Plant Manufacturing Workflow Survey and Consultancy

Introduction

APRC can undertake survey of plant and manufacturing operations in different stages of 5S, Kaizen, Lean, Productivity and TPM Autonomous Maintenance to develop improvement actions to be implemented. If your plant is suffering from shortfall in production capacity and issues with man-machine allocation ratios for labour productivity, APRC can assist in establishing the optimal approach to remove the constraints.

Survey of Plant Facility

APRC provides expertise to survey your plant manufacturing workflow to understand the processes related to:

a) Warehousing

b) Fabrication

c) Production in Batches

d) Production in Continuous Flow

e) Production in One-Piece-Flow

f) Finishing Operations

g) Storage Operations

h) Shipping Operations

APRC will determine what is the most appropriate business model and will provide workflow solutions to achieve:

1) Synchronous Production

2) Short Delivery Completion Time

3) Minimal Production Inventory

What APRC Consultancy and Survey Solutions Will Provide

1) Survey of plant facilities and processes

2) Report of survey results for improvement including:

a) The current constraining issues

b) The improvements to be made

c) Discussion with in-house team

d) Presentation to corporate management for change

e) Follow-up training (optional)

f) Follow-up consultancy (optional)

Duration of Initial Survey and Consultancy

1) Company site survey: 1 to 2 days

2) Survey Report Preparation: 2 days

3) Report of survey results to in-house team: 1/2 day

4) Presentation to corporate management: 1/2 day

Customised Training

APRC provides customised training to develop the expertise of clients’ personnel to sustain the implementation of change.

TPM Development Consultancy

Your Organization Can Succeed in TPM Implementation to Achieve World Class Performance

TPM was conceived by JIPM as Total Productive Maintenance. The success of TPM revolves around a changing methodology to cope with condition change in equipment, processes, workplace, organization and people motivation. Implementing successful TPM can be made by any company so long as are willing to commit the resources, the time, and consistency of effort. These attributes together with stepwise management knowhow for development of key activities in the organization will assure you 100% success in achieving World Class standard.

How TPM Can Help Your Company

TPM will help your company to:

• Build cohesive workforce to encourage more participation in teamwork that focuses on machine performance improvement.

• Develop continuing improvement activities that result in positive transformation of the workplace.

• Institute the desired work culture for autonomous operator-based maintenance to increase operator’s functionality and increase machine operability.

• Encourage the formation of a self-perpetuating work system that strives towards total reliability of the operational performance of the man-machine system.

• Develop workers’ skill to man, operate and maintain semi-automatic and fully automatic operations in optimal condition.

• Enhance the overall company performance to increase and maintain quality performance, equipment effectiveness, workers’ productivity and company profitability.

How To Develop TPM Activities for Operators, Technicians and Engineers

TPM is not just for operators and technicians. It involves the active participation of a team of TPM Leaders, maintenance technicians, engineers, managers, and management. In TPM, success depends on management understanding of the Daily TPM Management Activity of operators, TPM Leader and facilitators, as well as knowhow to manage their respective areas of responsiility so as to make decisions on what needs to be done by each group of TPM Team members.

For achieving this purpose, JIPM developed several core TPM Pillars of Activities that provide:

- Functionality

- Purpose

- Skill Set

- Incremental Milestone

- Phase By Phase Goal

- Deliverables and Benefits

How To Implement TPM In Organizations

The selection of the right TPM Consultant can provide the initial impact to create hole-plant awareness for TPM to act as a catalyst for change to bring about organization transformation.

The value of the TPM Consultant is in assisting proper TPM execution and transferring of TPM knowhow via:

- TPM Education and Training of Facilitators

- TPM Training for Line Leaders

- TPM Training for Management

- Phase by Phase Implementation Plan

- Developing Activities for Operators

- Developing Activities for Maintenance and Engineering Staff

- Recommending how to phase in the many activities of the operators, technicians, and engineers

- Planning the TPM Audit

- Making recommendations for continuing the TPM Program

LEAN Consulting Services

With our extensive experience and expertise, APRC provides valuable guidance and resources to multinationals as well as small and medium enterprises in projects such as:

