7ENT1128 Lean Manufacturing Services Assignment Sample
Introduction
Product development cycles have long been a cause of dissatisfaction for Company X, which has been dealing with them for many years.
One of their most serious competitors is using the most recent technology to produce new bicycles in half the time it takes them to create them. Company X has previously missed product launch deadlines for the Christmas season sales season, resulting in items being completed on time but at a significant financial cost to the organization. Another product offered from the company that is worth mentioning is a 10-speed bicycle that was welded and produced in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s been a long time since any cost-saving updates have been implemented for this specific piece of equipment.
Redesigning Company X assembly line and production warehouse layout to minimize waste using process mapping tools.
Because there are so many bicycle manufacturers in Europe, it is not unusual for the bicycle industry to be quite competitive in terms of pricing. European Commission estimates that Asian bike exports account for more than 40% of the EU market, owing to low labor costs and the ability to adapt cutting-edge technologies that made them extremely competitive in the previous decade, and have allowed them to maintain their high level of competitiveness. According to industry sources, leaders in the bicycle business in Taiwan and China have relocated to other nations in order to take advantage of the rapidly expanding marketplaces in these two countries, which are fast rising in size (Nallusamy,2018).
Identify and discuss the critical factors that influence the redesigning process.
However, although shifting bicycle manufacturing to other nations has provided enormous benefits for bicycle manufacturers, it has also resulted in significant drawbacks. The increased lead time and transportation expenses associated with outsourced manufacturing are the two most significant disadvantages of this kind of production. As a result, it is critical to maintain considerable inventories as a result of the present economic climate, as described above. Their inability to respond to market developments is a result of the distance that separates them from the market. As a consequence, Europe has become less willing to accept things manufactured outside of the continent since they do not benefit the country’s labor or economy as a result of this tendency.
How you would implement lean tools and techniques to optimize Company X supply chain processes.
Being able to build their bicycles in Europe is a significant competitive advantage for bicycle makers in that region. The expectation is that producers in their home markets will be more customer-friendly, adaptable, and responsive than their counterparts in other regions of the world. More crucially, the European Union’s industrial policy is meant to result in commodities of higher quality than their predecessors, as well as commodities that are more beneficial to the environment and human health as a consequence (Realyvásquez-Vargas,2020).
Those that produce European bicycles must balance the pros and drawbacks of manufacturing their goods in a country other than their own country. This is a difficult decision. In order to reduce costs while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction, small and medium-sized bicycle manufacturers in Europe must rethink their business procedures. Cost and quality are still significant factors in determining a company’s success in today’s economy, but the ability to respond quickly and adapt to changing market conditions is now just as crucial as they were in the past( Sangwa,2022).
Challenges
Industrial leaders were preoccupied with the requirements of their own employees for a long period of time throughout the nineteenth century, particularly in the textile industry. It was common for many of them to be habituated to concentrate only on the work at hand rather than on the entire picture of the situation. Because of this procedure, a virtual wall has been built between the various sections of the organization. As a result, each department was given the flexibility to pursue its own objectives without having to be concerned about how their activities would affect the operations of their colleagues in other departments. Not only did this result in a product that did not satisfy the needs and expectations of customers, but it also resulted in the organization losing precious resources such as time, money, and opportunities that might have been utilised as a consequence of the failure (Sangwa,2022).
How do Company X characteristics influence these challenges?
It is simple to state that when the entire demand for production is consistent and predictable over time, just-in-time manufacturing (JIT) is the most effective. Alternatively, it is likely that variations in demand are caused by a combination of predictable and unexpected events that occur at the same time in the economy. It is also likely that unanticipated system failures may result in downtime, making the implementation of JIT more difficult to achieve. Workers in Japan are expected to have a deep grasp of the manufacturing process, which is a component of the country’s national culture (Qattawi,2021).
A hundred percent inspection is achievable because the objects are carried in tiny batches through the system on their route to their ultimate destination, allowing for a complete examination. As a result of this way of thinking, including just-in-time (JIT) production into an entire quality control system is rather uncomplicated. To increase product quality and dependability, both total quality management (TQM) and just-in-time (JIT) are ideas that work together to decrease inventory costs while also having the potential to significantly improve product quality (Cantini,, 2021).
Conclusion
The ability of suppliers to respond promptly and provide components that are sufficiently reliable will relieve the manufacturer of the burden of having to analyse each new batch of components. Consequently, an organisation may be pushed to engage with a single supplier in order to maintain the intimate ties needed by the system, making varied sourcing difficult to achieve and sustain successfully. Therefore, when a company is dependent on a single vendor, it puts both suppliers and manufacturers in risk of losing their employment. Consequently,
Although it is currently unknown whether either the manufacturer or the supplier would be able to meet demand if the other went out of business, both firms are concerned about the implications of such an event. Because there were little or no changes in demand and rapid set-up periods for production, a favourable industrial environment was required, which necessitated the implementation of just-in-time manufacturing (JIT).
References
Cantini, A., Carlo, F.D. and Tucci, M., 2021. Serious game for lean layout planning: a proposal for involving company staff within the design process. International Journal of Product Development, 25(1), pp.62-84.
Nallusamy, S. and Saravanan, V., 2018. Optimization of process flow in an assembly line of manufacturing unit through lean tools execution. In International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa (Vol. 38, pp. 133-143). Trans Tech Publications Ltd.
Qattawi, A. and Chalil Madathil, S., 2019. Assembly line design using a hybrid approach of lean manufacturing and balancing models. Production & Manufacturing Research, 7(1), pp.125-142.
Realyvásquez-Vargas, A., Arredondo-Soto, K.C., Blanco-Fernandez, J., Sandoval-Quintanilla, J.D., Jiménez-Macías, E. and García-Alcaraz, J.L., 2020. Work standardization and anthropometric workstation design as an integrated approach to sustainable workplaces in the manufacturing industry. Sustainability, 12(9), p.3728.
Sangwa, N.R. and Sangwan, K.S., 2022. Leanness assessment of a complex assembly line using integrated value stream mapping: a case study. The TQM Journal, (ahead-of-print).
Vo, T.T.B.C. and Nguyen, N.T., 2019. Effect of the surface mounting technology assembly based on lean production: A case study. Can Tho University Journal of Science, 11(2), pp.69-80.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Know more about UniqueSubmission’s other writing services: