Dell has become one of the top large company. They supply their design computers all around the world. Let’s see how their production look like..
Below is Dell Board of Directors.
Michael Dell
Chairman of the Board and Non-Independent Director
James W. Breyer
Finance, Leadership Developmentand Compensation (Chair)
Donald J. Carty
Non-Independent Director
William H. Gray, III
Governance and Nominating (Chair);
Leadership Development and Compensation
Judy C. Lewent
Finance (Chair), Audit
Thomas W. Luce, III
Audit, Governance and Nominating
Klaus S. Luft
Audit
Alex J. Mandl
Audit (Chair), Governance and Nominating
Shantanu Narayen
Leadership Development and Compensation
Samuel A. Nunn
Presiding Director, Finance
Leadership Development and Compensation
Ross Perot, Jr.
Governance and Nominating
Magnificent production of Canon Lens.. Watch how it is made, the method, the quality measure and control. Nearly hand made production. No wonder they are so good.
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PART 2.
PART 3.
Good articles for factory who is looking for money saving.. By Preventive and Predictive Maintenance.
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Predictive and Preventive Maintenance in a Declining Economy
By S W Smith
In a declining economy saving operating expenses has become a priority for most firms. Predictive and preventive maintenance although similar, are two different tools used by facilities managers in order to save precious dollars. Both maintenance systems help keep earnings (the bottom line) stable by avoiding costly repairs and maximizing equipment up-time. Normally cutting expenses for operations means fewer support staff, hiring freezes, and a repair versus replacement strategy on equipment. But what happens when the forecast for low or declining sales does not improve or is mired in a deep recession?
A recent survey conducted by Facilities Planners and Architects, Inc. of facility managers and business owners revealed intended reactions to the current economic situation. The survey highlights are:
Obviously, it is always a good idea to watch your expenses. The results echoes this and indicates a long overdue desire to become more energy efficient, a focus on core responsibilities by outsourcing non-core functions, a strategic look at assets and the initiation of efficiency and savings programs. The survey mentions predictive maintenance as one of the most popular choices for cost saving solutions. It should be noted that predictive maintenance is not the same as preventive maintenance. Successful predictive maintenance starts with preventive maintenance. To better understand let us take a look at both.
Predictive vs. Preventive Maintenance:
Preventive maintenance occurs on a pre-determined schedule and is intended to increase efficiencies by reducing the amount of reactive work and increasing the ability of management to manage work. Most importantly, it allows for the early identification of problems and significantly increases the life cycle of equipment, lowers capital expenditure requirements and allows for better planning of capital budgets. In addition, when integrated with handheld technologies and a combination of asset management, work order management and inspections, work flow efficiencies are increased to maximum levels. The data collected through this method becomes the building block for predictive maintenance.
Predictive maintenance does have its benefits in a difficult economy particularly because it can be less labor intensive than preventive maintenance. Predictive maintenance programs are based upon the actual condition of the equipment and a determination of when maintenance should be performed to minimize costs. New technology techniques such as ultrasound, infrared and vibration online testing make predictive maintenance a viable alternative in certain circumstances. However, for most equipment the complex metrics for making educated guesses is provided by preventive programs.
The goal of a facility manager or business owner is to make sure equipment has the highest possible uptime and to extend the life cycle of the equipment as long as possible at the most reasonable economical cost. Some predictive maintenance plans will require a capital investment in higher technology sensing equipment but most will be built upon the foundation and metrics provided by an existing preventive maintenance program. Facility managers should not rely on just a predictive maintenance solution to save expenses especially if dealing with high value equipment or if safety is at stake.
Tough times call for tough decisions as both maintenance programs have their place. The solution may be a combination of the two maintenance programs or it may be dependent on your industry, type of equipment and survival strategy. What is your company going to do?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S_W_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Predictive-and-Preventive-Maintenance-in-a-Declining-Economy&id=3398307
Lean Manufacturing Techniques
Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy that aims to get the right products to the right place at the right time and in the right quantity. Lean manufacturing focuses on the reduction of the wastes that decrease efficiency and increase costs. These wastes include over-production, waiting time, processing, inventory, transportation, motion, and scrap. Lean manufacturing has been made popular by Japanese companies who have used these very effectively.
