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Showing posts from March, 2010

stores management

Stores management Introduction After efficient purchasing, receipt and inspection of materials, the next important step in materials control system is the storage of materials. The purchased materials are to be stored in stores/warehouse and issued for production as and when they are required. Store keeping aims at safeguarding the materials from all kinds of loss and damage and ensuring smooth and continuous flow of materials into the production activity. Meaning of stores management Dictionary defines stores as a building where goods are kept. Stores are defined as supply of goods and storage is defined as the act of storing the goods. Some people use the term storekeeping which has the same meaning as storage. Storekeeping is the process of storing raw materials or goods under the supervision of a person called storekeeper or store controller. The raw materials are called “stores” and the finished goods are called “stock”. The place where these materials are stored is called “

quality assurance

Quality assurance Introduction The quality is a joint effort of an organization. Everyone, directly or indirectly involved in the production plays a particular role in quality. Therefore, it is important for a production system to ensure that the procedure or techniques used for producing the quality product are effective and are followed carefully and dutifully. This process of ensuring the techniques is performed by the quality assurance. Quality assurance It is also defined as collection of all the planned and systematic actions. These actions are required to provide the confidence that the product will satisfy all the requirements. Concept of the quality assurance is equally important to both the consumers. Definition According to ANSI/ASQC “Quality assurance are all those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide confidence that a product or service will satisfy given need.” Management actions for assurance of quality Quality assurance is a considered as the

work study

Work study Introduction It is a collection of techniques required to perform the organized analysis of all the factors that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of methods being used. The main objectives of work study are to improve the productivity and quality of a product economically. Work study was known as “time and motion study” previously. The two techniques involved in a work study are method study and work measurement. Method study is the process of determining the most effective method of performing a job, logical layout o manufacturing facilities, smooth movement of workmen and materials in the plant and the right placement of inspection to ensure that processing of job is on time and at an economical cost. In similar way, work measurement is the process of determining the time required by the workmen to complete a specific work at a specified time. Work study It is defined as a management service based on those techniques, particularly method study and work measu

Purchasing management

Purchasing management Introduction Its purpose is to ensure continuity of supply of raw materials, subcontracted items and spare parts and at the same time reduction in ultimate cost of finished goods. Subcontracted items are those items which are produced by other manufacturing and purchased by the company and the previous contract exist. Meaning of purchasing management Purchasing is the process of obtaining the materials, tools and supplies that are required for the manufacturing of a product. About 50 to 60 % of total expenditure of a production organization comprises – of raw materials, components and services. Therefore, the purchasing should be done in such a manner so that the total saving of a company increases. Purchase department handles all the activities related to the purchasing of items for an organization. Definitions According to Alford and Beaty “ purchasing is the procuring the materials, supplies, machine tools, and services required for the equipment, main

Material management

Material management Introduction Material management is a function, which aims or integrated approach towards the management of materials in an industrial undertaking. Its main objects are cost reduction and efficient handling of materials at all stages and in all sections of the undertaking. Meaning of Materials management It is concerned with providing materials for production purposes with minimum total cost in an integrated manner for better functioning of an organization. Thus, we can say that materials are the most important resources for any company since no goods can be produced without them. Material management controls the procurement, storage, amount, movement and consumption of materials that can be used by a company for production process. It covers various aspects of materials and supplies the necessary materials when required for converting them into finished products. Definitions According to Bethel “Material management is a term used to connote controlling th

Production planning and control

Production planning and control Introduction PPC forms the two important components of the management process. Planning includes the consideration of all input variables so that the predetermined output goals can be achieved. On the other hand, control means to take a remedial action to prevent the variation of actual output from the desired one. Production planning It is concerned with the planning of various inputs ( men, machine, materials, etc) for a given period of time so that the customer could get the right quality of products at right place, price and in time. Production planning may be done as: Long term planning: Strategic planning-normally more than one year. Medium term: Aggregate planning- upto a year’s time. Short term: Routine planning- monthly or weekly. Production control However, the process of production control is a complementary activity to the production planning. It measures the actual performance of the production units and taking remedial action ca

Production planning and control in shop floor

Production planning and control in shop floor Job production It involves manufacture of products to meet specific customer requirement of special orders. The quantity involved in usually small. Example of job production are manufacture of large turbo generators, boilers, stream engines, processing equipments, material handling equipments, ship building etc. Under job production, we may have three types accordingly to the regularity of manufacture namely:  A small no of products produced only once.  A small no of products produced intermittently when, the need arises.  A small no of products produced periodically at known intervals of time. When the order is to executed only once, there is either scope of improvement of production techniques by introducing intricate method studies, special tools or jigs and fixtures unless the technical requirement justifies it. But if the order is to be repeated, jigs and fixtures, tools as well as specially designed inspection gauges shou

Production planning and control in mass production

Production planning and control in mass production Mass production Only one type of product or maximum 2 or 3 type of products are manufactured in large quantities and much emphasis is not given to retail consumer orders. Standardization of products, processes, materials, machines, uninterrupted flow of materials are the main characteristics of this system. Example: - petrochemical industry, cement industry, steel industry, sugar industry, cigarette industry etc. Features of mass production system o It includes manufacturing of high volume standardized products. o There is a smooth flow material from one work station to another workstation. o Production time of production unit as a whole is short (i.e. because of specialization principle). o Closely spaced work station reduce material handling. o Production planning and control is simple. o Work in progress inventory is less. Production planning and control is possible under mass production only with the help of line balan

