Donner Company
Central Issues
When looking at the Donner Company in 1987, there are some initial concerns. The company as a whole does not have a true sense of how long it takes them to do what they do, and their process flow table is made up of "guesstimates", as throughput time at individual processes have not been formally taken. The company appears to be operating below capacity based on their need to rework their products often, find things for people to do, and meet deadlines that are based on fuzzy estimates, which only adds to the chaos. In short, there are three main issues facing the Donner Co.:
iming and delivery discrepancies
Lack of quality control
Need for labor utilization improvements
The addition of a new building in the near future provides a ray of hope, but the current operation and its capacity should be thoroughly understood before adding more to it.
Recommendations
Timing and Delivery
Careful analysis of the current situation, with the information provided, leads us to believe that one particular way to improve flow time and productivity is to purchase a second CNC Drill. The drill would allow a completed panel to exit the process every 12.5 minutes. It is also recommended that a second inspection station be added, as that would reduce the cycle time to 8.5 minutes. The most qualified of the underutilized staff could then also work in the inspection area and help reduce the amount of returns.
Another thing that needs to be done is a physical tracking of the actual throughput time for a board in the system. The numbers provided in the analysis are only as good as their inputs, therefore improved figures on timing would allow the company to provide better delivery time estimates. As it stands, a maximum of ~1200 boards can be produced during a week. An order queue can build up after that, and the length would help determine delivery times in providing estimates. Rush orders should be charged a premium because of the interruption of
When looking at the Donner Company in 1987, there are some initial concerns. The company as a whole does not have a true sense of how long it takes them to do what they do, and their process flow table is made up of "guesstimates", as throughput time at individual processes have not been formally taken. The company appears to be operating below capacity based on their need to rework their products often, find things for people to do, and meet deadlines that are based on fuzzy estimates, which only adds to the chaos. In short, there are three main issues facing the Donner Co.:
iming and delivery discrepancies
Lack of quality control
Need for labor utilization improvements
The addition of a new building in the near future provides a ray of hope, but the current operation and its capacity should be thoroughly understood before adding more to it.
Recommendations
Timing and Delivery
Careful analysis of the current situation, with the information provided, leads us to believe that one particular way to improve flow time and productivity is to purchase a second CNC Drill. The drill would allow a completed panel to exit the process every 12.5 minutes. It is also recommended that a second inspection station be added, as that would reduce the cycle time to 8.5 minutes. The most qualified of the underutilized staff could then also work in the inspection area and help reduce the amount of returns.
Another thing that needs to be done is a physical tracking of the actual throughput time for a board in the system. The numbers provided in the analysis are only as good as their inputs, therefore improved figures on timing would allow the company to provide better delivery time estimates. As it stands, a maximum of ~1200 boards can be produced during a week. An order queue can build up after that, and the length would help determine delivery times in providing estimates. Rush orders should be charged a premium because of the interruption of