MEMORANDUM
To: Shuzworld
From: Farah Shekari, consultant
Re: Maui Sandal
Date: February 12th, 2012

Improve Work Flow In order to improve the current workflow in the plant, I recommend that Shuzworld’s Shanghai Production Facility (SSPF) should use the layout strategies (such as assembling balancing) method because of the nature of the issue. The objective of the layout strategy is to develop an effective and efficient layout that will meet the firm’s competitive requirements” (JGT2 power point presentation). There are many types of layouts but in the case of this task, the warehouse layout is most appropriate, the trade offs to address are between spaces and material handling, including the following: material handling equipment, capacity and space requirements, environment and aesthetics, flows of information, and cost of moving between various work areas. SSPF is budgeted to produce 6 work boots an hour, with a 40 hour workweek and currently 8 stations with 46 minutes performance time. By inputting the information into the layout strategies method, I conclude that SSPF can eliminate 3 of their workstations. Therefore, it will be 92% efficient with 50 minutes of time allocated, 4 minutes of idle time, and 10 minutes of maximum cycle time.

Initial and Ongoing Costs for New Line Now, I would like to discuss the impact of coast on the decision to continue producing the new line. Based on the information provided, I have chosen the learning curve tool based on the nature of the problem to be analyzed. Learning curves is based of the premise that people and the organization become better at their tasks as the tasks are repeated, therefore the time to produce a unit decreases as more units are produced and the rate of improvement decreases overtime. The uses of learning curves are internal, external and for strategic planning. In this case, learning curves (unit times) are the most useful to be able to produce and decide whether to continue producing the new lines. The initial cost needed to produce the new sandal line is (1000*5)*1.08=$5400 for the first month. For the fourth month with 20 batches of sandals, SSPF would need 10484.94*1.08=$11,323.73. With this information in hand, SSPF can use it for its planning needs such as labor forecast, scheduling, and establishing costs and budgets. SSPF also can use it for strategic reasons, for example evaluation of company and industry performance, including costs and pricing.

Recommended Staffing Plan
My recommendations are to minimize completion time, maximize utilization of facilities, minimize WIP (work in process), and minimize customer waiting time. I have used short-term scheduling, or the assignment method, for my staffing recommendation (Heizer 2010) SSPF is trying to deal with timing of operations, allocation, and prioritization, which can be addressed with my recommendations. In short, the goal is to optimize the use of resources so that the company can meet production objectives. As suggested below, the total cost would be $37 if SSPF assigned jobs to machines according to the following table:

Job Assigned to Cost Job 1 Machine A 10 Job 2 Machine B 9 Job 3 Machine D 9 Job 4 Machine C 9 Total 37

The most efficient way for SSPF to save in the production of these jobs is by shifting the operators around.

Efficiency Techniques
Based on what was mentioned above, short-term scheduling techniques can be used to make the transportation process more efficient. As show below, the most efficient way is for SSPF is to pay $7 in total for the movement of units through its production system.

JOB Assigned to Cost Job 1 Machine 2 3 Job 2 Machine 3 2 Job 3 Machine 1 2 Total 7

I also recommend using Johnson’s rule, with which SSPF will be able to minimize total production and idle time. Shuzworld H would be done first, then Shuzworld F, and finally, the Shanghai job.

Conclusion I recommend that SSPF use layout, learning curves, short-term scheduling, and Johnson’s rule as tools to tackle its production problems. There are many other tools and techniques that may be appropriate in other contexts depending on the issue to be addressed. All of these tools can be used to make any process more efficient and effective. Overall in this task, I cover four major strategies for SSPF to use in solving its current issues and also to use for future needs to improve its process.
Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2010). Operations management. New Jersey: Pearson.