CE00783-7- QUALITY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR TECHNOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 1 - Case Study JEEVES PLC

Your company manufactures and sells an electronic consumer durable product. This is a DOMESTIC ROBOT of (more or less) human appearance, which is designed to carry out a wide range of domestic chores. The machine looks like this: The machine is made of light alloy and is equipped with sensory apparatus (a form of radar) to enable it to move around without bumping into things. It is programmable through a keyboard and hypercard storage system underneath the panel in the chest. Such programmes enable the machine to walk, move its hands and arms and perform other movement. It has recently been equipped with 'voice programming' (i.e., it responds to verbal commands) and given some simple speaking abilities. Various standard software programmes for domestic chores are offered within the initial purchase price. A recent estimate of quality costs showed that they were distributed as follows,
Failure prevention cost Appraisal and inspection cost Internal in plant failure cost External field failure cost Total 4% 44% 22% 30% 100%

Staff turnover has averaged 15% and has been fairly consistent over a period of time. Absenteeism has averaged 6% peaking in August and December but consistent over several years.

After the initial spurt of investment the amount of capital employed in the factory has been flagging expressed in terms of per Year Output per Person Capital Employed employee. Productivity, expressed in terms (per person) of output per 'direct' (factory) employee has 2016 15.3 units/annum 47,000 p.p been as follows: 2017 10.1 units/annum 32,000 p.p
2018 2019 2020 10.4 units /annum 9.7 units/annum 8.8 units/annum 34,000 p.p 31,000 p.p 30,000 p.p

PRODUCTION PROCESS At the beginning of the exercise, the sequence for the production of the robots is as follows: 1. 2. Robots are ordered from the factory by the Sales department. Ultra lightweight Kevlar and alloy sheet steel is ordered from the local steel stockholders and components such as the radar vision system, audio recognition, electric motor and battery are ordered from component suppliers. In the following week, the raw materials and components are delivered and inspected. All raw materials are supplied to certified quality standards and not more than 0.3% should exceed such standards. Nevertheless, a 5% random sample is taken by the Incoming Inspection department.
1

3.

4. 5. 6.

The sheet steel is cut on a guillotine. Any scrap is discarded. Special joints are precision machined. The cut sheets are pressed into shapes (fronts, backs, arms, legs and heads) and drilled to facilitate assembly. The guillotines, presses, and other machinery are computer controlled. The shaped cases are then cleaned, burnished and sprayed in the appropriate colour.

PAINTING The cases proceed through a series of chemical treatments to prevent rust and to prime the surface. They are then normally blow dried using a hand held hose (although some operators assert that this is unnecessary) Then, spraying is an automated process. Two coats are applied and after the first coat the casings are machine polished. Hand finishing and polishing completes the process. 7. At this point, the cases are put into the 'work in progress' store from where they are drawn, as required, for final assembly. 8. Cases are drawn from 'WIP' store and placed on a semi-automated assembly line. PRECISION JOINTING Shoulder, elbow, knee and wrist joints have to be able to rotate in 6 planes and, in consequence, the company uses its own patented jointing system. Date Rejects Date Rejects This has to operate to fine tolerances and so a 21 Oct 0.17 11 Nov 0.21 precision machining section was established. The 22 0.11 12 0.13 section uses the latest and most expensive machine 23 0.13 13 0.15 tools available and is manned by highly skilled 24 0.14 14 0.14 technicians. The following table shows the percentage 25 0.11 15 0.12 of jointing mechanisms which were outside the 26 0.15 16 0.15 specified tolerances: 28 Oct 0.16 18 Nov 0.22
29 30 31 01 Nov 02 04 Nov 05 06 07 08 09 0.13 0.14 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.24 0.14 0.14 0.16 0.16 0.15 19 20 21 22 23 25 Nov 26 27 28 29 30 0.14 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.16 0.25 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.15 0.14

Everyone is baffled by the strange peaks which are well outside what could be expected on statistical probability. Furthermore, until recently there has been no significant difference in the figures between the shifts whereas, on the morning shift, the rejects were 10% worse than the norm on the weeks ending 9 th and 23rd November. The morning shift supervisor is a reliable and competent man with a good record of quality and productivity and there are no apparent personnel problems on his shift.

