Operatons Strategy ( Flashcards
Lean production
Aim of lean production is to produce quality output with fewer inputs
Advantages of kaizen
• Kaizen groups may gather ideas by involving employees and improve productivity and therefore increase efficiency.
• Kaizen, by involving employees it may motivate employees and therefore reduce labour turnover.
- Reduction in proportion of output rejected
Evaluation of Kaizen
• Some changes cannot be introduced gradually and may need an expensive solution such as an AI-based operations system.
• There may be resistance from senior and Theory X managers to such a programme due to their existing culture. Kaizen will only work effectively if there is real empowerment of the groups involved.
• In the short term, there may be short term costs to the business, such as employee training and lost output as a result of group meeting times.
Quality circles benefits
• Quality circles increases worker involvement and use their expertise. This could increase motivation and therefore improve operational efficiency
Simultaneous engineering benefits
Faster new product development which meets changing customers needs more quickly/effectively. Particularly important for a business where trends/materials might change rapidly
Cell production - type of flow production split into mini production units
• Significant improvements in worker commitment and motivation
• Increased teamwork and a sense of ownership of the complete unit of work
• Job rotation within the cell
JIT advantages
- JIT will reduce stock holdings which will reduce wastage of material so reduce costs.
- JIT will reduce the large amount of space needed for storage, lowering costs, and reducing wastage and therefore increasing efficiency.
Evaluation of JIT
• JIT stock management will need excellent supplier relationships.
• However, with JIT, if demand is not accurately predicted there may be insufficient stock to satisfy customers which may lower future sales.
Waste management can be achieved by:
• Adopting TQM and zero-defect principles. These reduce the cost of resources which have to be rejected for failure to reach quality assurance standards.
• The use of production methods that allow for the use of recycled materials. This will also improve the sustainability of the operations of the business.
Evaluation of lean production
• Cost of training in short term. Transition may reduce output initially.
• Lean production is more demanding of employees which can result in dissatisfaction and stress and therefore reduced productivity and increased labour turnover.
• Variations in demand can result in stock-outs due to JIT and result in customer dissatisfaction.
Main advantages of lean production
• Lean production will increase labour flexibility through multi-skilled labour and therefore reduce labour as an input.
• Employees’ jobs are enriched, their roles enhanced and motivation improved.
