Case Study-Duraweld

1. List the 5S and compare to the lean implementation at Duraweld. If there are differences, explain them. The ‘5S’ principles which originated from Japanese terms of seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardize) and shitsuke (sustain) are used to create efficient, clean and well organised working environment. Sort – refers to ensuring that each item in a workplace is in its proper place or identified as unnecessary and removed.When â€Å"sorting† is well implemented, communication between workers is improved and product quality and productivity are increased Set in order – The second stage of 5S involves the orderly arrangement of needed items so they are easy to use and accessible for â€Å"anyone† to find. Orderliness eliminates waste in production and clerical activities. Shine – refers to a clean work area. This maintains a safer work area and problem areas are quickly identified. An important part of à ¢â‚¬Å"shining† is â€Å"Mess Prevention†. In other words, don’t allow litter, scrap, shavings, cuttings, etc. , to land on the floor in the first place.Standardized – means to formalized procedures and practices to create consistency and ensure that all steps are performed correctly. Orderliness is the core of â€Å"standardization† and is maintained by Visual Controls. Sustain – means to keep the process going through training, communication and organisation structure. This last stage of 5S is the discipline and commitment of all other stages. Without â€Å"sustaining†, the workplace can easily revert back to being dirty and chaotic. That is why it is so crucial for the workers to be empowered to improve and maintain their workplace.When employees take pride in their work and workplace it can lead to greater job satisfaction and higher productivity. Among the benefits of implementing 5S System:- * Improve safety * Decrease down time * Raise employee morale * Identify problems more quickly * Develop control through visibility * Establish convenient work practices * Increase product and process quality * Strengthen employees’ pride in their work * Promote stronger communication among staff * Empower employees to sustain their work area Duraweld applied ‘sort’ and ‘set in order’ principles by using a shadow box as proper tool storage.Storage areas for quick moving materials were set line-side. Labels were used to ensure tools were stored in proper place. These implantations have help to reduce worker’s travel time as all machines, tools, and information related to their task is set within a defined area. Duraweld ensure ‘shine’ / cleanliness is practice at the factory. Cleaning and maintenance procedures are advertised in the factory. The floors under the machines were purposely painted in white so as to ensure that spilled/oil leak can easily detected – w hich can prevent corrective maintenance. Duraweld created two-cell manufacturing units for repeat stock products.The floor was painted to define the work area, aisle space and location of necessary items. By linking the routes together, the production team managed to reduce conveyance and set-up time, build awareness of previous/next process and increase productivity. This ‘standardized’ process was further enhanced by the implementation of Kanban cards – the visual management system that incorporates scheduling and maintenance. The Kanban cards indicate what to produce, when to produce and how much to produce. These standard operating procedures has help to reduce over-production at Duraweld.Furthermore its ‘pull’ as opposed to ‘push’ system allows better regulation of intermediate stocks in the production cycle. Among the key factors which lead to successful lean implementation in Duraweld is through its ‘sustain’ processe s. The company ensures its employees from shop floor to the top managements are committed to the lean programme. Proper communication sessions via workshops, training were held to explain about the changes, how it affect them, the benefit etc. This helps to instil positive values and make everyone be part of the system – employee engagement.Duraweld has also invested in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to micromanage stock variation and seasonality. This system link operation across the organisation. The practicality of 5S principals can be seen through various implementations in Durawell as explained above. What makes the implementation of these principles throughout the organisation a big success is its employee’s engagement that makes the lean system as part of their culture in their work place and organisation as a whole. The principle aim of a 5S system is improved safety, efficiency, and employee morale.By deciding what should be kept, where it should be kept, and how it should be kept, 5S eliminates wasteful clutter and creates ownership of processes among workers. The results of 5S are both visually and economically dramatic. 