MODAPTS Blog Archives - Page 16 of 23

Periodic Job Observations (PJO)

eisbrennerpg / June 23, 2016

Job observations enhance quality, promote continuous improvement. To ensure quality and promote quality, world class manufacturing companies conduct daily PJO’s. Team leaders and supervisors – both with an Operator Instruction Sheet, (OIS), in hand – observe an employee doing a job. An OIS is a detailed job description for each job on the shop floor. An OIS describes step by step how the job or task is to be completed. For example, 1) “Obtain (1) bolt from tote to your left. 2) Position the bolt to the hole on the left side of the widget and hand-start (3) times. 3)Obtain electrical nut-runner hanging from balancer on your right, position to bolt and run down. 4) Release nut-runner to balancer.” Critical to Quality It is critical that employees follow the OIS to the letter. Having every employee on every shift perform the same operation the same way prevents mistakes that can impact the quality of the product you are manufacturing. If the employee obtains (2) bolts they have the potential of dropping the other bolt, in this case the widget has a cavity in the center. A dropped bolt could cause serious part failure in the final assembly of the finished part. Employee Safety Safety is another important concern. On each OIS sheet should also be a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) that list all the protective equipment the employee needs to wear when performing the task. If the appreciate gloves, mask, goggles, or hearing equipment is not being used properly, the employees could get hurt. Team Work Once the team leader and supervisor have observed the employee doing a job for a few cycles, the team leader will take over for the employee – giving the employee the opportunity to time to meet with the supervisor for a one-on-one discussion to address any issues or concerns identified on the job. This is a great two –way formal process / opportunity to openly discuss and share ideas, if any, about how the job might be done more efficiently to reduce waste or perhaps done is a safer manner to avoid potential injuries. Continuous Improvement Issues that are brought up during these discussions are reviewed, documented and investigated. If modifications are made to the work process, everyone on the team signs off on them and they are documented on the revised OIS going forward. Inverted Triangle This in-depth employee communication process ensures the continuous improvement is driven from the bottom up. Who better to educate management then the person performing the job? GOAL of PJO’s 100% alignment to and compliance with the work standard for each job/operation Ensure team members work to documented standards Work standards are fully understood – Implementation of an easy to learn and understand Predetermined Time System, (PDTS), is key! Waste is eliminated Continuous improvements are made to the workstation Implementation of OIS Supervisors and Team Leader need to perform PJO evaluations at a minimum of one every day on every shift. Twice a month with every Team Member is the ideal goal. Proactive review of work standards through a teaching & coaching forum, versus punitive reaction. Engagement, Commitment and two way Communication that builds relationship strengthening (trust & respect) between Supervisors & Team Members. Engage the workforce so that there is 100% commitment and compliance with process standards: Standards are fully understood and followed. Waste and abnormalities are exposed Teach the Team Members the process standards by providing a deeper knowledge of the operation and gaining commitment to comply with standards Benefits of PJO’s- JSA – OIS? Continuous Learning process for both the Team Members and the Process Coaches Everyone understands the importance of following Standardized Work and follows work standards without excuses. Sharing of continuous improvement ideas & knowledge. Collaborative discussion without fear. Team Members help to eliminate process abnormalities (hidden factory). Mutual respect for each other’s ideas, everyone can contribute to improve the process. Are predetermined time systems right for your company? Are you interested in improving their assembly line productivity? Do you use PDTS in your facility? Are you correctly using your PDTS? Are you considering using PDTS vs. a stop watch for setting production standards? Is a PDTS right for your organization and culture to determine with precision exactly what the reasonable amount of time is required to complete any defined task by any typical operator or laborer?

MODAPTS Blog

How a Predetermined Time System, Helps with Production Planning

eisbrennerpg / June 11, 2016

In the work measurement field, MODAPTS is one of several predetermined time systems; however, it is the fastest growing and easiest to use system in the world. Other PDTS include MTM, MOST, Mini MOST, Work Factor, and Master Standard Data. These are all sophisticated systems for developing “production standards.” Developing a production standard is similar to setting a goal, or a benchmark. The purpose of which is to measure progress. For example, a goal might be to reduce direct or indirect labor by .10 hours per unit, or reduce overtime to 5%. Using periodic reports, management can determine whether or not the goal is being reached. Production standards Production standards are goals, calculated for the 100%, or normal employee, experienced in performing the process and working a comfortable work pace. When the goal is exceeded an “atta-boy” is often awarded and employees are recognized for their efforts. Not meeting set goals based on capacity planning usually ends up with management getting involved, not always a pleasant event. As such, typical production standard might be expressed as .329 minutes/piece. Some organizations, however, might prefer to use hours instead of minutes. Others prefer to use 100 pieces instead of 1 piece as their unit of measure. It makes no difference at all how the standard is expressed; just keep in mind; a production standard has a unit of time and a unit of production. Production standards are developed around body parts used, not on performance rated stopwatch observations which is a slow process for the calculation of standards. Stopwatches are not required when using a predetermined time system. All that is necessary is to write down the motions required of the employee. The time values for each motion are taken from a table of predetermined times. When analysts in an organization use the same set of data, the variation is minimized. With all analysts using the same data the consistency of standards is improved. Predetermined Time-Standards = Predictability, Productivity, Profit In the world economy all business depends on accountability, reputation and quality – establishing pre-determined time-standards for frequently repeated manual tasks has become more important than ever for reliably predicting your plant’s manufacturing capacity. Tightly managed time-schedules can lead to expanded profits when exact timing, labor costs and precise calculations for deliveries can be relied on. When expanding plant capacity to meet your customer needs is the issue – breaking down labor activity into predictable and precise cost-effective components becomes necessary. When working to establish dependable plant capacity planning estimates, productivity, profit or loss, having access to reliable and objective work measurement data is key. Determining if your plant capacity can be expanded even more by utilizing a pre-determined time standard is often worth the time to investigate. Are you interested in learning more about how predetermined systems can be used to train and teach your employees? If so, contact us for more information. We have helped others, maybe we can help you too.

