Case Study on the Jackson Manufacturing Company

The Situation

Karen McFadden has received a request to fulfill a weekly order of 400 units of motor armatures. Although the assembly of the order is similar but different, it can be easily processed either by adding the process into existing production schedules or through JIT scheduling. In a total of (8) production tasks for the new order, only one has unknown cycles times and labor standards. A time study was done to determine cycle times and labor standards for task # 8. It was determined that the operators’ production efficiency meets established standards but compromises total cycle time for production of the new order.

The Problem(s)

Although there are standard components, there are differences in the assembly. Of total of (8) tasks to process the assembly, all but one have measured cycle times and labor standards. Task # 8 is a new design and needs time study analysis to determine cost and efficiencies. Operator performance meets established performance/ production standards but not established labor work schedules.

The Critical Factor(s) Bearing on the Problem(s)

The new design of the armature requires the process mapping of the final task to gather data and information such as input, output, users, requirements, constraints, etc. This entails mapping out the main flow, determining decision points, inspection points and alternative process paths. Performing time studies will determine standard times resulting labor standards and costs. Another factor is the cost of generating the project to define the new process, data collection and analysis, etc. and applying the knowledge gained to improve the overall process by reducing variation, and minimizing non-value-added activities.

The Discussion of Possible Solutions

The case study states that one of the possible solutions would be to perform a time study on task # 8 that would help determine standard times, cost estimates and other data that would be necessary for presentation of the RFQ. The...