Bottlenecks

Bottlenecks and Process Performance

Productivity is crucial to any business and therefore any process that is part of that business. According to Jacobs and Aquilano 2005, productivity is measured in terms of output per labor hour. Constraints are those factors that would hinder the process from being productive. A bottleneck neck effect is defined as any resource whose capacity is less than the demand placed upon it (Jacobs and Aquilano, 2005). If the capacity is not maximized we won’t be able to meet orders (demand) and do so while meeting customer specifications and last but not least prevent customer complaints.

The NIT process flow does not have the best product flow because it does not allow for QA technicians to inspect the product prior it is completely packaged therefore allowing for rework to be non-destructive. Because of the way the cut up department is set up, which feeds the NIT product to the NIT department, we assume the product has already being inspected. However, it is not possible to do so. Therefore introducing an automated cut up system was much needed to resolve the bottleneck issue. Quality has been found to be one of the major determinants for project success (Avninder. G, 2008). Now that the system is in place this is very clear, the product is being processed based on weight, less miscuts and downgrades are being made; we achieved a better quality, therefore the project was a success. The product sent to the NIT department is consistent, the amount of defects has significantly being reduced and since the process is automated and faster the QA technicians can AQL product prior getting to the NIT department. This has eliminated the bottleneck effect because the department is able to use every piece and every piece can be left in the final package, no more destructive AQLs.

As part of the implementation plan, a set of production personnel and engineers from both the company and XXXX, Inc. met and divided the project. This process...