MODAPTS Blog

Ergonomics in the Workplace: Setting Labor Standards

eisbrennerpg / May 11, 2016

Anytime you decide to evaluate improving assembly line productivity – starting with a review of the ergonomics of the work-stations is the always best way to start. Attending to the ergonomics of your work-stations makes analyzing, developing and implementing normal time labor standards required to complete an activity by a qualified, thoroughly experienced person more reliable for time performance predictions. Ergonomics in the Workplace: Productivity Improvement Healthy ergonomics preserves energy, prevents work-related injury and supports smoother more fluid body movements during work-performance tasks. Designing a workstation that is intuitively supportive of body ergonomics will actually eliminate unnecessary and wasted motion. Attention to such details of the work-station or assembly-line workstations can improve your first time through performance and improve the quality of your product. Start by asking yourself these questions: What is the best method of performance for the person doing the task to acceptable and defined levels of safety and quality? What type of supports does the person need? What is a reasonable amount of output for a qualified worker? Filling orders, loading projects, tagging inventory or product storage can all become predictably-timed processes. With predictability come accurate time-cost evaluations, labor-cost estimates and much more reliable project completion predictions. Ergonomic Evaluation: Mandatory for Time-Cost Estimates Evolution of computer technology has ushered in advancements for evaluation tools that offer precision estimates and “what if” evaluations. With consistent and reliable work standards, software and platform-based systems contain highly-effective tools that deliver eye-popping accuracy when it comes to time related labor efficiency and utilization. Especially when it comes to repeated, ergonomically-influenced manual process-dependent work activities. Anytime operations managers can access reliable estimates for labor-based tasks – it becomes possible to reinforce customer trust and company dependability. Establish Advantages: Reasonable Expectations for Labor Analyzing human labor for increases in accurate work timelines – is fundamental to improving employee relations. These can always be improved because standardized time-work expectations can be established with repeatability and reliability. Employee satisfaction increases when there are no longer incidents of rushing orders, unscheduled overtime on short notice or requests for unrealistic time-frames for project completion. In LEAN, one aspect of the continuous improvement process involves reviewing all areas to reduce spending – it is most beneficial when this can be done without reducing profit margins or work-quality standards. The MODAPTS ® system represents normal times; a qualified, experienced person working at a comfortable pace without undue stress can establish truly reasonable expectations and standards for labor productivity. Cost-Measurement: Ergonomics in the Workplace Attending to the physical ergonomics of the task is one of the process steps for determining the most efficient, safest method for performing these repeated tasks. With time measurement standards, utilization of proper ergonomics at the workstation makes systems-management technology and time-standard training applications highly valuable for labor utilization. This process lowers cost and increases precision-delivery. It delivers work standards and task completion in a manner that can satisfy and impress your employees and customers. How Ergonomics Support Predetermined Time Standards When manufacturing companies perform cost analysis – accurate cost-measurement requires a measurement system which is based upon reliable labor standards. Cost measurement drives product development, plant product pricing, investment and discounting. Many manufacturers simply accept standardized-costs, based on past data, as the fastest, easiest approach to establishing “accurate” labor standards upon which to set pricing. With the utilization of a PDTS that is simple to learn, easy to implement, maintain, and is accepted by unions, any manufacturer concerned about cost can realize efficient, reliable and repeatable ways of understanding their labor’s real-time impact on production costs. Especially when attending to the issues of optimal ergonomics layout of a workstation has proven the efficiency and effectiveness of the MODAPTS® measurement approach across the automotive manufacturing industry. Worker Dignity, Company Respect and Increased Profits Using MODAPTS® has been found to provide the greatest consistency of all such measurement systems. Because of the simplicity of the data is easily to understand, by its very nature leads to communication between the analyst and the operator. What better way than talking is there to communicate between an analyst and a worker when setting production standards? Effective application of methods-analysis can lead to optimum production flow of materials increasing first time thru performance can result in increased profits, starting at the base foundation of any manufacturing company – the accurate application of ergonomic workstation design. Predefined manual tasks really are simple to time-predict allowing for any manager to access and base manufacturing capacity studies with profound accuracy.