Assembling means collecting the goods from different sources of production and bringing them at central place for further distribution. Assembling is necessary when producers producing the goods are scattered and they produce goods on small scale.
Assembling is necessary mainly due to following reasons:
• The small units are scattered and they produce goods on small scale.
• Production differ in variety.
• Poor transport and storage facility.
• Direct contact between producer and consumer is difficult.
Assembling of goods is done only after they have been bought. Assembling refers to the process of keeping the goods, purchased from different places, at a particular place. Certain amount of assembling is done by the customers also.
For example, we may buy the goods needed for household use from various sources and keep stock. A manufacturer may buy different kinds of raw materials from different sources and keep these in his stores. A trader also buys goods from different manufacturers and keeps these in his shop to be sold to consumers. There are many advantages in assembling. For a manufacturer assembling ensures availability of raw materials and avoids shortage of stock. Assembling also plays an important role in marketing.
Process Flow of Assembling
Assembly line process
• Flow – fixed sequence of connected processes
• Flexibility – low as the line is designed to work at a certain speed
• Products – very few depending on the set up of the line
• Capital investment – lots of machinery and capital required
• Variable cost – low due to the specialised process
• Labour requirements – mostly unskilled and few workers required due to machines
• Volume – able to work at a very high volume and efficiency
An assembly line is a fixed sequence of connected activities which each take place according to a strict schedule and pacing. Greater efficiency and volume is obtained due to the specialised nature of the line, which can only make a few similar products, and the pacing which can be calculated for maximum efficiency. Car manufacturing is one of the most well know assembly line processes, with different sections being added to the car as it moves down the production line, and the end result being a set of neSarly identical cars, usually only differing in colour
Process Improvement
Most businesses are constantly looking for ways to improve the cost, efficiency, quality and flexibility of their operations. Whilst this generally involves focusing on the bottleneck, there are a variety of potential ways this can be achieved:
• Additional resources can be tasked to boost the capacity of any bottleneck. Other machines or workers can be tasked to work in parallel with the bottleneck, hence increasing the capacity.
• The efficiency of the bottleneck activity itself can be improved, perhaps by using more efficient machines or working methods.
• Alternative process flows can be developed to route work around the bottleneck. This will increase the overall capacity of the process by effectively providing a parallel flow.
• The availability of the bottleneck resources can be increase. For example, the bottleneck machine and staff can work overtime to bring them up to the level of the second slowest process.
• The work in process inventory can be reduced, which reduces cycle time and the costs of storing WIP in the process
• Activities which do not add value can be minimised or removed. For example, transport time can be minimised by arranging the process better and rework and repair activities can be minimised by implementing higher quality standards in the initial work.
• Redesign the product itself to improve the efficiency of manufacture can help improve both capacity and throughput.
• Outsourcing certain activities can improve flexibility and reduce costs by giving access to specialised resources.
In some cases, the most significant improvement can be produced by eliminating the bottleneck activity, particularly if the bottleneck is much slower than the rest of the process. However, in efficient processes, or where several bottlenecks have already been eliminated, it may be difficult to achieve more that a marginal improvement in the process.
Assembling is necessary mainly due to following reasons:
• The small units are scattered and they produce goods on small scale.
• Production differ in variety.
• Poor transport and storage facility.
• Direct contact between producer and consumer is difficult.
Assembling of goods is done only after they have been bought. Assembling refers to the process of keeping the goods, purchased from different places, at a particular place. Certain amount of assembling is done by the customers also.
For example, we may buy the goods needed for household use from various sources and keep stock. A manufacturer may buy different kinds of raw materials from different sources and keep these in his stores. A trader also buys goods from different manufacturers and keeps these in his shop to be sold to consumers. There are many advantages in assembling. For a manufacturer assembling ensures availability of raw materials and avoids shortage of stock. Assembling also plays an important role in marketing.
Process Flow of Assembling
Assembly line process
• Flow – fixed sequence of connected processes
• Flexibility – low as the line is designed to work at a certain speed
• Products – very few depending on the set up of the line
• Capital investment – lots of machinery and capital required
• Variable cost – low due to the specialised process
• Labour requirements – mostly unskilled and few workers required due to machines
• Volume – able to work at a very high volume and efficiency
An assembly line is a fixed sequence of connected activities which each take place according to a strict schedule and pacing. Greater efficiency and volume is obtained due to the specialised nature of the line, which can only make a few similar products, and the pacing which can be calculated for maximum efficiency. Car manufacturing is one of the most well know assembly line processes, with different sections being added to the car as it moves down the production line, and the end result being a set of neSarly identical cars, usually only differing in colour
Process Improvement
Most businesses are constantly looking for ways to improve the cost, efficiency, quality and flexibility of their operations. Whilst this generally involves focusing on the bottleneck, there are a variety of potential ways this can be achieved:
• Additional resources can be tasked to boost the capacity of any bottleneck. Other machines or workers can be tasked to work in parallel with the bottleneck, hence increasing the capacity.
• The efficiency of the bottleneck activity itself can be improved, perhaps by using more efficient machines or working methods.
• Alternative process flows can be developed to route work around the bottleneck. This will increase the overall capacity of the process by effectively providing a parallel flow.
• The availability of the bottleneck resources can be increase. For example, the bottleneck machine and staff can work overtime to bring them up to the level of the second slowest process.
• The work in process inventory can be reduced, which reduces cycle time and the costs of storing WIP in the process
• Activities which do not add value can be minimised or removed. For example, transport time can be minimised by arranging the process better and rework and repair activities can be minimised by implementing higher quality standards in the initial work.
• Redesign the product itself to improve the efficiency of manufacture can help improve both capacity and throughput.
• Outsourcing certain activities can improve flexibility and reduce costs by giving access to specialised resources.
In some cases, the most significant improvement can be produced by eliminating the bottleneck activity, particularly if the bottleneck is much slower than the rest of the process. However, in efficient processes, or where several bottlenecks have already been eliminated, it may be difficult to achieve more that a marginal improvement in the process.