Propose an appropriate performance measures for the new factory, using Maskell’s framework as a basis.
...rformance in this aspect is to record the number of occurrences and the number of days it happens. This measurement also can monitor the improvement of reducing the order and schedule changes. Customer service level Basically there are two methods to measure the customer service level, the quantitative approach and qualitative approach (Maskell B.H., 1991). In the new factory, they only delivery their products to mother company, therefore, it is SEL Game Division, instead of this factory, who will take the responsibility to measure it. 2.2 Process Time Manufacturing cycle time Time is very crucial issue in the current manufacturing industry and time compression is most of the most popular technique to be utilized in the manufacturing process. Long cycle time can induce many problems like high volume of WIP, high cost and high stock, which are the all-sensitive items that SEL wants to reduce. Therefore, the performance of manufacturing cycle time is more critical. There are couples of methods to measure it like detailed recording of cycle time (Maskell B.H., 1991), which is suitable for the cardboard jigsaw’s manufacturing process because the operation is simple and not hard to collect data. P:D ratio D in the P:D ratio stands for delivery lead time to the customer and P ratio stands for production lead time which include all the time from purchasing raw material to manufacturing component and subassemblies. If P is greater than D, manufacturer can offer more flexibility, otherwise, the customers’ needs have been forecasted. Therefore, “the P:D ratio is a good measure of success at improving customer lead times and production flexibility” (Maskell B.H., 1991). The production lead-time can be calculated by reviewing the bill of materials and lead times associated with each part in process. The customer preferred delivery lead-time can be got from investigation to customer. The objective is to increase the P:D ratio to more than 1. In the case, the reduction of manufacturing cycle time, good relationship with suppliers and just-in-time delivery could help to achieve this objective. This ratio could be shown as a graph to present the trend over time. Setup time Setup time reduction is an important factor that is able to influence the whole quality of production. There are two main methods to measure it. To calculate the average time taken to perform a number of setups within a cell or work centre is suggested to measure the setup time of the process in the new factory. Furthermore, it should be overviewed over a long period to examine the whether there is a continuous improvement through “number of setups by time class” analysis (Maskell B.H., 1991). Material availability As raw material availability is crucial in the manufacturing process in the new factory, more concentration should be paid on it. The method to account the information can be the number of schedules or orders, the number of individual parts in shortage. A bar chart can be used to represent it, describing the number of orders and how many are delayed due to the shortage of material. The percentage could be calculated, from which the performance could be told. 2.3 Flexibility Flexibility is becoming one of the manufacturing objectives from 1990s, which mainly involves three aspects: production mix, production volume and introduction of new products. In terms of production of cardboard jigsaw, the fashion product, flexibility in production mix and production volume is really critical. The measurements on flexibility are covered in the following items. Percentage of standard, common and unique parts The more standard or common parts, the more flexible production process (Maskell B.H., 1991). On the contrary, the more unique parts, the less flexibility. In the jigsaw production process, only the selection of coloured picture is a unique part, the left ones are followed standardizations. Output compared to the capacity A world class manufacturing usually want the plant have spare capability to be accommodated in order to meet the change in customer demand. The measurement of capacity is generally to account the production hours (Maskell B.H., 1991). Compared with the total production hours, the percentage of the output is expressed to indicate the utilization of plant. 2.4 Quality The quality is defined as a performance of fitness of customer satisfaction, which involves the following factors: form, fit, function, reliability and consistency. Its improvement must be designed into the product and process rather than be improved by inspection. “The start point for implementing quality improvement is performance measurement” (Maskell B.H., 1991) and which is at the same time a part of the quality improvement methodology. And how to measure the performance will be discussed in terms of the following aspects. Incoming quality The incoming quality means the quality of the incoming materials and components. Since the plan of the new factory is to build the long-term collaborative relationship with suppliers, trust and mutual benefits is the foundation and principle. Based on trust, there is no need to ...