Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 2463

Manufacturing System Improvement through Measurement and Redesign: A case study. Molu Olumolade and P. Viswanathan Industrial and Engineering Technology Department Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, MI. 48859

Abstract: Systematic improvement is a buzz word in the manufacturing world. Companies want to hear or know about how they can do one or all of the following three things: a) Produce more by keeping input at the same level, b) produce at the same level with a reduced input, or c) do both; that is, produce more with less input. The question often faced is whether this is possible. The answer to this question depends on the extent to which the company is willing to go to achieve its goal. In any of (a) through (c), many alternatives can be explored. These include productivity improvement through time study, ergonomics, and investment in new technology, worker’s motivation, and attitude of the management towards productivity. All of these alternatives are not the same but they can be implemented individually or collectively.

This paper discusses how a student used the combination of time study and redesign to help a mid-size company improve its manufacturing processes. This effort ultimately resulted in improved quality and increased productivity of workers in a section of the company. It also reduced the amount of personal, delay and fatigue allowances of the workers.

Introduction In the last decade, we have witnessed increasingly growing awareness of large-range planning in all sectors. Companies are more than ever concerned with long-term stability and profitability. In order to remain competitive, manufacturing facilities must be designed with enough flexibility to withstand significant changes in their operating requirements.

Productivity improvement means elimination of wastes and its precondition is the proper pursuit of goals. Manufacturing system improvement includes productivity improvement, work system improvement and work measurement with special elements of safety, health and comfort of the workers (see Figure 1).

There is absolutely no compromise among safety, health and comfort. They must all complement each other to achieve optimum productivity (see Figure 1). Safety and health deal with the work environment and comfort deals with work station. Human factors have been known to enhance long-term performance of workers and prevent them from being overly overwhelmed or fatigued. It is therefore highly imperative that men as well as machines be recognized as essential components of the system.

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. Copyright © 2004 American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Viswanathan, P., & Olumolade, M. (2004, June), Manufacturing System Improvement Through Measurement And Redesign: A Case Study Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--12952