Case Study Of The Leopold KOSTAL Group

Mass production is inflexible because it is difficult to alter a design or production process after a production line is implemented. Also, all products produced on one production line will be identical or very similar, and introducing variety to satisfy individual tastes is not easy. However, some variety can be achieved by applying different finishes and decorations at the end of the production line if necessary.

The third core competency is Boeing’s dynamic assembly line. This was a valuable change to Boeing because it reduced assembly time by 50%, or from 22 days down to 11 days. The planes move 80 feet every shift and lights determine the status of the assembly line. Dynamic assembly lines are costly to imitate and rare due to the size of the plant and the components used in order to pull such a large craft throughout the building. The only substitute of a dynamic assembly line is a static assembly line, and the dynamic one performs much more efficiently.

With assembly-line production, job skills become highly specific to the technology and procedures used in a given plant. Such jobs are considered semi-skilled because they require a specific skill but one that can be learned in a relatively short time... The organizations of production around an assembly line…and other forms of advanced mechanization are organized under scientific management [where]…the worker was to execute diligently a set of motions engineered to ensure the most efficient performance of a given task. (Hodson, R. & Sullivan, T.A., 2008, p. 27)

The Ford Production System (FPS) would utilize a pull-based production process that synchronizes production and ensures flow and stability throughout the production process. Ordered assembly drives costs down by providing Ford and its suppliers when and where supplies are needed. This also reduces overstocking of supplies.

In the era of consumerism, abundance of essential products is critical to supply the high demands. This would have been very difficult without Henry Ford and his excellence in operating the assembly line. Assembly line is one of the most reliable and durable production techniques ever invented. In the 20th century, assembly line was amongst one of the most remarkable technological advancements. Nearly all the products that we use nowadays, we would not have it in the amount we need and at the prices we have it without the assembly line. The assembly line has played a major role in modifying the world and it is the main force behind every industry on earth. The use of assembly line in industries such as automotive, arms, and food has played a key role in supplying the world with essential products while minimizing the total cost. The operation of assembly line in various industries has assisted the world in providing crucial products that we need to make our lives easier.

Andrews Corporation’s production department coordinates and facilitates the assembly lines for the products. There are two crucial factors that the production department focuses on: automation and production capacity.

smooth continuing flow on the assembly line with little idle time at each workstation. (Heizer, 2010). In order

One of the biggest needs for improvement was the assembly process. Although several changes were made throughout the years, quality and efficiency still fell below expectations. Hinrichs implemented the newly developed assembly which consists of two separate work stations that allowed operators in the adjacent stations to share the expensive balancer machine. These assembly cells were much more efficient as workers were no longer forced to wait for another person or machine in the process. Each cell was built like the other with quick turn set-up which created flexibility in the process while also reducing tooling inventory by almost a half. Now cells

The Ford Motor Company’s success with the assembly line caught the eyes of many industries that made products that required assembly, and because the assembly line was so successful it made a great awareness in finding its way into other factories during the 1910s and even today. Factories that assembled products like textiles, firearms, and bicycles began to be

Ford realized that he must change his methods of production in order to decrease the price of his automobiles. His invention of the assembly line actually started before the Model T came out, but Ford did not know it at the time. The Model N was built prior to the Model T. The workers on the Model N automobiles placed the parts in order along the floor while the “under-construction” auto was on skids and moved down the line. The workers placed their respective parts on the machine as it passed by. For the Model T, Ford tried to make his process even better. He broke the assembly process into 84 small steps. On top of this, workers were trained for only one of the 84 steps. By having a machine that could make interchangeable parts faster than any human, the process accelerated quickly and there was no shortage on supplies. With the combination of the new parts machine, line of workers trained per step, and an order of parts, the assembly line was born. Figure 1 below shows the wheels and hubcaps of Model T cars being assembled using the assembly line. The excessive amounts

It remoulds the manufacturing industries with optimized productivity by making a radical departure from traditional mastery of a craft and rationalizing work, skills and routines. It is the most common strategies conducted in nowadays large scale secondary industries as its outputs are easily quantifiable and predictable. Also, other industries are adhered to the principles of assembly line (Whitfield, 2004). McDonald is one of the typical examples that demonstrates the incorporation of it into the service industries. Staff mechanically repeat the same specialized task, frying French fries, making hamburgers, filling cups with soft drinks and etc. Customers also inherently conform to the rationalized business mode of McDonald by filing forward in queues to get the meal as if on a conveyor belt. This illustrates that the influence of the assembly line is wide-ranging, profound and long-lasting.

The assembly line needs to produce 6 units per hour and there is room for only four workstations. The tasks and the order in which they must be performed are shown in the following table. Tasks cannot be split, and it would be too expensive to duplicate any task.

Since the current assembly line layout should achieving 100% line efficiency when running at maximum capacity of 215 units. Thus, to operate at target 300 units/day, the current assembly line needs to redesign.

Boeing made use of lean techniques in their production system and increased its production by 50% and also reduced its floor space by 40%. Assembling a Boeing 737 is a typical job. Workers should take 367,000 parts, an same number of bolts, rivets, other equipment and 36 miles (58 kilometres) of electrical wire and then keep them all combined to make an airplane [2]. Engineers to machinists were involved in lean (reducing waste) in the factory. By creating an assembly line, aircraft will pass through the workers were they going to concentrate on assembling. Allocating all employees in the factory building and organising special teams helped a lot to solve the errors in the assembly line [2]. In the assembly line, there are eight beacon lights which reflect the production status. If everything is good it shows green colour. If an error occurs, the worker will press a button and the green light will changes to yellow and the panel board will shows the category of the problem(which category it is related to). The worker will pass on to a computer and writes about the problem in a brief manner and the problem should be assigned to special team to solve it within 30 minutes if not, the light turns to purple and the assembly line will shuts down. This moving assembly is the icon of factory’s lean strategies.

We analyzed a Toshiba assembly line plan for a new subnotebook computer.  The engineering section manager, Toshihiro Nakamura, wants to make changes to the line process as designed by the engineers.  The basic assembly line equipment and space already exist within the Toshiba plant, so the subnotebook assembly process must conform to those preexisting constraints.  Specifically, the assembly line is a straight 14.4-meter conveyor system that can accommodate 8 to 12 workers plus one supporter to aid in the assembly process.  The employees work at assembling for 7.5 hours a day.  The computers are assembled from