2. Describe which kind of waste was eliminated for each lean implementation at Duraweld. Can you think of other types of waste that could be eliminated? Waste is defined as non-value added activity or expense that the customer is not paying for. By eliminating waste in the operations, we can reduce lead times, increase quality and decrease costs.Before we can eliminate waste from the processes, we need to be able to identify it. The following are the wastes most commonly associated with Lean. * Transportation: Is there unnecessary (non-value added) movement of parts, materials, or information between processes? * Waiting: Are people or parts, systems or facilities idle – waiting for a work cycle to be completed? * Overproduction: Are you producing sooner, faster or in greater quantities than the cu stomer is demanding? * Defects: Does the process result in anything that the customer would deem unacceptable? Inventory: Do you have any raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP) or finished goods that are not having value added to them? * Movement: How much do you move materials, people, equipment and goods within a processing step? * Extra Processing: How much extra work is performed beyond the standard required by the customer? At Duraweld, the 5S (Sort, Set to order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) was the cornerstone that helps the organisation eliminating the waste. The first step taken by Duraweld was converting a ‘push’ manufacturing flow to a ‘pull’ process by creating a visual management system of Kanban card.The cards indicate what to process, when to process and how much to produce. Not only it reduces over-production but allows better regulation of intermediate stocks in production cycle. Only the required amount is produced in every stage. This process eliminate waste – no work was carried out unnecessarily, machine time is lesser, better utilisation of space in factory. The use of shadow boards helps to organise the essential tools. Relevant machines and tools were aggregated in cells. Floors were painted in white to assist warning of maintenance issues or detect early wear.Labelling program ensures item/tool used returned to their designated location. This helps in reducing motion of workers i. e. one of the wastes in production line whereby workers can find all machines, tools, and information related to their task is set within a defined area without having to travel around to find what they need. The preventive maintenance by ensuring early detection of wear machine or tools can reduce maintenance cost. The 3S – sort, sort in order and shine exercises as explain above also found waste from plastic cuts from the production line which can be recycled and reinserted the manufacturing cycle.The implementatio n of visual management technique and clear work area organisation ensure people were kept working which means the resources are fully utilised. This eliminates unproductivity among the workers – their movements are fully controlled not only by the supervisors but also by the workflow process/schedules. Duraweld made big investment by using an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage stock variation and seasonal stock adjustments. The system allows materials movements, stocks, and production schedules to be managed and monitored through a database in a computer.By using this technology, Duraweld can reduce its manpower cost whereby less supervisor is require to monitor the database as compared to more supervisor required to monitor each tasks if it’s done manually. Communication is the key success to sustain the lean implementation in the organisation. Clear message was sent across the board on how the changes is require to be done, the benefits an d the impact of the implementation to the workers effectively communicated. This not only gets rid of grievances among the workers which are a waste in any organisation but improve employee morale and create sense of belonging to the organisation.The tracking and elimination of waste is an on-going process. When waste is not actively sought and removed, it will continue to build in your company. 3. Considering Duraweld’s situation, explain which elements of the lean system you would further implement and what would be their positive consequences on the company. As discussed in question no. 2, one of the important elements in the lean system is eliminating the waste which in Duraweld’s case, the 5S systems are used as a tool to eliminate the wastes within its factory.On top of that the use of Kanban cards system help to increase efficiency in its production cycle by replacing the ‘push’ system with the ‘pull’ system. In my opinion, the followin g elements of Lean can be further implement at Duraweld:- 1) Visual Management: A Standard Operating Procedure and a step-by-step instruction which implemented through the visual management such as a manual board/instruction board at each workstation and machine can be used to show how each task is perform or machine is operated.When this visual management is fully utilised, not only the production flows are in order, job rotation among workers can be perform effectively – any employees can be trained to do any task or operate any machine by referring to the instruction board. This will reduce the company dependency of particular skilled workers. Everyone in the shop floor is multi-tasked. 