• Production Line Design For Capability & Capacity Enhancement
• Manpower Planning For Budgetary Control
• Product / Service Standard Cost Structure & Development
• Process Line Manning Requirement
• High Mix, Low Volume Product Line Design
• Equipment Performance Measurement
• Supply Chain Cost Reduction Through Value Engineering
• Lean Design For One-Piece Flow Production
• Design Of Pull Production Value Stream
• Development Of Standard Data For Service Operation
• Development Of Standard Data For Small, Medium & Large Assembly Operation
• Development Of Standard Data For Manual Sewing, Automatic Sewing
• Process Standard Data For Product Costing
• Assess Product Profitability Through Contribution Analysis
• Conduct Productivity Audit Of Processes & Capital Equipment Purchases
• Development Of New Product / New Processes Product Line Processes
• Reliable Establishment Of Manpower & Standard Labour Hours For New Product Implementation
• TPM Set-up & Implementation In Autonomous Maintenance Planned Maintenance Reliability Based Maintenance
• Plant-Wide Innovation Culture Development
• Job Redesign & Job Evaluation
• Lean & Productivity Diagnostic
• Business & Operational Excellence Audit
• Six Sigma Process Implementation
• Work Simplification Orientation For Managers, Engineers & Line Supervisors
• Loss Measurement System For Equipment & Production
• Problem Solving & Trouble-Shooting Orientation For Managers, Engineers, Technicians & Supervisors

Our Expert Team

Our exclusive expertise in Work Measurement, Lean, Productivity Measurement, TPM, and Six Sigma has earned us a good reputation and credibility in many multinationals in the Asia Pacific region.

Besides our team in Singapore and Malaysia, we are connected to Accenture LLP of USA and the UK MTMA, and IQI Inc. Our large team of international experts include: Dr. Eden Chen, Dr. Dean Stamatis, Davis Bothe, Dr. Mark Goldstein, C. H. Wong, Andy Sleeper, Robert Rylander, Andru Peters, Robert Reid and Dr. Thomas Tan.

All who participated and trained in APRC training class are exposed not only to the best knowledge-based know-how in theory and application of the techniques, participants also learn how these techniques are to be applied in industry for:

a) Development of Cost Estimating System for all kind of Product Type

( With Software Application Modelling )

b) Development of Manpower Planning and Control for Production Planning

( Establishing Manpower Allocation Planning Model for Productivity Improvement )

c) Designing the Value Stream For Short Cycle Time Delivery

d) Workplace Layout Design For New Product Introduction

e) Machine Cycle Time Configuration for all Type of Machine Operations

f) Product Contribution Analysis to Assess Loss/Gain and Focused Profitability

g) How to Assess and Make Continuous Improvements in Manufacturing with Real Measurement Knowhow and Best-In-Class Methodology

h) How to Conduct Problem Solving With an Integrated Approach In Organizations

i) How to Conduct Root Cause Analysis the Effective Way

j) How to Conduct PM Analysis for Equipment Improvement

k) Introducing TRIZ Innovation for Solving Inventive Problem

l) Value Engineering Analysis

m) Quality Function Deployment

n) FMEA / Mistake Proofing /

o) How to Implement TPM for Whole Plant Transformation

p) OEE and OPE Measurement System

q) Planned Maintenance Management

r) How To Implement Lean

s) How to Develop the Value Stream With the Right Process Data

t) Six Sigma Quality System

u) Industrial Engineering Kaizen for Shopfloor Supervisors

v) Pull Kanban System and Visual Control System

w) KPI and Productivity Measurement Techniques

x) Mistake Proofing

y) Set-up Time Reduction

z) How to Build Cell Production Line for High Mix and Low Volume Environment

APRC certified training in MTM, MOST® and Direct Time Study has trained thousands of engineering and manufacturing professionals over the last 25 years to equip the industry with the expertise and knowhow. These professionals so trained are certified by reputable international organizations affiliated with our company.

APRC was established in 1987 to provide industry with the best-in-class productivity measurement, operational management methods and quality systems training. It has taken the lead since 1987 to provide technical know-how to thousands of professionals all over the Asia-Pacific region.

APRC’s success was brought about by the contribution of many industries’ top celebrities in their field: Dr. Fred Evan, Alan D. Brown, Edward Hartmann, Tom King, Robert Reid, Andru Peters, Robert Rylander, Terry Wireman, Davis Bothe, Dr. Eden Chen, Dr. Dean Stamatis, Andy Sleeper, Peter Knobloch, Tack Hammer, Dr. Mark Goldstein, Donald Nyman, Donald Buchman, Glen Hoffhnerr, Raymond Oley, Robert Freck, George Rozenweizg.

APRC is proud that it has delivered to industry all the top manufacturing quality system know-how and still do today after many years.

