Stickley furniture's batch production process and operations management

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Case Study- Stickley Furniture

Case Study-Stickley Furniture

Operations Management Best Practices

type of production processing at stickley furniture

Production process of the stickley production proceeds by converting inputs into marketable outputs. The two main components involved during the process are transforming resources and transformed resources. The transforming resources are the agents that carry out the transformation process like building, machinery, computers and people. The transformed resources are the main inventory or raw material used during the transformation process to be converted into finished marketable goods. In successful production process series of processes are done into different levels and at each level value is added by the manufacturer to have optimum customer satisfaction and premium market presence. The value addition is not limited to just material and production but it is expanded to the distribution strategy, marketing strategy, packaging and convenience provided to the customer in product delivery or marketability. Thus value addition is fundamental to the production process as much as the production process itself.

It is exhibited from the case that the main production process applied by stickley furniture is Batch production. Batch production by nature is the production of specific group of components that undergoes production together and when one ends the other starts. Furniture manufacturing is a labor intensive industry, therefore the production is done managed in work groups or teams of labor specialized in the specific skill to perform the activity. Workers are skilled from high skill to low skill labors. Production is done in a large rectangular building with a 30-foot ceiling. The equipments used during the process are saws, sanders, tools and other small devices used in the transformation process. The different batches during the production of furniture at stickley can be categorized as follows:

Cutting: The production process begins with the sawing operations where logs received from the mill are cut through the automated computer controlled "optimizer" that adds efficiency in the production with the elimination of waste. Workers manually mark defects and knots before it is put for cutting. Computer controlled process set the ideal length for cutting and specific size for subsequent process. Production capacity of this batch is estimated to be 20,000 board feet cut each day.

Gluing: The batch of gluing is done by workers by putting different logs of similar size into the shape of chairs, tables, dressers etc.

Fine tuning: fine tuning is the interim phase between gluing and assembling. Pieces requiring drilling or mortising is done through CNC which is numerically controlled router that is programmed to make grooves and specialty cuts. There are many pieces that would require extra glue to be removed and surface to be cleaned and smoothened. Carving is also done here to the needed items. It is highly skilled task therefore specialized workers have been assigned this duty.

Assembling: After fine tuning the pieces are assembled either in the sub-assembly or directly in other components to get the complete set. For the purpose of identification and record tracking, each item is stamped with date of production and components like dresser drawer, cabinet doors and expansion leaves of tables are stamped to identify their location. The record keeping of each item is of special need when any item is brought for repair. With the tracking number the item can be identified in the record and can be repaired with the original piece.

Storing: When the furniture is assembled and labeled it is moved to the "white inventory" section and ultimately to the finishing department. In the finishing department workers give final touch by applying linseed oil and other polishing lubricants before it is finally shipped to customer or send to warehouse for storage for later delivery.

During the production process there are certain jobs done simultaneously as the sequence of the job is determined by the amount of ending inventory and processing time. Each production process is divided into different batches taking their respective time period. When this time period barrier is broken and different jobs are done simultaneously then it's given the name of "Flow Production process." Simultaneous, functions performed by many job converts the batch production to flow production but at smaller level.

Tracking the job status and location in production

During the production process all the items set in for assembling are stamped with date of production and component identification such as dresser drawer, cabinet doors etc. These stamped items are maintained in record to enable their proper identification and location during any repair and maintenance required. In the process of inventory control and management, there are many jobs or functions which are performed simultaneously. To avoid any confusion that can lead to over production, under production or faulty production each job is provided with the bar codes. These bar codes when applied to the job it helps in job identification and its operation. When the operation is completed the operator removes the bar code stickers and delivers the goods to the scheduling department. The scheduling department scanned the goods identification into the computer where item records are maintained. Thus it helps in production control to keep the track of progress on job and to know the location in the batch.

Production Planning and Scheduling

Production planning and scheduling is important tool for manufacturing and engineering in a way that the objective of scheduling is to minimize the production time and costs with the help of production facility, when to make, staff skills and quantity required and which equipment will be utilized. The production planning and scheduling will be focused on:

1. Increased production efficiency

2. Labor load leveling (balancing)

3. Inventory reduction

4. Real time information

5. Accurate delivery date quotes.

The production plan information required for the order received by stickley furniture of 40 mission oak dining room sets can be structured as follows.

Suggestions for efficient production process

For Automation of tracking Process companies are replacing bar code technology with RFID in their supply chain management because it has enhanced efficiency in inventory and goods tracking management. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the technology that utilizes radio waves for identifying individual items automatically. The commonly used method is storing a serial number indentifying a product or concerned information on a microchip attached to an antenna. RFID is quite similar to bar code except that items I RFID can be traced in the supply chain without being in line of sight as in the case of bar code.

RFID is considered a revolution in supply chain management as research have shown that companies are reporting long and short-term benefits from RFID. The short-term benefits are focused on: (Byrne, 2002)

i. improved track and trace records of shipment

ii. improved recall management iii. better shipping and receiving

The long-term benefits sorts from the research are as follows:

i. Planning benefits involving less inventory and working capital

ii. Increased revenue by reducing wastage and out of stocks.

iii. Reduced expediting cost.

Besides these long and short-term benefits identified by companies, RFID also benefit the supply chain management of the organizations in the following ways:-

i. Finished-goods inventory process is improved with increased performance level in shipping and receiving labor productivity, order accuracy and return processing.

ii. Production efficiency through accuracy of raw materials, work-in process inventory management and labor productivity.

iii. Asset and resources are utilized at its best through RFID.

iv. Forecasting consumer demands in achievable through supply chain management process practiced via RFID.

The life example of RFID success over bar code is when Tesco and Carrefour had experienced huge damages due to Chinese melamine-contaminated milk and they were unable to track all the defective goods. However, Wal-Mart on contrary was at advantage of receiving the good from market in real time since they used RFID (Bangkok Post, 2009). Thus RFID has improved the supply chain management process and production process in general by making the inventory management more efficient with lower wastage, declined delivery lead times, automating key distribution process and tracing the inventory records much more precisely.

For improving the production process Lean strategy to continuous improvement focuses on reducing waste and making operation process more efficient. Lean encourages value addition to the business through elimination of waste from the production process. Lean enables companies to get competitive edge on quality, delivery and price. Lean manufacturing is derived from the Toyota Production system-TPS and was named Lean in 1990s. It has been adopted by the industry for is popularity in reducing waste and improving customer satisfaction. For its effective implementation it requires a complete transformation of the prevailing business operations. Lean approach takes a long-term view of the process under review. (Holweg, Matthias, 2007).