2) Quality at the source: The quality at source require the production line to do things right the first time. This will eliminate the opportunity of waste i. e. waste of raw material, defect outputs etc. hich will help to reduce cost. At the early stage of production cycle, the workers wil l inspect, analyse and control their own work to guarantee that the goods and services passed on to the next process stage meet the specification/requirement. 3) Continuous improvement: Conventional wisdom told us â€Å"if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! † The reality of today’s business environment is that if we’re not improving our business processes and meet and exceed customers’ expectation, our business will not survive. Many organizations create change either by vision or by crisis.The latter seems to be the most prevalent. A major crisis takes place that forces a company to make an improvement. When a crisis hits, it’s because the vision or change efforts were not sufficient to avoid it. Quick fixes are then applied, and teams are formed to root out the problems. We have to take the time to step back, identify, and analyze what the real issues are, and the type of method to use. There are numerous improvement choices; Kaizen, Lea n Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TQM, Process Reengineering, Value Propositions, etc. 4) Standardized OperationsOne of the most important tools of lean manufacturing is standardized work. When starting a 5S program, the cleaning, organizing, and developing of sustainable practices is done so the elements of work can be standardized. In lean product development deployments, by developing and releasing design guidelines, we are in effect implementing standardized work for engineers. The principles of lean and flow production do not work well when everyone is allowed to choose the method or sequence in which to do the job; quality suffers, and productivity drops.This reduces throughput and the carefully developed production system develops unanticipated bottlenecks. Standardized work is a detailed, documented and visual system by which associates develop and follow a series of predefined process steps. It should be used whenever the work requires completing a series of tasks. Production wor kers, shipping departments, and warehousing teams all can benefit from implementing standardized work. References:- 1. Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Techniques. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Techniques | eHow. com

Canadian health policy Essays

Canadian health policy Essays Canadian health policy Paper Canadian health policy Paper Canada’s   public founded health care system is dynamic, reforms are been made over four decades and will continue in responds to changes within medicine and throughout the society .The basics is the universal coverage for medically necessary health care service provided on the   basis of need rather than the ability to pay. Canadian health policy is regarded as one of the best health services in the world. The demand for these health services are however growing at the same time as economic resources are diminishing. Health policy initiatives have achieved the 1964 royal commission on health services goal of access of medical care for all Canadian. The current challenge is to enable all Canadian to achieve the best possible state of health and to do this within the limitation of changing social, economic and political climate. Canada’s   publicly funded health care services is best described as an interlocking   set of ten provincial and three territorial health insurance plan known as Medicare.   It provides access to universal, comprehensive coverage for medically necessary facilities. The Canadian health care system have started since 1867constitutin which contains few specifics about health, and till date many issues have been discussed on health related matters and have been very beneficial to the formation of Canadian health care policy. CANADAS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AT A GLANCE Health policy is intended to be a vehicles for the exploration and discussion of health policy issues and aimed at enhancing good and quality health status among the people in Canada. Canada’s health care system is a group of socialized health insurance plans that provides coverage to all Canadian citizens. It is publicly founded and administered on provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. Under the health care system, individual citizens are provided preventive care and medical treatment from primary care physicians as well as access to hospitals, dental surgery, and additional medical care. Canada’s health care system is subject of much political controversy and debate in the country. Some people question the efficiency of the current system to deliver treatment in a timely fashion and advocate adopting a private system similar to the United States. Conversely, there are worries that privatization would result to inequality in the health system with only wealthy being able to afford certain treatment. Canada does boast of one of the highest expectancies and lower infant mortality rates of the industrialized countries, which many attributed this to Canada’s health care system.