Consulting and Training Philosophy

Today APRC is a business partner with Accenture LLP (USA) in the certified training and consulting of the MOST® Work Measurement System in Asia. Over the years, since 1988, it has trained and certified several thousands manufacturing personnel in the certification and application of the MTM and MOST® Techniques to industry.

APRC is also one of the very few centre in the world that is fully capable of conducting certified training in MTM Systems, namely, MTM-1. MTM-2, MTM-3, MTM-Core Data, MTM Advanced Practitioners. It is recognized by the UK MTM Association and International MTM Directorate to conduct training and invigilate the conduct of MTM examination that are conducted world-wide.

Because of our World-Class Expertise in Lean, TPM, Six Sigma, Manufacturing know-how, Work Measurement and Cycle Time Engineering. APRC is able to deliver value-added know-how in the field of application implementation and consultancy for industry:

1. Production Line Design
2. Cell Line Design With Standard Work Measurement
3. Cycle Time Configuration Of Man-machine Operation
4. Productivity Measurement Of Operators, Equipment & Operational Processes
5. New Product Line Design
6. Cost Reduction Of Current Manufacturing Method
7. Lean Operational Method Design
8. Operational Service Standard Cost System
9. Manufacturing Standard Cost System
10. Manpower Planning & Budgetary Control
11. Product Profit Contribution Of Multi-Product-Line Production
12. Operational Excellence Assessment
13. TPM Quality Maintenance
14. TWI Training, Developer & Assessor
15. TRIZ Innovation Thinking

Overview To Implementation Of The Pull Kanban System

Many Pull Kanban System initiatives have failed in implementation because of::

a) Failure to fully grasp the technicalities of the word Pull

b) Failure to fully grasp the technicalities of Kanban System

c) Lack of Industrial Engineering know-how to integrate the many types of workflow on the shopfloor

d) Operational staff do not fully understand the Pull Kanban System

e) The Pull point is not properly configured

f) Inventory Leveling is not fully understood

APRC Consulting Resource offers complete consultancy service and training to :

a) Assess the plant suitability for Pull Kanban System

b) Develop the Pull Kanban System in every part of the manufacturing system

c) Match the batch flow to the assembly line one-piece flow

d) Design the Pull Kanban System from Store To Final Pack

e) Design the Heijunka Visual Board for every department to keep track of Kanban movements

f) Compute the Manpower and Machine Capacity for efficient Value Stream Management

g) Transfer of Pull Kanban System Know-how

h) Conduct Post Implementation Follow-up

Implementation Solution

The consultancy includes full training to your company project team to work on Implementation Solution. Fully qualify them to take over and maintain the Pull Kanban System within 6 months.

Documentation Guideline

Full procedural guideline for Pull System in every department will be documented as a company Best Practice & Policy.

Why APRC

APRC has the expertise to reconfigure every Operational Process Workflow to achieve SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION.

Introduction

In the field of developing a plant’s resource capacity and manpower man-machine ratio, APRC has the best resource measurement model to help organizations determine their:

a) Plant resource capacity
b) Manpower requirement for every process unit
c) Standardized operational methods

This project can help organizations achieve considerable savings from:

a) Shorter Delivery Cycle Time
b) More efficient work processes
c) Well-balanced Lean workflow
d) Reduced man-hours
e) Adequate, well balanced staffing of operations
f) Budgetary control for manpower planning based on:

i) Buying behavior
ii) Traffic arrival
iii) Peak and non-peak periods

g) Resource and logistics capability and traffic management

i) Arrival pattern
ii) Logistic capacity

Applicable Industry Types

APRC’s consultancy in this area can be applied to the following industry types:

1) All Manufacturing
2) Sewing and Apparel Manufacturing
3) Car Assembly
4) Distribution Centres
5) Hypermarkets
6) Warehousing
7) Small & Medium Enterprises

APRC’s Approach

APRC employs best-in-class methodology, working with your key employees to provide the necessary training to realize the full potential of all personnel to achieve successful implementation of Resource Capacity And Manpower Planning Through Operational Methods Improvement.

APRC has over the years provided expertise to assist in developing supplier’s Assembly Labour Hours in the Supply Chain for the purpose of developing Standard Cost.

APRC consultants employ the best work measurement tools that are recognized in industry. Work standards are established at Qualified & Competent level and this assures the reliability of the standard with performance accuracy equivalent to 3 Sigma. Most important of all, all Work Standards that are established by APRC have the mark of distinguished excellence from the world’s best-in-class in the field of Work Standard Development.

APRC Work Measurement Expertise

This includes the best in industry MTM-1, MTM-2, Basic-MOST®, Mini-MOST®, Admin MOST®, Maxi-MOST®, Ready Work Factor, MTS, Modaft and Direct Time Measurement.

