Research company: Moscow Bagel & Deli
Condition and Maintenance of Equipment and Tools （16,20）
In the best plants, equipment is clean and well maintained. The purchase dates and costs are stenciled prominently on the side of machinery, and maintenance records are posted. Such details ensure that workers know as much as possible about the machines and can plan for preventive maintenance. But perhaps more important, by posting cost and maintenance records, the company signals to employees that management cares about the product, that they’ve invested in keeping the plant running smoothly, and that they care about the work people do. Those are important factors in maintaining morale.
You can also learn a great deal by asking people on the factor floor how things are working. When some of mystudents toured a new production line at an automotive supplier, one of them asked a worker how things were going”Pretty well”, he said but pointed to one critical sensor that wasn’t performing consistently or accurately so that manual, not automatic, inspection of a part was required, Thus, a significant investment in technology was undermined by an increase in person-hours to perform this task by hand when the sensor malfunctioned – a source of waste uncovered by a simple question.
Another question to ask employees is whether operators and product development personnel are involved in purchasing tools and equipment. People on the factory floor and others directly involved with the product are in the best positions to understand the strengths and weaknesses of new equipment and the needs of the line.
Finally, look at the equipment yourself. Machines don’t have to be new, but a recently purchased machine that’s dirty and falling out of repair is a signal of poor preventive maintenance. Conversely, if a machine looks new but was purchased long ago, you know the plant’s taking care of its investments. And many problems are easily visible to the naked eye – if you know to look. When I visited a petroleum refinery in Haifa, Israel, in 1970, plant managers told me about a problem with two of four temperature charts, one at each end of two pipes carrying raw petroleum. The two “problem” charts displayed significant temperature variations while the other two were flat, leading managers to assume the latter were under control. I asked to climb to the top of the furnace to take a look and discovered that only two of the temperature sensor cables were connected – the two with significant variations. The other two charts were flat because the sensors that led to those charts had been cut.
Is a timetable posted for equipment preventive maintenance and ongoing improvement of tools and processes?
20. Would you buy the products this operation produces?
9
Management of Complexity and Variability （8,17,20）
This category judges how the operation manages, controls, and reduces the complexity and variability it faces in its industry. It can be difficult dring a tor to judge how a plant performs in this category, but you can watch for certain indicators. For instance, many companies collect (and then must process) much more data about their operations than they need; if you observe many people manually recording data and a large number of keyboards for data entry, the company may be doing a poor job of handling complexity, especially if the data collection is done by hand.
In addition, since the product in lean plants flows through quickly and inventory is kept to a minimum, workers don’t need to keep track of a lot of parts. Furthermore, the best plants are able to use the same types of parts in the manufacture of different products. And finally, some companies – Toyota and Dell, to name two – build complexity handling into their production processes, designing systems that aid operators in picking the right parts out of a broad selection. If a worker reaches for the wrong valve, for instance, he or she might break an electronic beam. which would turn on red lights and possibly trigger an audible signal. Ask workers if such systems are in place.
Are work instructions and product quality specifcations visible at all work areas?
Is there an effective project – management process, with cost and timing goals, for new product start – ups?
20. Would you buy the products this operation produces?
What Students Are Saying About Us
.......... Customer ID: 12*** | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Honestly, I was afraid to send my paper to you, but you proved you are a trustworthy service. My essay was done in less than a day, and I received a brilliant piece. I didn’t even believe it was my essay at first 🙂 Great job, thank you!"
.......... Customer ID: 11***| Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This company is the best there is. They saved me so many times, I cannot even keep count. Now I recommend it to all my friends, and none of them have complained about it. The writers here are excellent."
"Order a custom Paper on Similar Assignment at essayfount.com! No Plagiarism! Enjoy 20% Discount!"
