Line balancing

The client is part of a large privately owned group.  They had recently opened a new production facility and invested upwards of £12m in plant and machinery - the largest factory of its kind in the UK.

The manufacturing process consisted of several work centres, linked by conveyers.  Essentially, this was a production line where components and raw materials were fed onto the line and finished products came off the end.

Site Management wished to optimise the performance of the line and we were asked to carry out a line balancing exercise.  Our objectives were to:

We approached the project by undertaking a series of time studies covering all the operations, both manual and machine controlled.  The data was then analysed and spreadsheets derived that were compatible with in-house systems.  We subsequently trained in-house staff in the use of our data and assisted them with the build-up of their product costings.

The line balancing project was delivered on time and within budget.  Savings resulted from higher output of around 10-15% with the same manpower. 

Capacity planning

The warehouse and despatch fuction at this medium-sized engineering company had become a major bottleneck.  The level of service was suffering and Departmental Management were being pressured by the Board to resolve the situation in the near future. 

Management had identified a number of problems, mainly relating to capacity planning and the control of manpower levels, but did not have the expertise or the opportunity to improve matters.  Initial fact finding revealed:

We were asked to carry out an investigation into how time was being spent and to recommend upon staffing levels and departmental capacity.  Also, to highlight where the processes and operations could be improved.

To achieve our objectives we conducted an activity sampling exercise covering a complete shift for the entire completent.  This defined the manpower levels for the various delivery volumes and enabled Management to plan resources accordingly.  The exercise also helped us to highlight any waste within the processes.

The project yeiled labour savings of around 15% due to enhanced capacity planning, with a further increase in productivity of 10% as a result of improved ways of working.  A total productivity gain of 25% plus a dramatic improvement in industrial relations.

Work measurement

The client, a medium-sized furniture company, was in the process of upgrading their MRP11 package and required a series of standard job times for all operations to provide some of the information for their new computer system. 

In addition, the times were required for a number of other business functions that had been neglected over the years to be similarly improved.  Including:

- Estimating and pricing     - Manpower planning     - KPI's

Although the project was of a variable nature, we were able to able to work on a fixed-fee basis and to provide the client with a complete data base of standard times covering setting-up, production and all other ancillary duties.  Upon completion, in-house staff were instructed in the use of the data and how to maintain the integrity of times in the future. 

Although not specifically part of the terms of reference, we identified a number of improvements in working methods that meant the project was fully self-financing, with a pay-back of just three months.