Lean Operations (Future State Design) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Lean Operations (Future State Design) - Essay Example At first the rationale and importance of this proposal is discussed with a reference to the previous task of the Manufacturing Director and the circumstances surrounding the recent appointment of a new Manufacturing Director. Then a description of the tasks that have been assigned to the Manufacturing Director for the completion of this assignment is given. After this the areas of concern regarding the requirements of the task have been discussed. Using the understanding of these areas of concern, the Manufacturing Director devises a comprehensive new strategy to address the organisational issues facing the company. In this document a Cellular Manufacturing system of production is proposed for implementation as Crockwood Seat Suppliers’ new work flow system. ... The company has recently suffered great losses and is in danger of having to shed almost forty five percent of its work-force in twelve months according to the current trend because of dwindling customer demand. The manufacturer has contracts with two other firms, namely Lanchester Steels Ltd and Coventry Covers, for the supply of the two required raw materials – sheet metal and seat cover rolls. All production processes of the vehicle seats are performed at the company’s shop floor except for plating for which the company contracts a metal works firm as it does not have the capability. In the previous part of the project, the Manufacturing Director assessed the current state of working of Crockwood Seat Suppliers. He was appointed to improve the fortunes of the company which was losing not only money but also customers due to the inefficiencies in its functioning. The two main areas of concern for the customer with regard to the company CSS are firstly the enormous lea d time which means that the customer has to wait around 51 days from the placement of the order for the delivery; this is unacceptable not only for a majority of large-scale automotive manufacturers but also for, the smaller-scale, spare parts dealerships (â€Å"Dubai's automotive spare parts trade worth AED 37 billion†, 2013). And secondly the disparity of cycle times for different manufacturing processes which causes a neglect of the Takt time (Linck 1999, p. 5) which must be adhered to in order to meet the demands rate. Also the disparity in the EPEI (Feld 2001) of different processes is causing a waste of human capital as twenty percent of skilled workers have very little work to do, though