It was a little past 9:00 on a Monday morning when Jeff Baker walked into your office with a box of donuts. He offered you one as he sat down. This didn’t strike you as odd since members of the staff often brought donuts or kolaches to pass around the office. But, they didn’t usually sit down after offering you one.
“I’ve been talking with Anne about a problem we have with short term capacity in our pad printing operation. You know, that’s where we print the logo on the Custom lines of yo yos. We have received more orders than usual for July (we are using July 2005 in this case) and I want to release the orders to pad printing in a way that will enable us to meet our due date commitments in the best way possible. Would you have time to look at the order list (attached) and see what kind of schedule we should follow in July to do that? By the way, you have established quite a reputation in your short stay here. You have a talent for really explaining why your recommendations are the best approach in a way that all of us ‘over-the-hill’ managers can understand. Please be sure to do that for me too. I want to understand why your recommendation is the best schedule and what the trade-offs are for other possible schedules--and none of that philosophical college mumbo-jumbo. Remember, I came up through the ranks. I don’t have one of those sheepskins on my wall,” he says with a laugh.
Since your schedule was back to normal after that MRP report you did for Anne, you agreed to look at the information. After that compliment, how could you say no? “Try to get back to me within a couple of days,” Jeff said as he left your office.
As you open your old operations management text you smear donut icing all over the cover. “Where’s a napkin when you need one,” you mutter as you wipe off the cover with an old inter-office memo. “That’s one book I don’t want to spoil given the number of times I have consulted it in just the past few weeks.”
After a few minutes with the text, you call the production control office to confirm the pad printing schedule. They confirm that pad printing runs one 8-hour shift per day. They tell you that due to a make-up day for the flooding in June, pad printing will be running 23 days in July (they will work 3-Saturdays on 9, 16 and 23 July, and take a one-day holiday for July 4th). You thank them for the information and then you begin to develop your plan.
Even though Jeff lacks a college degree, from what you have seen, he is very sharp. And obviously he knows good work when he sees it since he liked, and apparently understood your past work. You resolve to cover all the bases but in a way that is a clear as possible.
Appendix to Assignment 4
Pad Printing Order List
Job Number Date Order Set-Up Production Due Date
Received Time Time
01-7703A 6/4/05 2 hrs. 6 days 11 July
01-7745A 6/7/05 4 hrs. 2 days 8 July
01-7836A 6/12/05 2 hrs. 8 days 25 July
01-7921A 6/14/05 4 hrs. 3 days 19 July
01-7999A 6/15/05 4 hrs. 9 days 29 July
Note: Set-up time is to set up the pad printer at the start of the job. Set-up includes thoroughly cleaning the printing heads and ink reservoirs, installing the new pad(s) and ink supply, and carefully aligning the machine.
Set-up at the beginning of a new day with the same job is insignificant.
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are the production time hours multiplied by 24 hours or 8 hours?
Is the set up times relevant to the production time and how does it affect the due dates when using each rule?
To develop a plan for the pad printing schedule in July, you would need to consider the order list provided. Here are the steps you can follow to analyze the data and create the schedule:
1. Review the order list: Look at each job on the list and take note of the date it was received, the set-up time required, the production time required, and the due date.
2. Calculate the total time required for each job: Add the set-up time and the production time to determine the total time required for each job. This will give you an idea of the workload for each order.
3. Determine the available working days in July: Since pad printing will be running for 23 days in July, taking into account the three Saturdays and the one-day holiday for July 4th, you will have to consider these as available working days for scheduling.
4. Arrange the jobs based on due date and total time required: Sort the job list in ascending order based on the due date. If there are any jobs with the same due date, prioritize the one with the shorter total time required.
5. Allocate the jobs to available working days: Starting from the earliest available working day, assign the jobs to each working day ensuring that the due dates are met. Try to distribute the workload evenly across the working days to avoid peak loads on certain days.
6. Consider trade-offs and potential conflicts: As you allocate the jobs, you may encounter conflicts where the workload exceeds the available capacity for a particular day. In such cases, you might need to consider prioritizing certain jobs or adjusting the schedule to accommodate the workload. Be mindful of any dependencies between jobs, such as the pad printer being occupied until a previous job is completed.
7. Document your recommendations and trade-offs: Once you have created a proposed schedule, explain why it is the best approach based on the available information. Be sure to highlight any trade-offs or potential issues with alternative schedules. Use clear and concise language to explain the reasoning behind your recommendations.
Remember, it's essential to pay attention to all the details provided, such as set-up time, production time, due dates, and available working days, to create a realistic and efficient pad printing schedule for July.