Production planning and control in batch production

Production planning and control in batch production Batch production A variety of products are made but volume is not too large, to demand a separate line for each product. Here, items are processed in lots or batches and a new batch is undertaken for production only when the production on all items of a batch is complete. In fact, batch type production can be considered as an extension of job type system. The best example of batch type system is of chemical industry, where different medicines are manufactured in batches. Other example includes production of machines tools and printing press etc. this type of production generally adopted in medium size enterprises. It is a stage in between job production and mass production. Production planning and control in batch production Batch production is the manufacture of a number of identical articles either to meet a specific order or to satisfy the continuous demand. The decisions regarding jigs and fixtures are dependent on the qua

Plant location

Plant location Plant location means where the plant should be located. This is very important business activity which decide the fate of the business locating. A business involve a large amount of relatively permanent capital and a single wrong decision may waste the whole investment. Thus it should be done with full care and after proper research. Why plant location is important A good location may reduce the cost of production and distribution to a considerable extent. By easy availability of raw material and labour etc the cost can be reduced. Thus reduced cost of production and distribution helps in evaluating the competitive strength and profit margin of business. When the need for selecting suitable selection arise o While starting a new factory. o During the expansion of existing plant. o When the existing plant is to be re-located at some other place to remove the drawback of present location or to gain benefits of still better location. The problem of location The

Material requirement planning

Material requirement planning Introduction Material planning is a technique for determining the requirements of raw materials, components and spares etc. required for the manufacturing of the product. If the delivery date of the finished product is known in advance, then the ordering time and quantity of other work-in-progress can be planned accurately with the help of mathematical calculations. This planning of work-in-progress of the finished goods is known as MRP. Meaning MRP is the simple system of calculating (arithmetically). The requirement of input materials at different points of time based on the plan or schedule for the production of the finished goods. Or MRP is the planning for materials so that right quantity of material is available at the right time for each component or subassembly of the product by taking into account MPS and other data. Thus, in manufacturing a product the firm has to plan materials so that the right quantity of material is available at the

material handling

Material handling Introduction To manufacture any product, it is necessary that movement of at least one of the three basic elements of production i.e. material, man, machines take place. Without this movement, mass production is not possible. In most industrial process it is the material rather than men or machines that move. Since materials are mostly moved the term “material handling” has been coined. Meaning Materials handling occurs whenever a material is moved may be in a manufacturing, distribution (ware house) or office environment. Material handling also occurs during preparation for shipment, transportation may be by sea, air or land and moving material in and out or carnets. It involve movement of materials from one place to another for the purpose of processing. Definition International material management society has defined the material handling as “material handling is an art and science involving the movements, packaging and storing of substances in any form”.

master production system

Master production system Introduction Scheduling involves developing and assigning specific dates for start and completion of the necessary tasks or operation in a production shop floor. The operations scheduling and control process includes activities such as priority sequencing, detailed scheduling, loading, expediting and input/output control. 1. loading 2. sequencing 3. detailed sequencing 4. expediting 5. input-output control Loading Also known as shop loading or machine loading, is the assignment of jobs to various work center or machines for future processing, giving due consideration to the sequence of operations as per the route sheet and the priority sequencing and machine or work center utilization. Loading establishes the amount of load (labour hours or machine hours) each work center or machine must carry during the future period. Sequencing It is the process of determining the sequence of processing all jobs at each work center or machine. It establishes pr

capacity planning

Capacity planning Introduction Capacity may be defined as the maximum or limiting capability of a production unit to produce in a specific period. This is expressed in terms output per unit of time. If stated period of time is one month, the capacity is said to be the limiting capability of the producing unit in one month, e.g. 10,000 units per month. This capacity is the capability of the producing unit under given (or specified) conditions, e.g. one shift working/ two shifts working or three shifts working or one related to the intensity of the facilities used. Capacity Capacity of a production unit refers to the ability of a company to produce goods that are required by the customers. Capacity is the maximum limit of the load that a production unit of an organization can handle. Meaning: capacity is a limiting planning of a production unit to production with in a stated time period normally expressed as output unit per unit of time. Measures of capacity Different types o
Aggregate planning Introduction Capacity may be defined as the maximum or limiting capability of a production unit to produce in a specific period. This is expressed in terms of output per unit of time. If stated period of time is one month, the capacity is said to be the limiting capability of the producing unit in one month, e.g. 10,000 per units per month. This capacity is the capability of the producing unit under given (or specified) conditions, e.g. one shift working/ two shifts working or one related to the intensity of the facilities used. Aggregate planning It involves planning the best quantity to produce during time periods in the intermediate- range horizon (often 3 months to 1 year) and planning the lowest cost method of providing the adjusting capacity to accommodate the production requirements. For manufacturing operations, aggregate planning involves planning workforce size, production rate (work hours per week) and inventory levels. Features of aggregate planni