Speed of Application

Together with the industry best-in-class knowhow of Cycle Time Engineering for all types of man-machine processes, APRC is able to set Work Standards with high reliability, accuracy and speed-of-application.

GASD is a special application system based on Data Blocks developed for a Standard Range of Sewing Method Sequences. These sewing sequences have been researched, standardized, measured and assigned TMU (Time Measurement Units) Standard Data time to make it the industry-wide sewing data for conventional sewing and template sewing as well as all operational methods of the Garment Apparel Industry covering Setup Operation, Fabric Smoothing, Cutting, Bundling, Printing, Heat Press, Thread Trimming, Inspection, Ironing, Tagging and Packing.
APRC is a leading expert in high level customization of GASD to speed up the establishing of Work Standard Data for process improvement, line balance and costing for Request-for-Quotation system.

Customization of Sewing Data

The Standard Data for diffeent types of sewing using different materials and applications can be customized for sewing of different length.

Machine Speed Customization

APRC consultants will collect data on the different machine RPM and sewing length for different kinds of sewing and fabric material. Standard time for sewing will then be available in:

a) Type of sew

b) Sew length

c) Type of material

1. APRC Provides Consulting Service for Productivity Solutions Grant

Asia Pacific Research Centre can provide the consulting expertise to help SMEs secure the PSG provided by ENTERPRISE Singapore. APRC can act both as Project Consultant and Solution Provider to your company to secure approval for the grant.

a) Preparing the Application Report for your company to submit to ENTERPRISE Singapore
b) Providing Consulting for the Total Solution in Capability Enhancement
c) Providing Resource Planning Manpower Model for SMEs

2. Capability Development for Workflow Automation

This Grant provided by ENTERPRISE Singapore helps to defray up to 70% of qualifying project cost such as consultancy, training, certification and equipment costs. SMEs, now can take on a large scale upgrading projects in areas such as, INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MARKET ACCESS.

SMEs are encouraged to apply to seek this grant to build up business capabilities for automation of work processes.

3. Automation of Workflow Processes

APRC will conduct a Resource Planning Manpower Balance for all the manufacturing Process Activities. This will help the company to prepare an Accurate Planning on their Equipment and manpower requirement depending on the product type and the volume to be produced on a weekly or monthly basis.

APRC will collect the process data and develop the Production Value Stream Model. With the model the company will be able to develop “What If” scenarios and advance its choice of resource selection for Productivity Management on a week to week basis or day-to-day basis depending on the Work Order Planning. SMEs can expect an efficient way to plan and schedule their limited manpower resource.

APRC will also be able to access the extent of automation needed and evaluate the savings.

4. Human Capital Development

APRC will assist the SME in developing customized, structured training to advance the technical know-how of the company staff.

This includes: Lean Process Improvement, Six Sigma, and Root Cause Analysis as well as improving the know-how of the Operational Staff in cost improvement and operational management.

Staff will also acquire the advanced knowledge to apply Production Work Planning and Modeling to advance Productivity in Manufacturing Operation.

The out come is more satisfying employees who know how to execute their functional job requirements to improve planning, implementation, problem solving and developing corrective actions for Productivity and Quality and Design Solutions.

5. Business Strategy Innovation & Enhancing Quality & Standard

APRC will be able to assess the current organization strength for achieving success in Strategy, Planning Design and Operational Management. This includes Lean, Six Sigma, Quality Control, Value Engineering, Root Cause Problem Solving, Maintenance, Cost Reduction and Total Productive Maintenance. The project in Business Excellence includes Consulting for Assessment of the Organization Capability, Process Redesign, Value Stream Improvement, Planning and Control, Manpower and Resource Planning, etc.

In the field of Enhancing Quality and Standard, APRC will be able to:

a) Streamline All Operational Processes For Shorter Delivery Cycle Time
b) Develop Standard Work
c) Implement Quality Maintenance
d) Solve Quality Problem
e) Perform Quality Measurement to Maintain Quality Standards

The end-result includes :
Phase by phase training for implementation to achieve Business and Service Excellence Solutions to improve the Overall Organization Strategic Effectiveness.

6. Technology Innovation

In the field of Technology Innovation in which new equipment for advanced processing are required. APRC can help to justify the operational savings and developed the Cycle Time Processing Models for ease of calculation of capacity, and productivity savings.

APRC will also develop Costing Model for Product Cost Estimates and justify the savings and increased profit based on volume generations and Life Cycle Costing.

