Operations Management Synthesis Essay

Product Design The products that will be made out of the given components are corrective lenses for eyeglasses. The product will have the following features: a. Corrects near-sightedness or far-sightedness, whichever may be the case, through varying curvatures of the lenses, for different grades b. May be rectangular or circular in overall shape c. Around 1.5 inches in length, 1 inch in width d. Clear and transparent, not dark Considering that the finished goods (lenses) are very much expensive in relation to the raw materials (marbles), it would be safe to say that much value was added to the raw materials by the process of manufacturing, as a result. Process Design and Layout Given a product with just modules and essentially made from the same base – standard glass lenses, the process could be considered as repetitive-focus. Given the raw materials of only marbles, the illustration above is the process diagram that will be used. In order to clearly explain the diagram, the process involves the following steps: a. Crush marbles b. Melt marbles c. Add chemicals to treat the glass for durability d. Check for proper consistency/ratio of chemicals to glass and impurities e. Transfer defects back to start of production cycle f. Cool the material g. Check for bubbles h. Transfer defects back to start of production cycle i. Roll out the cooling glass j. Shape or cut out into shape (either circular or rectangular) k. Check dimensions (1.5 inches by 1 inch) if correct l. Transfer defects back to start of production cycle m. Curve the lens according to specifications using a curving machine n. Check if curvature specifications are met o. Transfer defects back to start of production cycle p. Final cleaning for any impurities q. Polishing of lenses for a shiny or glossy finish r. Final checking of lenses s. Package the lenses t. Ship the finished goods u. Administer preventive maintenance before next cycle (general cleaning of machines, check for machine irregularities) The layout is done in such a way that in case of defects, the transfer back to the start of the production cycle would be easier. Furthermore, the layout allows for job expansion for the workers due to them handling more than one step in the process. Also, this layout is supposed to minimize the amount of distance from one process to another, as long as these processes follow each other. Quality Management Initially, quality checkpoints are put up right after every crucial process. Meanwhile, the concept of six sigma is also implemented in order to address and eventually minimize them. By using the DMAIC, the following is how defects would be addressed: a. Define defects (For instance, bubbles were found.) b. Measure and collect process data (Identify how many products were defective and how much of the production process was affected.) c. Analyze data (What was the cause of the defect? i.e., inconsistency of chemical-to-glass ratio) d. Improve process (What should be done to prevent it from occurring again? i.e, thoroughly checking for proper consistency/ratio of chemicals to glass and/or hiring experts/more skilled employees) e. Control new process to make sure performance is maintained Location The primary determinant of location would be costs of rent and delivery of raw materials. The factory must be closer to suppliers than customers. If we are to apply clustering, it would also be good to be close to competitors, as it would implicate a technology spill-over. To compare the advantages of the possible different locations and the advantages of each, the center of gravity method is while also determining the most convenient manner of delivering orders. Human Resources The main objective of the human resources department is to make sure that the employees are skilled in glass processing. This is in order to troubleshoot properly and detect any defects in the product itself. Since the process is repetitive-focus, the qualifications of the workers are not as high as the qualifications needed for a process-focus design but still higher than that of the product focus. Salaries would be a bit higher than the minimum wage. Furthermore, the following factors shall be observed: a. The criteria on determining which Individual should be assigned to a station must be based on their skills, talents, and strengths (i.e, hiring field experts for checking for defective products and hiring capable persons for cleaning, packaging, and preparing for shipping). b. Employee empowerment should be considered through incentive systems (i.e, offering incentives to employees based on their needs, for instance, car loan for managers while food/transportation bonuses for the laborers). c. Employee empowerment through job expansion (i.e, enriching/enlarging the scope of the jobs, for instance, 1-2 employees assigned for all checkpoints instead of having 1 per checkpoint). Supply Chain Management .The primary suppliers should easily be accessible since raw material orders will only be issued upon demand. There must be a strong relationship that would be built with primary suppliers in order to eventually avail of discounts and a higher assurance of good quality. There should always be backup suppliers in case the main supplier fails to deliver. Other suppliers would include actual glass manufacturers in case of the lack of materials from primary sources. Inventory Management In order to maximize resources and keep inventory holding costs at a minimum, we will employ the Just-In-Time method for managing inventory. Furthermore, we will order only when we need to produce; thereby not falling into the trap of availing of quantity discounts which sometimes incur more expenses in the long run. As a result, to further reduce inventory costs, finished goods could be shipped out of the plant as soon as possible. Scheduling All orders will be taken and processed in a uniform manner. Orders may be changed in specifications only until the preliminary process of producing the modular standard glass lens is concluded, meaning that once the process of curving the lenses, which is the process where the orders differ, the orders cannot be changed anymore. Regularly, orders will be processed and queued regularly, preferably every day, Maintenance Preventive maintenance is done every after cycle, which involves the standard operating procedure of cleaning the machines. When factory is not scheduled for production, a more general preventive maintenance is undertaken to ensure smooth operations during the scheduled productions by increasing the reliability of the machines.