Production line (Thomas)

Improving efficiency through the production line

When looking at what type of Layout to use we took into consideration the main 4:

• Fixed-position layout

• Functional layout

• Cell layout

• Line layout

These layouts are all different and have different advantages and disadvantages:

A fixed-position layout lets the product stay in one place while workers and machinery move to it as needed. This is usually used for big products that are hard to move such as planes, boats ecc. The main disadvantage in using this is that there are Very high unit costs and the Scheduling space and activities can be difficult.

A functional layout is a workplace organization in which processes are organized by the type of work.

The main disadvantage is that there is a lot of raw material moving around from one process to the next.

Cellular manufacturing is a type of layout where machines are grouped according to the process requirements for a set of similar items that require similar processing. disadvantages of this layout are that it Can be costly to rearrange existing layout and needs a big space for each process.

line layout means the arrangement of production equipment in the order of manufacturing operations.

Advantages are Low unit costs for high volume and Opportunities for specialization of equipment

Disadvantages are that in the case of disruptions there may be delays and Work can be very repetitive

Having looked at all 4 layouts we decided to go with the line layout.

In our proposal the Raw materials are picked up and go straight to the end of the production line where they are unpacked they are then passed forward to the selection and selection control.

when looking at the original layout the measurements were in between the selection process which made us think that there would be a lot of confusion and the raw material would be moving around a lot therefore we decided to implement the measurement straight after the selection control.

then we placed 2 measurement control areas followed by salting and tubing.

Employee efficiency (julia)

Efficiency and productivity in a business is highly driven by what the employees do and how they work. In most businesses, there will be employees with a higher productivity overall. In the case of INCA, there are several differences between employees. To begin, we believe the way the values are being registered as “daily quantities” makes it complex to compare productivity, as the working hours are different. So, firstly, productivity should be measured by quantities per hour. In the measuring process, 5 employees worked on september 1st, and while working hours were almost the same, productivity wasn’t. While one employee can go through 24.2 88m hanks per hour, another does only 14.1. Similarly, in the selection process, we can see an employee with an average of 10.9 88m hanks selected per hour, while another employee does 7.1.

In order to maximise efficiency, the adequate step to take is to go through a job process analysis and study the methods and how time is consumed by those employees who measure and select more 88m hanks per hour. In this way, INCA can train and develop the skills of the other employees, specially those who have a lower hank per hour average. In the case that productivity is maximised, INCA could be able to depend less on some employees, therefore reducing labour costs and being able to invest those in better technologies or whatever may be needed at that time.

Another factor that may cause inefficiencies is the error % in both the measuring and selecting processes. A 20% error results in working time wasted, and because the objective is to maximise productivity. One reason behind that high error rate could be that the staff is paid by piece rate. This is not a bad way to pay the staff as it motivates them to produce as much as possible. However, one drawback from this method is that quality might suffer. As a result the payment model has to be slightly adjusted. In the future after the method analysis and the training period, high margins of error will have certain consequences in salary, just like no errors will be positive for the employee, with bonuses being given out for jobs done precisely and with the outcome maximised. This should maintain high productivity as well as high levels of quality.

Leonard: Motivational theories to improve the working environment.

Key aspects for any company are their employees as well as the well being of the staff. This is because the employee’s performance is directly linked to their mental and physical health. Working in the hog casting industry is a very physical and repetitive job therefore certain members of staff can become unmotivated. This can lead to low qualities of output as well as a negative working environment. In order to change that we thought about implementing certain motivational strategies. One way of increasing motivation and the working environment is by creating a social room, where staff can gather before and after work as well as in their breaks. This room will offer comfortable seating as well as a coffee machine and other soft beverages. In addition this room will also provide some sort of activities such as table tennis or a foosball table. This sould

Additionally, we would recommend introducing some mandatory stretching exercises, this is inspired by companies from around the world, which improved concentration and reduced the amount of sick days within employees.

Karl: Machinery

After analyzing the employee’s inefficiencies, we looked at direct inefficiencies in the production process. After watching the video and looking at the production stages described on the Inca website, we can see that some important stages of production are still done by hand. This is another factor that generates errors and waste. In order to minimize errors and waste, and maximise efficiency we suggest investing in new machinery. To increase the efficiency in measuring the casings we suggest buying a casing measuring machine. Casing measuring machines are generally easy to operate and easy to clean. Further, one is able to easily program the desired meters and the machinery will stop automatically once reached. So, the employees will not need any extra skills to operate the machinery. In addition, we would suggest buying new machinery that automates the whole salting process. We found that the last part of the salting process is described as being hand-made on the website. Rubbing the salt into the casings can be very exhausting, especially after a couple of hours, which causes the employees to be inefficient. So, buying fully automated salting machinery would increase the efficiency a lot because it reduces the operator’s fatigue which is caused by hand salting the casings.

But only buying new machinery will not do the job, the problem with machines, in general, is that they need maintenance which could eventually shut them down for half of a day or even longer. So, we thought of a way to minimise this risk of having delays in the production process. Looking at the layout of the factory we can see that there is an unutilised area. Therefore, we would suggest buying backup machinery, if possible one for each production stage. This ensures that if a piece of machinery needs maintenance the operator can switch to the backup machinery. Of course, this will not be that efficient as with the other machine but it will definitely be more efficient than doing it by hand or even missing a whole station.

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