Title: Determining an action plan for manufacturing system improvement: the theory

Authors: Boyd A. Nicholds; John P.T. Mo

Addresses: School of Aerospace Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, P.O. Box 71, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia ' School of Aerospace Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, P.O. Box 71, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia

Abstract: Actions taken to obtain efficiency gains in manufacturing organisations require performance measurement feedback to provide evidence of the positive effect of improvements made. It is often not practical or beneficial to attempt to measure all non-productive time types. The objective of this paper is to provide a method to answer the question: What loss or waste data types would be optimum to measure and reduce at a given point in time? The benefit of collecting data for each observed type of waste time is compared against the risk that the benefit will not be realised. The highest ranked waste time types are recommended to be implemented first for both data collection procedures and waste reduction initiatives. The method uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to provide a structured decision support model for the problem. The output from the method is an action plan for manufacturing system improvement.

Keywords: manufacturing systems; waste reduction; performance measurement systems; PMS; action plan; decision analysis; risk benefit analysis; overall equipment effectiveness; OEE; efficiency gains; system improvement; data collection; waste reduction; analytical hierarchy process; AHP; decision support systems; DSS; modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2013.058209

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2013 Vol.6 No.4, pp.324 - 344

Received: 26 Jan 2013
Accepted: 03 May 2013

Published online: 18 Jul 2014 *

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