9. The major component modules are then bolted to the back of the body in the following order: a. Battery b. Ceramic electric motor c. Set of printed circuit boards d. Memory storage cards

Assembly is done mainly by semi-skilled workers using power tools. 10. The radar vision, gyroscopic balance system and audio recognition systems are bolted to the rear of the head. 11. Arms and legs are assembled with joints and fibre optic cabling and then their fronts and backs are joined using high technology adhesives. 12. The fronts of the head and body are bolted to the backs again using automated tools and high technology adhesives. ADHESIVE APPLICATORS Fronts and backs of the various cases are joined using high technology cured epoxy adhesives. The operator, or 'applicators' receive casing halves along the assembly line. They then spread the adhesive mixture along the contact surfaces using a special injector or 'gun'. The major joints are made by robot applicators but certain small and inaccessible areas have to be made by hand. Cases are joined after all their components have been fixed within them. The complete heads, bodies, arms and legs are then moved to final assembly where other people make any necessary tests for water and air integrity, and smoothness of fit. Management places heavy emphasis on standard productivity. Each applicator must make 10 joints per hour. The applicators achieve this but final assembly is frequently reduced because more time than was expected is spent on repairing the joins. The applicators were trained on the job and have average skills. They receive no other feed back on their performance. However, there is a great deal of grumbling amongst the final assembly workers whose task is made more difficult by misaligned and poorly fitted joints. 13. Each sub assembly is inspected before final assembly 14. The head, body arms and legs are connected up using multi-dimensional jointing and flexible hosing.

COMPONENTS SUB-ASSEMBLY: A-COMPONENTS, B- FIBRE CABLE WIRING)

AND

In most cases, computer controlled machinery affixes components onto the casing using advanced adhesives. However, because of incompatibility issues between materials, the batteries and electric motors have to be bolted on to the casing by hand, using power tools. Operatives work on the line, each making an average of 12 bolts onto the casing, ie, 1 person bolts the battery and then someone further down the line bolts the electric motor. The inspection section for the back casing of the body is the most active, the rejection rate for loose components at this point is approximately 1.2 %. A further 0.5% are rejected at final inspection, causing expensive rework situations. There is a staff turnover of 25% per annum amongst such operatives in the back casing sub assembly section. Computer controlled machinery connects 90% of the optical fibre cabling and wiring but certain inaccessible items in both the head and the body are connected by hand (mainly by female operators). There is a happy atmosphere and low staff turnover amongst such people (about 10% per annum)

15. Software is installed and the machine is then submitted to a series of practical tests as visual inspection.

The above sequence will take 5 weeks: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 and 5 : Order raw materials and components : Receive raw materials and components : Carry out the cutting, pressing and spraying operations : Carry out sub assembly and final assembly and inspection and then ransfer to the finished goods store. The company operates a 3 shift system (ie, 144 hours per week for 48 weeks per year). The factory is closed on Sundays and for 2 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks at Christmas. If and when different models are required they are produced in batches. All staff (both manual and clerical) are members of N.U.R.C. (National Union of Robot Constructors) The company values materials technology making extensive use of Kevlar and Aramid composites for lightweight and ceramics to withstand high operating temperatures. There are no welds in the final product as all connections are made using the latest high technology adhesives and sealants.

APPENDIX 1
ANALYSIS OF REJECTS AT FINAL OR INTERIM INSPECTIONS DESCRIPTION % DEFECTIVE 26/10 0.4 0.1 1.0 1.6 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.4 0.2 0.8 0.7 0.1 0.1 2.1 3.1 3.8 3.3 10.2 2/11 0.3 0.3 0.8 1.7 1.3 0.9 0.1 0.1 1.5 0.1 1.1 0.5 0.2 0.1 1.7 3.1 3.6 4.0 10.7 9/11 0.9 0.2 1.4 1.5 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.1 1.7 0.1 1.1 0.8 0.2 0.2 2.4 5.5 3.9 3.2 12.6 16/11 0.6 0.5 1.1 1.7 1.0 0.8 0.1 0.2 1.5 0.9 0.9 0.3 0.7 0.2 1.9 3.7 3.8 4.9 12.4 23/11 0.4 0.7 0.9 1.4 1.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.3 0.3 1.3 1.1 0.1 0.1 1.6 3.4 3.3 4.5 11.2 30/11 0.5 0.6 0.7 1.6 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.1 1.6 0.2 0.8 0.4 0.1 0.1 2.3 3.3 3.5 4.3 11.1 7/12 0.3 0.9 0.8 1.7 1.3 1.0 0.2 0.2 1.5 0.1 0.7 1.0 0.2 0.2 2.0 3.7 3.6 4.8 12.1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

w/e Microscopic damage on printed circuit boards Inaccurate tolerances on jointing mechanisms Loose wiring Loose components Substandard finish on casings Defective electric motor Burnt wiring Battery will not hold charge Poor connections Defective audio recognition system Misalignment of fronts and backs or inadequate seal Broken external components Defective radar vision system Perished rubber hosing Others Shift 1 (6:00am start) average Shift 2 (2:00pm start) average Shift 3 (10:00pm start) average OVERALL