Hester Prynne Is a Feminist Essays

Hester Prynne Is a Feminist Essays Hester Prynne Is a Feminist Paper Hester Prynne Is a Feminist Paper The Scarlet Letter can easily be audited as early feministic piece of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a strong female character living with her choices, whether they were ethical or unethical (Hawthorne, 52). Hester Prynne is a feminist who refuses to accept the subordinate role of women because she has financial, emotional, and intellectual independence. Hester Prynne is comparable to a modern feminist because of her admirable actions and brave choices (suffragist). Hester reveals she is a resilient woman when she is prosecuted by the male authority and laws set down by the male population of her society. I feel her refusal to show shame or guilt at a victimless crime of passion, is an assertion of her independence in this society where womens main purpose was of procreation (Burnett). Her independence from the supporting power of a man and her own personal drive shows the power of human emotion that surpasses any historical idea of womanhood (suffragist). Hester shows that she’s a passionate woman and does not let the male authority impact her and her daughter Pearl life. Hester is comparable to a modern feminist because she feels passion for what she believes in, she does not abide to how women should act during her time, and she acts by the laws she has set up for herself. Hester Prynne shows that she is financially independent when she supports her daughter and herself by her skills (Reiss). She is coerced into being financially independent when Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillilngsworth would not help support Hester and her child Pearl financially (Hawthorne, 47). She then discovers one of her talents and that supports her family by becoming seamstress (Hawthorne). I feel this shows that she does not need a man to support her and depend on; she is a strong woman figure that could do all this on her own. Hester also shows that she is independent another way, emotionally. Hester Prynee is emotionally independent, because she is not dependent on a man figure for emotional support for her problems. She shows independence in handling her own problems and emotions that stem out of these factors (Burnett). Being emotionally independent is a good quality to possess as it shows a strong-willed and independent woman who can handle herself in tough situations and Hester does show this as a quality (suffragist). For example, she has to cope going through society as a sinner and wearing the letter alone, she can not relate to anyone and does not have anyone to â€Å"lean on† for support . As shown in this qoute â€Å"But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely estranged, but outlawed, from society, had habituated herself to such latitude of speculation as was altogether foreign to the clergyman. She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness. . . . The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers,- stern and wild ones,- and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss (Hawthorne, 183). She is going through all of this alone. Another example is when she is standing on the scaffold. She has to stay strong for her daughter, while the public ridicules her for her actions (Hawthorne). But she also shows characteristics for being intellectually independent. As shown in this quote â€Å"She stood apart from moral interests, yet close beside them, like a ghost that revisits the familiar fireside and can no longer make itself seen or felt, no more smile with the household joy, nor mourn with the kindred sorrow; or, should it succeed in manifesting its forbidden sympathy, awakening only terror and horrible repugnance. (Hawthorne, 88) Intellectual independence is the most important form of independence. Intellectual dependence happens when Hester starts thinking for herself (suffragist). Hester does filtering ideas of her own, and she definitely does not accept other peoples’ advice blindly. Intellectual independence means she is willing to experiment, explore and leave no stone unturned in the search for understanding (Clavaron). I feel Hester does avoid ideas that do not fit neatly into her world view. She will think through ideas herself instead of blindly accepting predigested facts from other people. For example, she never listened to Roger Chillingsworths’ suggestions, such telling the identity of her lover so that she could be judged and seen differently, then her lover would then be exposed and ridiculed. As shown in his quote â€Å"Wherefore dost thou desire it? † inquired Hester, shrinking, she hardley knew why, from this secret bond. â€Å"Why not announce thyself openly, and cast me off at once†. â€Å"I will keep thy secret, as I have his. †(Hawthorne, 68-69) Like all forms of independence, intellectual independence is personal. As Hawthorne says in this quote â€Å"She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wildern ess. Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers stern and wild ones and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss† (Hawthorne, 186). This shows that Hester Prynne is independent through financial, emotional, and even through intellectual independence. By being this independent she is seen as a modern day feminist when she deliberately chooses to rebel against the Puritan society in her relationship with Dimmesdale and her protection of him (Hawthorne, 68). She is a feminist who refuses to accept the subordinate role of women and has financial, emotional, and finally intellectual independence Work Cited Burnett, Paula. Hester. New Statesman Society 2 Sept. 1994: 36. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. Clavaron, Yves. Etudes francophones, postcolonial studies: Entre mesentente cordiale et strategies partagees. Neohelicon: Acta comparationis litterarum universarum 35. 2. 2008: 39+. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. United States: Modern Library, 2000. Print Hester. Publishers Weekly 256. 47. 2009: 38. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. Reiss, John. Hawthorns The Scarlet Letter. . The Explicator 53. 4. 1995: 200+. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. suffrage. (Definition). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2002. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. suffragist. (Definition). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2002. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.

