Efficiency

printerman · 06-07-2005, 13:52

Hi,
i know this is a very open question but i am having a disagreement with my managers concerning filling our shopfloor to its fullest manufacturing capacity.

We are always firefighting, get things out at the last minute, things are never early....any way the bosses think 93% efficiency is right...i think an on-going factory probably on runs at about 80%....

So, what do you guys think......

P.S. this factory is very hands on...no machines at all, just a few handcrimping tools....

P.

paulyoung666 · 06-07-2005, 13:57

difficult one to answer , do ppl tend to stay in the same area all the time or are they flitting here there and everywhere to get different bits and pieces ????

printerman · 06-07-2005, 14:02

People tend to spend 1.5hrs doing batches of work. then move the 4 batches to the next section....i know this isn't ideal but its almost impossible to have single flow production in here...

Raistlin · 06-07-2005, 14:32

The maxim adopted by most successful suppliers is "just in time".

Being late is obviously no good, being early accomplishes nothing really - all you do is plough extra resources in for little or no extra financial gain.

It's difficult to say what level of efficiency you should be aiming for without knowing how it is going to be measured.

**Chris** · 06-07-2005, 15:11

My dad used to run a manufacturing business years ago. They always fought shy of stockpiling their product for any length of time because that requires space, which costs money. Room to store the the finished goods is the biggest argument against having things finished early I think. And depending on what the product is, you can't necessarily deliver it to the customer early.

printerman · 06-07-2005, 15:16

Yes. I understand the JIT context....but throwing overtime at something at the last minute is not JIT. Its PANICK!!!! This happens week in week out...no one will solve the problems....they just keep blaming the next thing on the list and overbooking in my opinion.
I am going to start measuring by looking at what has finished being packed, the WIP and the work not yet started. One week later for example i should be able to do the same and see how much of the work has actually flowed around the floor. From that i can compare to what is actually booked in to our capacity plan and therefore calculate an efficiency.

I think anyway.