Plant location may be understood as the function of determining where the plant should be located for maximum operating economy and effectiveness. The selection of location for a plant is one of the problems, perhaps the most important, which is faced by an entrepreneur while launching a new enterprise. A selection on pure economic considerations will ensure an easy and regular supply of raw materials, labour force, efficient plant layout, proper utilization of production capacity and reduced cost of production. An ideal location may not, by itself, guarantee success; but it certainly contributes to the smooth and efficient working of an organization. A bad location, on the other hand, is a severe handicap for any enterprise and it finally bankrupts it. Locational decisions generally arise when: A new manufacturing (or servicing) unit is to be set up. Existing plant operations are difficult to expand due to poor selection of site Continue reading
Operations Management Techniques
Warehouse Management System
Warehouse management systems (WMS) is described as the advanced technology and operating processes which optimize all warehousing functionalities. These functions begin from receipts from suppliers and ending with shipments to the customers, also including all inventory movements as well as information flows in between. Warehouse management systems are mainly associated with large and complex distribution operations. However even smaller and middle size companies are identifying the importance of WMS in today’s scenario of integrated logistics, just-in-time delivery and e- commerce fulfillment. In practical situation, Warehouse Management System is used mainly in integrating computer hardware, software and peripheral equipment along with good operating practices so as to manage inventory, space, labour, and capital equipment in ware houses and distribution centres. Implementing of WMS serves the company by increasing its competitive advantage in matters of labour cost, improval of customer service, increasing inventory accuracy, and improving of flexibility and responsiveness. A WMS Continue reading
Assuring Quality in the Product Development Process
A venture isn’t fruitful in light of the fact that it has been finished on schedule and inside a spending plan. There is one other factor that is basic to progress: quality. Regardless of how rapidly and inexpensively a task is finished, partners won’t be upbeat if the nature of the item or administration doesn’t live up to their desires. Along these lines, one significant technique to follow and examine the nature of the task and ensure it meets the necessities of the clients is Quality affirmation. QA according to ISO 9000 is characterized as “a component of value the executives concentrated on giving certainty that quality prerequisites will be satisfied”. This deformity counteractive action in quality confirmation contrasts unpretentiously from imperfection recognition and dismissal in quality control and has been alluded to as a move left since it centers around quality prior all the while. The expressions “quality affirmation” Continue reading
Cellular Manufacturing – Meaning, Implementation and Benefits
A cellular manufacturing layout is in direct contradiction to the traditional production line. In the production line, numerous workers are needed to service a single production line running from receiving of raw material to shipping of finished product. A breakdown in staffing or machinery in any part of the line nearly always resulted in the entire process being idled until the specific difficulty in the line was repaired, or re-crewed. With cellular manufacturing, production is divided among groups, or cells, of workers and production machinery. Thus, the breakdown of one cell, due to equipment malfunction or staffing problems, does not radically affect the rest of the production process. Technology and cellular manufacturing have combined to streamline the production processes of numerous established and start-up manufacturing facilities worldwide. Lean systems, such as Kaizen, and Six Sigma, to name just two, though very often high in startup cost, provide both a short- Continue reading
Manufacturing Resource Planning Models
Evolution of Manufacturing Environment The field of production planning and control has undergone tremendous change in the last 50 years. Prior to the 1960s, inventory was controlled by a manual system, utilizing various techniques: stock replenishment, reorder points, EOQ (economic order quantity), and ABC classifications, to name a few. By the mid-1970s, enough experience of material requirements planning (MRP) had been gained and the importance of the master production schedule (MPS) was realized. In the 1950s, MRP was the first off-the-shelf business application to support the creation and maintenance of material master data and bill-of-materials across all products and parts in one or more plants. These early packages were able to process mass data but only with limited processing depth. From the 1940s to the early 1960s, material control consisted of basic ‘order point’ formulae used to maintain a level average inventory balance. In 1965, Joseph Orlicky of the J. Continue reading
The Seven Wastes of Lean Manufacturing
There are differing opinions on how many ‘types’ of waste an organisation might have. Current thinking suggests, seven, eight, or even nine depending on the nature of the organisation and the type of work carried out. Originally, there were said to be seven types of waste, and these were largely found in manufacturing organisations. They can be listed as: Overproduction Excess inventory Waiting (lost time) Unnecessary motion Unnecessary transportation (double handling, or moving excess stock) Re-work (poor quality) Over-processing (over-engineered) In each instance, it is recognized that even incremental improvements can help an organisation to increase its efficiency and reduce its costs. These savings and improvements are typically realized in a greater proportion of better quality output, meaning that even small improvements can have an exponentially large positive outcome. It is also noted that each one of these seven types of waste can be tied to different types Continue reading