Testing

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A critical but often overlooked element in operations is testing.  It is an activity that doesn't relate directly to full production but the results gained from testing will prove or disprove a design or process.  That will determine whether your chosen design will be allowed to full production.

For larger companies,  testing is scheduled and run by a separate test group. The design groups have some say into how the testing will be done.  The testing group will be able to determine the location and specification of measuring devices, the accuracy of the measurements, and ultimately the validity of the results.  It is important for the design or manufacturing group convey the purpose of the test to the testing group, otherwise the testing group may assume the wrong objective and this will potentially invalidate the results.

For testing purposes the testing group will require that one or more people from design and manufacturing groups be available on site during testing.  Testing lasts anywhere from one day to a week so you need to make sure staff is available to support the testing.  Those supporting the testing should be knowledgeable of the purpose of the test; preferably more experienced personnel rather than a junior engineer or mechanic.

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Once testing is complete, immediately evaluate the results to determine validity.  A thorough operation will have predicted (hopefully accurately) the results prior to the test.  Then there are no surprises once testing is done.  With the right planning, a testing operation will proceed smoothly and results will validate the design successfully.

Compatibility of 3D CAD Graphics Systems

The design and operations world has many options available to use in designing, manufacturing, and assembling a product or system.  These include CATIA, Unigraphics, ProE, Solidworks, AutoCad, and others. While all of these software packages have strengths and weaknesses, it is important to have a way of translating a 3D design from one system to another.

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Hopefully, within an organization, a company is using one type of software (and the same version) when sharing a design back and forth between engineering and operations. It seems impossible that a company would use different types of software, but I have seen it done.  Obviously this creates problems right away and I would suggest that these types of companies don't have an idea what is going on.

The biggest challenge occurs when a company contracts out a design to another company and different software packages are used.  This happens quite often where different contractors win bids with different companies.  Rather than try to institute a new software (expensive and time consuming) the two partners use their in-house software packages.

To get different types of software packages to share designs, translation software is used.  Files are created and used to translate a CAD model from one software to the next.  In an ideal world this process should take no more than a couple of hours.

However, several things can go wrong.  First, the type of translation software may not have been tested accurately.  A computer or IT person may thing everything is good, but an engineer or operations person may find there are errors including the misfortune of an "unreadable model".

The conversion process may take several days which is clearly unacceptable in a fast paced industry with little buffer built into its schedule.  For delays in processing the translation many people usually have to help fix the problem, which pulls them away from other work.

Even in a normal design or manufacturing iteration, the amount of back and forth review and changing of models is time consuming and that may not be desirable in order to meet schedule.  For this reason alone, careful consideration must be given to what types of CAD packages are being used by your group and those you do business with.  It pays to work this our early on or you may pay dearly later delivering late products to market.

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24/7 Support

Operations rarely work only 9 to 5
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The most effective part of any operation is the ability to run 24/7 to keep product moving.  It is also one of the worst parts of an operation if you are an employee who likes the Monday though Friday day shift.  How can you keep full support of your operation without  alienating good employees who value free time to spend with family, hobbies, etc.?

For a lean operation, many of the Monday to Friday day crew will have to support second shift and/or weekend operations. The simplest way to do this is set up a rotation with the day crew to support a week or two of nights and weekends during the calender year.  A master schedule set up at the beginning of the year to cover the entire year is the first step.  An Excel spreadsheet works well and is filed in a group file on the organization's designated drive where all employees can access it. Of course you should have a backup if something happens to the original.  This lets everyone put it anything appointments that can't be missed (i.e. weddings, graduations, vacations).  Before or after this the lead will set up the shifts to get full coverage for the operation while ensuring everyone has a fair and equal turn at supporting the "off hour" shifts.  Any adjustments can be made at any time during the year so it is a very fluid schedule.  If a person is scheduled to work the weekend, he or she can arrange to shift their schedule for that week, having Monday and Tuesday off for instance. This type of system was successful when I worked at Boeing and ensured all shifts were covered with engineering support.

Another method is the use of pagers/company cellphones.  This is a less effective in that if an employee lives far from the operation, driving in may take time and the operation will be delayed longer.  In addition it is often difficult to fully  describe a problem over the phone and get a true sense of the issue at hand.  Sending pictures of the Internet may require a laptop with special secure access installed, not necessarily available to a personal home computer.

