taken with regards to the facility layout will have a direct influence on how efficiently workers will be able to carry out their jobs, how much and how fast goods can be produced, how difficult it is to automate a system, and how the system in place would be able to respond to any changes with regards to product or service design, product mix, or demand volume. In many operations the installation Continue reading
Inventory Control: Benefits of Holding Inventories
Inventory management is primarily about specifying the shape and percentage of stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of materials. The intent of inventory management is to continuously hold optimal inventory levels. The benefits of holding inventories are; 1. Avoiding Lost Sales Losing business is the last part where you, as a business owner wants. Without the necessary goods in hand, which are ready to be exploited, most businesses will surely lose its business and market share. There are some customer are willing to wait, especially when the product they want must be made to order or it is not sidely available from your competitors. Thus, your business must prepare itself to provide the goods or product demanded by your customers. For instance, Shelf Stock are Continue reading