Designing Production Systems Process Selection and Capacity Planning Essay

Designing Production Systems Process Selection and Capacity Planning - Essay Example It also aims to discuss some practices that made it a better or a different manufacturing company. Rockwell Automations Marion plant is located in the western part of North Carolina. The plant started its operations in 1996 with a total land area of 174,000 sq feet. Its major products include "mounted spherical and tapered roller bearings with shaft sizes ranging from 1 3_16 inches to 5 inches. These bearings go into such things as mining machinery, fans and other air-handling equipment, waste treatment equipment, forest products processing equipment, food processing machinery and metals processing equipment." (John S. McClenahen) The production floor of the plant is divided into two major areas, which has a total of 20 manufacturing cells. In the front area 16 manufacturing cells producing 351 products which comprises 80% of the plants total sales revenue. At the back are remaining 4 cells, producing items that comprise the remaining 20% of the plant's total sales revenue. This is also called the build on demand area. To date, the company still continues to help manufacturers worldwide succeed through their industrial information control and information solutions, giving them the competitive advantage they so rightfully deserve. Leading companies did not become model companies wi... And Rockwell Automation's Marion plant was never an exception. Basically, the plant is lean, with its processes and practices tailored to fir into the JIT systems. The details of their practices are described in the following context. A. Competitive Edge The practice that made Marion plant unique is in its circle of analysis and improvement of its products and processes. An article published in IndustryWeek described this process. "This cycle begins with product data analysis, moves to describing the current value stream, then to charting the future flow of the value stream, proceeds to achieving the goals by taking tools from the toolbox and comes back to data analysis again. Along the way, product and process priorities get set and action timelines are established." (John S. Mclenahen) Data and figures of the product and its processes provide very important information as to where production is heading and what areas can still be improved. However, these data and figures will only remain as data unless utilized properly. And the Marion plant people have all the tools and resources necessary, books and literature, to assist them in this aspect, especially when something comes up. Even then, these tools will also become useless if the people who have access to it do not use it or do not have the expertise and experience to use it. Marion plant employees are empowered employees. Empowered employees enable companies to reap positive rewards. In a book entitled Empowering Employees, the authors excerpted an article from Oraganizational Dynamics ("Seven Questions Every Leader Should Consider," A Autumn 1997) authored by Robert Quinn and Gretchen Spreitzer. The excerpt cited four characteristics that