Some of the most popular techniques associated with lean manufacturing are discussed below.
Workplace organization and visual management:
An organized workplace is one that complies with the ?30-second rule.? This rule states that anyone should be able to find anything within 30 seconds. The ?5S? system of workplace organization (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain) emphasizes removal of what is not used and employment of shadow boards, signs, areas boundaries, and labels to help everyone find what is used.
Quick changeover:
Changeover time can be defined as the time from the completion of the last good piece of one job to the first good piece of the next job. The main components of changeover time are preparation of the work area, paperwork, materials, tools etc.; removal and mounting of parts, tools, fixtures and equipment; measuring and setting the equipment; and making trial pieces and adjusting where necessary. By watching and analyzing current changeover procedures, it is possible to learn ways to reduce each of the components and minimize equipment down time during the process.
Point-of-use storage of parts:
This means that every part needed to do a job is stored in the area that uses it. This technique offers reduced search time, minimal travel and material handling, and simplified storage.
Quality at source:
This means that employees are certain that the products they are sending to the next workstation are correct. Gauges, tools, and other inspection equipment can help employees to attain such certainty.
Standardized work procedures:
This means that tasks are organized in the best sequence to ensure products are being made the best way every time. Standardized work procedures bring consistency to the workplace and, therefore, should be documented.
These and other techniques such as cellular manufacturing, in which all the resources required to complete the product are grouped in the most effective combination instead of grouping the similar machines together as is done in traditional manufacturing, help the manufacturer improve their overall operations.
Lean Manufacturing [http://www.e-LeanManufacturing.com] provides detailed information on Lean Manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing Training, Lean Manufacturing Seminars, Lean Manufacturing Consultants and more. Lean Manufacturing is affiliated with Laser Cutting Machines.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kent_Pinkerton
http://EzineArticles.com/?Lean-Manufacturing-Techniques&id=352867
Good example of JIT and what happen if there is a disruption i.e Downtime.. This video is from VISA 
LEAN MANUFACTURING VISA.
In daily production there are 7 wastes that need to be treat well in order to achieve maximum profit and high productivity. In Lean manufacturing or Toyota Production System the 7 wastes are:
In order to reduce or eliminate the waste a 7 principles was developed by Toyota known as the 7 principles of Toyota Production System.
1. Reduce setup times.
All setup process that are implemented are a waste because of they tie up to labor and equipment. By organizing procedures, using carts and highly skill workers to do their own setup (self management), Toyota managed to reduce setup times.
2. Small Lot Production:
Producing products in a big lots result in a high setup cost, high capital cost of high speed machinery, larger inventories, long lead time, and of course large defect cost.
3. Employee Involvement:
Toyota organized their workers by forming teams and gave them the responsibility and training to do many specialized tasks. Teams are also given responsibility for housekeeping and minor equipment repair. Each team has a leader who also works as one of them on the line.
4. Top Quality control:
Quality is well control at each station of production line. The concept not to pass defective product to next process which control by the owner(operator) of that process has help a lot of Toyota production line. Any defective product found must be discovered and corrected as soon as possible and therefore to achieve the objective responsibility is given to the owner of that process. If it cannot be fixed, he can stop the line by pulling stop cord called Jidoka.
5. Equipment Maintenance:
One of the major contributors to line stoppage and defective is come from failed equipment. Therefore beside Maintenance people maintaining the equipment, Toyota operator are also assigned for basic maintenance task such cleaning and lubricating. Most important is that the operator is in the best position to detect any abnormality of the equipment. This known as a Total Productive Maintenance.
6. Pull Production.
To reduce inventory holding costs and lead times, Toyota developed the pull production method wherein the quantity of work performed at each stage of the process is dictated solely by demand for materials from the immediate next stage. The Kanban scheme coordinates the flow of small containers of materials between stages. This is a commonly known as Just-In-Time (JIT).
7. Supplier Involvement.
Supplier or vendors is a partner to Toyota. In Toyota Production System supplier shall involve and train together to achieve target for both side.