Objectives of an organizations public relations department Essay

Objectives of an organizations public relations department - Essay Example The first recognized and agreed upon definition of public relations was given by Edward Bernays who said that public relations was a management function that studies and records public attributes, lays down policies, strategies and procedures with a view to the aspirations of the organization, which is implemented by the setting into motion a sequence of actions capable of achieving a positive public perception and acceptance. One of the major tasks of any public relations wings of modern organizations is to maintain up-to-date information on the public opinion. This is usually achieved by the public relations wing by way of surveys and opinion polls that obtain responses in the form of various questions that aim at understanding the public perception towards a particular entity of interest to the company. In the modern age, such information is often conducted on a global scale and the information is routed and collected using various technologies of the day such as through the Inter net and through satellite means (Paul Baines, John Egan, 2004). In fact, the Internet has evolved as the single largest medium for understanding public perception by most public relations establishments. In addition to the simplicity involved in conducting online polls, the speed and efficiency with which the obtained information can be processed and viewed for required results has resulted in a rapid rise in the use of cyberspace for most public relations initiatives. Apart from these two approaches, public relations also cover the aspect of popularizing any product or service of the organization by introducing them and their inherent capabilities and functionalities to the customer. This is done by using phone based campaigns, advertising and online promotion. The public relations society of America had the following to comment on the utilities of public relations (Jane Johnston, Clara Zawawi, 2004): "Examples of the knowledge that may be required in the professional practice of public relations include communication arts, psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and the principles of management and ethics. Technical knowledge and skills are required for opinion research, public issues analysis, media relations, direct mail, institutional advertising, publications, film/video productions, special events, speeches, and presentations." Thus, from the above definition, it can be well understood that operating under public relations requires the individual to possess certain skills that cover many domains from management to technical knowledge to psychology. Public relations are so vital to the prospects o a company and its vision, more so for the ones that are constantly under the public eye, so much so that any company would have a certain

Treaty of Versailles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Treaty of Versailles - Essay Example Thus, the Germans came to feel that they were tricked and betrayed into surrendering during a war that they did not believe they were losing. This is the main reason that they hated the treaty. It was drafted and approved without the input of the German people. No consultations were made with Germany. Instead, Germany was forced to accept all of the terms of the treaty under duress. The treaty, which was drafted at the Palace of Versailles by David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson, known as the Big 3, were the only ones who had the power to decide what the treaty would contain and how Germany would be instructed to respond to it. Lloyd believed that Germany should be treated in such a way that it would serve as a barrier to the rise of communism. Clemenceau, elt that Germany should be prevented from being able to declare another war, which was the view of the French public, who were directly involved in the German-Prussian war. While Wilson, representing the interests of the United States, hoped that the treaty would represent European reconciliation2. While the desires of the big 3 were met, Germany was left to silently seethe and protest the contents of a treaty that it never agreed to. One of the main problems that Germany had with the treaty, was the way that Reparations were listed. Although the word â€Å"guilt† never actually appeared in the treaty, the Germans felt that they were forced to admit guilt under the â€Å"War Guilt Clause†. This caused the country to become open to financial remunerations for their war crimes in the amount of six million six hundred pounds. Germany was also forced to accept total blame for the war 3 In the process, the countries that comprised the whole of Europe was redefined, with Germany suffering from population and land loss in the process.