Production and operation management has become an essential part of manufacturing organizations. These organizations always experience pressure in all divisions and units. Pressures are in terms of orders to be completed on due dates, breakdown of machines, absence of employees, lateness on delivery of materials, and industrial actions by employees to improve working conditions. To meet these challengers, firms usually rely on an effective methods of production and operation methods. A manufacturing organization may use different methods of production such as use job, batch or flow production depending on a number of factors. However, it is important to have a clear distinction between these three methods of production to know where each one is applicable. Whatever methods of production is used, the objective is to produce goods and services which is highly profitable and to use the most effective and efficient method. Considerations should also be made to other aspects Continue reading
Production Management Techniques
Steps in Production Planning and Control
Production planning and control is one of the most important phases of production management, it is, as a matter of fact, the nervous system of a manufacturing organization. In manufacturing organization, it is essential that production is carried on in the best manner at the lowest cost, and the goods are of right quality and are produced at the proper time. This can be ensured only through proper planning of production. but mere planning of production will not solve the problem because production plans are not capable of self-actuating and do not lead to automatic accomplishment. For that the production manager has to take certain steps like, he has to regulate work assignment, review the work progress, and devise methods to bring conformity between the actual performance and planned performance — so that plans chalked out are adhered to and the standards set at the planning stage are properly attained Continue reading
Lean Manufacturing – Definition, History, Objectives, and Examples
Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything compared to mass production. It focuses on less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment in tools, and less engineering time to develop a new product. Lean manufacturing is a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS). Lean manufacturing is a technique that allows companies to be more responsive to quickly changing markets and more sophisticated & demanding customers. History of Lean Manufacturing Toyota is often considered one of the most efficient manufacturing companies in the world and the company that sets the standard for best practices in Lean Manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing has increasingly been applied by leading manufacturing companies throughout the world, lead by the major automobile manufactures and their equipment suppliers. Lean Manufacturing is becoming an increasingly important topic for manufacturing companies in developed countries as they try to find ways to Continue reading
5 Why Analysis – A Root Cause Analysis Tool
5 Why Analysis is a simple approach for exploring root causes and instilling a “Fix the root cause, not the symptom,” culture at all levels of a company. The 5 Why Analysis was originally developed by Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda and was later used within Toyota Motor Corp. during the development of the Toyota Product System (TPS). At Toyota, 5 Whys is still a critical component of problem-solving training, and the method is still widely applied within the company when problems occur. “Toyota Business Practices dictates using the ‘Five Whys’ to get to the root cause of a problem, not the ‘Five Whos’ to find a fire the guilty party.” – Jeff Liker, The Toyota Way It can be used whenever the real cause of a problem or situation is not clear. Using the 5 Whys is a simple way to try solving a stated problem without a large detailed Continue reading
Types of Inventory System (Q and P Models)
The term inventory derives from the French word inventaire and the Latin word inventariom which simply means a list of things which are found. The term inventory includes materials which are in raw form, or are in process, in the finished packaging, spares and the others which are stocked in order to meet all the unexpected demands or distribution in the future. This term usually refers to the stock at hand at a particular period of time of all those materials which are in raw form, those goods which are in progress of manufacture, all the finished products, merchandise purchased products for resale of those products, tangible products which can be seen, touched, measured or are countable. In a connection with the financial statements and records of accounting, the reference may be to the amount assigned to the stock or the pile of goods owned by an enterprise at a Continue reading
Total Quality Management (TQM) Approach
Quality is a continuous process that can be broken anywhere in the system of supply and customer service. By letting every person know how their activities help fulfill customer’s requirements, the organization can motivate their employees and supplies to provide quality consistently. They must also realize that throughout the organization they will have both internal customers and’ supplies to those outside the organization. In general, a process helps to change a set of inputs into desired output in the form of products or services. Proper investigation of the inputs and outputs of the organization help to determine the action to be taken for the improvement of the quality. The quest for continuous improvement of quality is a continuous cycle. The process on which continuous improvement is based is generally known as “Deming Wheel“. The wheel represented below shows a continuous movement in a certain direction. The idea behind this that Continue reading