The costs will also include Maintenance of New Equipment and Operational Running Cost over the expected life of the New Equipment.

PRODUCTIVITY DIAGNOSTICS FOR SMEs

Many SMEs are aware of the importance of Measurement to help gauge where they are now with respect to:

1. Output Per Man Hour
2. Bottleneck Processes
3. Allocation of manpower
4. Process Capacity Balance
5. Standard Work Hours of Each Process
6. Man-Machine Ratio Analysis
7. Operator Performance
8. Equipment Performance
9. Production Performance
10. Cycle Time of Key Processes
11. Man-Machine Work Distribution During Production
12. Delivery Cycle Time
13. Manufacturing Lead Time
14. Production Time
15. Actual Cost
16. Set-up Time
17. Service Response Time

However, the data from a proper Industrial Engineering Study Analysis is usually not available. Operational Management of the Work Processes is usually beset with many issues leading to production losses due to sub-optimality of deployment of resources.

LEAN BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

APRC through its expertise in Lean Business Excellence will be able to survey the whole Production Capacity to conduct Productivity Diagnostics for SMEs in the following areas:

1. Process
2. Operation
3. Machine Maintenance
4. Equipment Performance
5. Workman Work Assignment
6. Job Enlargement & Job Enrichment
7. Visual Control Management
8. Standard Material Usage
9. Facility Power Usage
10. Product Contribution Analysis
11. Product Standard Cost Analysis
12. Scoreboard Measurement

SCOREBOARD MEASUREMENT

The result is a report outlining some of the key issues as stated above, depending on the scope of the Productivity Diagnostic Study. The Productivity Diagnostic Study Report will specifically provide:

1. Useful Standard Data for each process
2. Useful Standard Data for each operation
3. Equipment Loss Time
4. Operator Loss Time
5. Capacity In Balance
6. Process Cycle Time & Standard Output Issues
7. Standard Material Usage
8. Standard Man Hours vs Actual Man Hours
9. Product Standard Cost vs Actual Cost
10. Profit Contribution of Lines of Products
11. Profit Sale List Items
12. Margin of Profits of Lists of Products
13. Delivery Cycle Time
14. Service Level Satisfaction
15. Scoreboard Measurement

APRC Consultants are world-class expert in measuring standard process cycle time and developing standard work cycle time per unit of production. A Scoreboard Measurement for month to month measurement can be set up based on the performance measurement parameters most important to the company success. With the Scoreboard Measurement, companies will be able to track the their overall health of the organization.

Please call us for a non-obligating discussion on how APRC can help in Productivity Diagnostic of your production and organization for achieving Business Excellence.

Facility Capacity Diagnostics For Traffic Optimization:

Theme Parks and Commercial & Industrial Structures

Before finalization of the Development Plan for a Theme Park or Commercial & Industrial Structure, it is necessary to ensure the adequacy of facilities that are to be used for logistics and public services. While it is true that vehicle and visitor traffic management would not be an issue during low peak period, the structural plan of parks and commercial and industrial facility has to factor the convenience and ease of movement of public visitors, customers and vehicle traffic moving in or out to meet the expected peak traffic based on projected marketing plan.

Commercial Distribution Centres

For distribution centres, it is necessary to be able to match the supplier’s delivery vehicles to the rate of loading, unloading and put away of the high lift stacker trucks and the number of these vehicles required. While the problem can be partially solved by giving the suppliers’ delivery trucks Scheduled Time Board for delivery, internal traffic congestion could still arise within the Distribution Centre, causing delays in put away and subsequent shipment.

Traffic Flow Management

APRC is a world class expert in developing Standard Cycle Time for:

a) Human Work Activities

b) Vehicle Operational Cycle Time

c) Heavy Lift: Stacking And Unstacking

d) Manual Cranes And Powered Crane

e) Tower Crane

With this expertise, we develop Activity Sequence Models for each of these commercial / industrial / public service activities to generate:

1. Human Traffic Model
2. Vehicle Traffic Model
3. Customer Traffic Model
4. Operational Work Model

to determine the adequacy of facilities in servicing the intended traffic flow.

Budgetary Control Management

For Budgetary Control through Headcount Management, APRC will be able to establish the man-hours required for all Operational Processes. This together with Operational Modelling will be able to establish the necessary controls for the organization for profit control management.

APRC works together with Accenture LLP of USA. With most projects on a small scale basis, APRC is the Project Manager and Consultant. On larger scale projects, APRC will work with Accenture LLP USA.