APPENDIX 2
COMPLAINTS AND WARRANTY CLAIMS DESCRIPTION NUMBER September 105 74 220 46 9 17 30 4 60 81 5 51 0 25 29 62 818 October 103 72 184 49 21 22 14 11 62 92 6 46 17 27 21 76 823 November 97 98 169 53 3 16 55 6 63 94 9 47 3 24 28 67 832

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Robots crashing into furniture and other obstacles Robots not responding to commands Robots responding incorrectly to commands Joints seizing up Robots persistently falling over Rust or flaking paint on casings Robots unable to lift prescribed weight of 200 kilo Robots unable to climb stairs Intermittent power loss Burnt out electric motor Control buttons breaking Excessive noise during movement Repetitive scratching of head for no reason Loss of speech Loss of hearing Others TOTAL

APPENDIX 3 - ORGANISATION CHART

Production Director

Purchasing manager

Chief Inspector

Works manager

Production Control manager

Stores Manager Staff of 15

Assistant Works manager

Shift 1 manager

Shift 2 Manager

Shift 3 Manager

Total staff of approx. 150

Cutting Supervisor 4 people

Pressing Supervisor 3 people

Jointing Supervisor 11 people

General machining Supervisor 9 people

Fronts Assembly Supervisor 18 people

Heads Assembly Supervisor 14 people

Legs Assembly Supervisor 8 people

Adhesives Supervisor 25 people

Software Installation Supervisor 5 people

Cleaning & Spray shop Supervisor 17 people

Backs Assembly Supervisor 28 people

Arms Assembly Supervisor 12 people

Final Assembly Supervisor 18 people

APPENDIX 4 FACTORY LAYOUT

YOUR TASK Please refer to previous instructions . Your assignment is to act as consultant to Jeeves. As such you must identify the root causes of the companys problems and propose a strategy to rectify them and to prevent them happening again. In short the company need a new quality-management approach.

You may wish to use the problem solving sheets to assist you-example attached.

PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Problem identified Develop problem specification data. Questions (what where when, extent of current problem Determine/collect data already generated Apply existing relevant data to problem specification (evolves from previously developed data questions) Determine additional data needed Decide responsibilities/means for additional data collection Complete problem specification Develop possible causes Test possible causes Verify true causes Implement corrective action Evaluation and follow up

Corrective Action System Phases PHASE 1 Problem Definition Interim Fix

PHASE 2 Root Cause identification Corrective Action

PHASE 3 Evaluation and follow-up

PROBLEM SOLVING 8D SUMMARY

D EF IN E D EF IN E DATE AREA REPORTED

REF:
D0 S K E T C H D1

RESPONSIBLE GROUP

RESPONSIBLE SUPERVISOR

M E A S U R E

C L A RI F Y T H E P R

( How many / which body spec. / which area on body / first no good/ tendency on other bodies etc )

APPROPRIATE STANDARD

D2 S K E T C H

POIN T OF DET ECTI ON

DETECTION PROCESS NAME

D3

QPS NUMBER

C O N T AI N M E N T

ACTION

SEQUENCE / BODY NUMBER (Date / Time)

CHECK CONTAINMENT

A N A L Y SE

P O SS IB L E C A U SE S

D4 ALWAYS CONFIRM STANDARDISED WORK ADHERENCE P O SS IB L E C A U SE S

DIRECT CAUSE

MAT

MAN

WHY

WHY WHY

EFFECT WHY

WHY

ROOT CAUSE

EQUIP

METHOD

INVESTIGATE MOST LIKELY OK NG REASON

1. 2. STANDARDISED WORK ADHERENCE DIRECT CAUSE =

I M P R O V E

C O U N T E R M E A S

TO STOP THE CAUSE

QPS CHANGES

WHO

WHEN

CHECK

D5 D6

.
TO DETECT IT EARLIER CHECK

.
SHIFTS AGREE PAPERWORK CHANGES OPERATORS RETRAINED SHARE / FURTHER COUNTERMEASURE

.
D7

C O N T R O L

REPE AT PRE VEN TION

TEAM

D8

10