Technology, Software and Human Resources and Work Organization - Essay Example

Topic: Operations Management Name: Registration No: Institution: Course Code: Professor’s Name: Date of Submission: The extent to which production systems have been modified to accommodate any changes in the companies circumstances in terms of: technology; software; and human resources and work organization Due to the changes experienced by the firms in their production systems they have been forced to modify them to accommodate the changes. In the case of auto plant A due to reduced demand of its products the management has changed the operation of its human resources from full time job to shifts where two shifts are in operation every week, at the same time the few temporary workers that used to be given part time job are no longer in operation due to reduced production. Job rotation has also been experienced among both assembly line workers and office staff due to the need to develop multi-skilled workers and need to improve their job interest. Some of the boards produced by PCB plant B are small in size and cannot be produced by a mass production line technology which produces boards which are of the same size, flexible assembly system does this and enables the plant to produce both the small size and large boards to accommodate the needs of consumers. The need for the small size boards which is manufactured by flexible assembly system necessitated the installation of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) system software which oversees the production (Jones & Robinson, 2012). The FAS uses the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) technology to transport the small boards carried in a box with internal racking which prevents damage between all stages of assembly. The boxes are identified by a software of a programmable badge (A satellite ID system) which helps in determination of the routeing of the AGV. The refrigerator plant C which requires some manual operations has changed its operation due to improvement of its amount of automation from 63.9 to 82.9 per cent which has led to reduced demand of human resources. The air conditioner plant also uses AGVs technology for material handling and the conveyors are used for assembly which operates at a cycle time of 20 seconds and hence they are highly efficient. Due to faster assembly periods the human resource department transfers the extra assembly workers. The current state of development concerning lean production and related methodologies such as TQM.TPM etc The firms in the given case studies have been involved in Total Quality Management as well as Total Production in a number of ways. This involves utilization of available resources, which are of course limited, to entirely produce quality output. It has also involved making the most out of the constricted resources. Taking for instance firm A: operators are ever more being provided with support in order to facilitate a more easy and efficient carrying out of the manual assembly task. In PCB plant B: Group technology, which is batching together boards which are similar, is applied in order to increase flexible systems resource efficiency. In the refrigerator plant C: reducing set up time has been reduced in the mix production. This has been done to compensate for the reduced efficiency that comes with mixing technique. Total Production Management activities such as parts kitting is expansively utilized in order to enhance assembly efficiency. In air conditioner plant D: reliant on the model, automation of the parts production has been conducted to approximately 60-70 percent. For instance tube welding has been automated to enhance quality production. The company’s current competitive strategies and how they have been influenced by external factors and conditions Price competition This has been achieved by the plants through reduction in production costs in terms of raw materials, labor and assembly, transportation cost. This has led to reduction in prices and hence increases in sales volume and hence increases in revenues. Offering a greater variety of products with more features strategy This is achieved by introduction of new technologies and doing extensive research to produce new better improved products compared to existing ones which the customers will even have a better experience using them as compared to competitors products. This will lead to increased demand of your company produce. These competitive strategies have been influenced by the following internal and external factors; Experienced increase in traffic. This is due to the pressure for smaller and more frequent deliveries of materials to factories which has resulted to pollution and unnecessary energy consumption which increases the cost of production and hence increase in prices and hence reduction in the demand of products. Increasing rate of Public’s reaction to plethora of new products which annoys customers as the new products become obsolete almost as soon as they leave the store this forces the consumers to start thinking of getting the newly manufactured products as they see their already owned products as inferior. The ageing population workforce is another internal factor that hinders the competitive strategies. Due to the ageing population there are fewer workforces who are adaptable to the emerging new technologies and the seniority based pay system provided relatively cheap labour. The ageing population is less productive and hence increase costs as they see the work as exhausting and they can hardly be manage it. The companies’ future plans with regard to production The auto plant A to increase the number of assembly lines from three to six to accommodate the capacity of 400,000 and increase the amount of output from the current 500,000 to 800000 through improved technology to manufacture quality cars which will capture consumer demand. In the PCB plant B’s there are plans to improve their level of technology to act as a solution to the production of small batches economically although the production of batches manually cannot be completely avoided it can be reduced to lower levels. There is also a need to focus on improvement activities on upstream products and processes such as bare board design manufacture and logistics planning due to the wide finished product variety of special boards. In the refrigerator plant C there is need to reduce the mixing of products to extend the production level to nine models without loss of efficiency and increase the number of refrigerators produced. In the air conditioner plant D, there are plans to improve the level of assembly from manual to automatic leading to reduction in costs due to standardization of parts and products. Due to the rising value of yen also there is need to import parts in order to remain competitive since the production cost overseas sister plants is half that of plant D this will lead to reduction in production costs and in turn increase profits. References Jones, P., & Robinson, P. (2012). Operations management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kamauff, J. W. (2010). Manager's guide to operations management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More