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Engineering Drawings in Operations

Operations struggles without  a clear set of engineering drawings or processes which define the part and its integration . The blueprint for making a quality product has particular characteristics depending on the type of drawing: 1) detail drawing used to define how a basic part is built, 2) assembly drawing used to show how two or more details are mated together, 3) installation drawing used to show how an  assembly is located in a final installation.

The detail drawing will usually contain the most technical information since it tells how to build the part from scratch using raw materials.  It is important to know all the correct (and up to date) processes and call outs listed on the bill of materials (BOM) or parts list.  I have seen many detail parts get held up in the quality assurance (QA) inspection because information was not current leaving the inspector to hold up approval of the detail part.  Also clear and complete drawings will alleviate any misinterpretation by the machinists or those who will fabricate the part.

A typical engineering drawing
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The assembly drawing will bring two or more details together.  Again clear drawings help immensely as well as keeping up to date on processes.  These drawings will show many detail parts so it is essential that all detail part numbers are correct on this drawing.  QA will stop an assembly from moving if the incorrect part numbers are listed on the BOM.  Also special consideration must be given to how parts are mechanically attached to each other and if necessary put precautionary notes on the BOM.  

The installation drawing will show how an assembly is located into a final product.  Installation drawings are used in the aircraft and automobile industries due to the enormous number of parts required to build the product.  Again clear and complete definition is essential for installation drawings.  In addition, the topic of tolerance analysis must be addressed.  Many times the tolerance stack up will be too far in one direction and the assembly will not properly install in the installation drawing.  This is usually discovered in the factory and requires immediate attention to fix the current unit and others behind it in the factory queue.

An engineering drawing has many downstream users
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Expediting

If you have been in operations for any length of time you know that expediting a part through the production line is an occasional fact of life.  In a large operation there are many steps that must be satisfied usually in sequential order.  When a part gets bogged down in a process and may jeopardize the overall schedule of the operation, the expediting process begins.

Usually the first task is to assess how much time is necessary to complete the process and determine how late the event is (or will be).  Then the all important "recovery schedule"  is developed showing how in a short time, with everyone working extra, the lost time will be "made up" and everything will now be on schedule.  This requires upfront coordination with the necessary players to develop a realistic recovery schedule.  A schedule that senior management will be tracking at least once a day if not twice a day.  Many projects have early morning status or "stand up" meetings to monitor the recovery until work is completed.  It's quite often a stressful time, but due diligence to ensure someone is completely on top of the project will keep the situation under control.

Expediters help with recovery
 (courtesy  www.expediterservices.com)

A person is identified as the "expediter".  It's his or her job to ensure the part is proceeding through the process based on the recovery schedule.  If there are roadblocks the expediter must remove them quickly with little disruption.  Often this job is assigned to a new person to help him or her "learn the ropes" of the operation. However the best person is one who is experienced and knows people in the organization who can help push the part through.  It takes a strong "people person" who has a way with people and can coax or convince others to go the extra mile to get back on schedule.

Value of Internships

(Courtesy of : www.forbes.com)

The importance of internships can't be overrated.  Many companies are reluctant to hire an intern for a summer (or short term assignment).  These companies feel that: 1) They are too busy to post an internship, review resumes, interview candidates, and extend internship offers, 2) they will have to "babysit" the interns during the work day and keep them focused on the business at hand, 3) the intern will complete the internship, go home, graduate, and take an offer with a competing company.  I feel these are just excuses.

Internships help both the company and the student.  It gives  the student a real world experience in which to apply what her or she has learned in the classroom.  In my experience, interns may be a little nervous at first (understandable) but quickly excel at their first assignment.  If a hiring company has introductory projects for interns to handle, the intern will not be bored and will produce fabulous results.

The company benefits by giving the intern an "audition" of sorts to see how effectively he or she integrates themselves into the business.  The company can free up more experienced personnel for more challenging projects requiring their expertise.  An obvious plus in the operations world.

If the intern looks good, extend an offer to him/her contingent on graduation. If the intern likes the experience he or she will spread the word on how great it was to work at the company and every operation likes free publicity.

(Courtesy of : www.businessinsider.com)