Assignment 6

1.      Explain why continual quality improvement is important?

Ans) Any organization to stay in race with its opponents it needs continual quality improvement. As the time goes customer choices and needs also changes, to satisfy the customers improvement is very important. For example take the fastest car in the world, if the company doesn’t improve every year its opponent will release a car that is faster than that. So just being number one is not just enough but also continual improvement to stay number one. What is best today may not be the best tomorrow if there is no improvement to stay ahead of all its opponents.

2.      What is management’s role in continual quality improvement?

Ans) Managers possess an authority to make decisions as they are the higher ranking officials in an organization. It’s the responsibility of the higher officials to make continual improvement to keep the company in par with its rivals. By management playing the necessary role of leadership at its best the organization ca definitely improve. Some of the best thing a leader can teach their workers is:

a)      To give the workers specific improvements goals which are decided by the quality council.

b)      Giving the workers the motivation need both mentally and physically.  

c)      Setting a quality council for every single department in the organization and work on it.

d)      Improving the rewards for the workers depending on their work.

e)      Good leader periodically checks whether there are any faults in the system.

3.      Discuss the Kaizen approach?

Ans) Kaizen is the name given by the Japanese to the concept of continual improvement, here Kai means change and Zen means good. The main things that are focused in this approach are people, product and process. Hence kaizen approach main motto is continual improvement of quality of the product to satisfy the people, in this approach good is never good enough as it must keep improving to satisfy the customers. Kaizen value system is a system in which all things at all levels are at continual improvement for ever. The figure below shoes the structure of this system.

4.      How would you describe a lean system?

Ans) Lean system was first developed as a concept for manufacturing hence it is also called Lean Manufacturing. The world lean is used here as by using this system we can produce better products and services using very few sources compared to other systems. This concept is borrowed from the Just-In-Time Toyota Production System (TPS) which was first developed at an automobile company Toyota by a quality officer Taiichi Ohno. Lean systems main motto is to get the right things to the right place in right time by reducing the waste and using every resource possible and keep on improving the work flow. Some of the important ways to reduce waste is:

a)      Overproduction waste: This waste is usually caused due extra production of an product or giving extra services than needed.

b)      Inventory waste: As this is a manufacturing system inventory is the raw materials, to waste inventory here is to stack up more raw materials in the ware houses than needed.

c)      Defects waste: This waste is caused due to defects in products which cause extra labor and services to the customers.

d)      Transportation cost: This is caused when a product is being processed and the machinery is not in line the transportation needed to take the product from machinery to another. For example a product is processing and the machinery is not in line to take the product from one part of the factory to another part is definitely a waste.

5.      What is lean six-sigma and how would you apply it to a quality management system?

Ans) Six-sigma was a big innovation which changed the way we see the quality improvement. The aim of lean six-sigma is to reduce defects to 3.4 times a million to improve the processing quality which leads to improve success and profitability. The benefits from using this system are:

a)      Cost reduction

b)      Productivity improvement

c)      Market-share growth

d)      Customer retention

e)      Culture change

f)       Product/service improvement

The main protocol of the six-sigma system is a six-step concept for continual improvement. The six steps are:

i)                 Identifying what are the products that are wanted by the customers.

ii)                To prioritize according to their criticality

iii)               Determine if the classified characteristics are controlled by part and/or process

iv)               Maximum allowable tolerance for each classified characteristics

v)                Calculate the process variation carefully of the classified characteristics

vi)               Make the changes according to the six-sigma it might be change in product or service

There are five main steps to apply lean six sigma to quality management system is:

a)      Identify the problem

b)      Decide how to exploit the problem

c)      Subordinate and synchronize it

d)      Elevate the performance

e)      If the output is not good go back to step 1

6.      Define benchmarking?

Ans) Benchmark was first developed in 1980’s but came into limelight in 1990’s. In 80’s none of the fortune 500 companies were using bench marking, where in 90’s almost all of the fortune 500 were using it. Benchmarking is a process where an organization compares its working both internally and externally with the company’s best-in-class inside or outside its industry. This will help the company to close its gap between the best companies in its class. In this process both the organizations should have a good relationship to share data for mutual benefits. Benchmark concentrates on the critical changes that need to be made in the processing unit for improved output. Usually benchmarking takes place between both companies which are not from same industry hence they won’t hesitate in sharing the data between each other. This is beneficial for both small and large industries. 

7.      How can you apply benchmarking data?

Ans) The data which we have after benchmarking is finished will be both qualitative and quantitative information. Quantitative information is used to analyze the future progress so it can be used for further improvement objectives for future. The qualitative analysis is used to look into how the people are being trained, personal policies etc. this gives us the insight of how the benchmarking is going on. The quantitative information is the information that is needed but there is more value in the qualitative information. As this gives us the information how the system is creating an environment to be best-in-class and to sustain it. Never take this information easily, the better you study about this information and discuss in the staff meetings the better results you get.

8.      What is a JIT system?

Ans) Just-In-Time system is nothing but getting your materials delivered at the right time when you need them. This system is used to eliminate all the resources that are going for waste in the manufacturing by producing extra products than needed and wasting the resources and even the suppliers should also eliminate the waste by making use of every resources. This can be done by suppliers not producing the materials until the manufacturers need it, by doing this there is no need for an inventory this saves a lot of money and this money can invested in the development of the company in return.

9.      What are the benefits of JIT/lean?

Ans) The benefits of JIT/lean goes around four critical topics they are: inventory and work in process, cycle time, continual improvement and elimination of waste. There are four important concepts in this discussion they are:

Inventory and Work-in-Process: Not using inventory is practically not possible but the inventory can be reduced by producing exactly the amount of products needed. Products should not be kept for long in the warehouses this reduces the inventory cost.

Cycle Time: This is the time when the materials are supplied to the manufacturer before the production takes place and the time after the manufacturing is completed the good when sent to the goods storage. As the production time reduces product manufacturing cost also decreases.

Continual Improvement: Good continual improvement helps in eliminating waste by improving the methods of manufacture. This continual improvement helps in reducing cost by using the waste in any form needed.

Elimination of waste: By eliminating waste in the above three sections production cost definitely decreases. Some of the important forms of wastes needed to be eliminated are:

a)      Waste arising from overproducing

b)      Waste arising from waiting

c)      Waste arising from transport

d)      Waste arising from processing itself

e)      Waste arising from unnecessary stock on hand

f)       Waste arising from unnecessary motion

g)      Waste arising from producing defective goods

10.   Discuss the automation system ideas for JIT/lean?

Ans) Many companies have done the costly mistake of thinking that automation will change the face of the company. In 1980’s many of the North American companies have invested billions of dollars in automation and went through a very bad crisis. Cadillac was one of the first to set up the automated assembly set up and had many problems with it where the company went to a stage where it had to be closed. Humans need is important too as we need humans to control the machines and the humans replaced machines should be made efficient to work better than the humans.

                                                        SOCIAL NETWORKING

KT Platform Tactile Monitor lets players get a real feel for the music:

KT platform tactile monitor is a player made by Porter & Davies company that helps us get real feel for the music. About 3 years ago this company helped the drummers feel the low end thunder by kicking the very tool they sat on. Now the company has taken it to another lever with this tactile monitor which sends sounds through kinetic transfer which you can literally feel in your bones. Rather than just hearing the music through ear this device gives a physically feel through bone conduction. This device released at the end of the January and is highly priced at $2,250 which is pretty expensive.

Drone Debate:

The Unmanned Aircraft is the new upcoming technology all around the world. The new upcoming improvements in the drones are drone sensors. These sensors usually include accelerometer, gyroscope, image sensors etc.

We need regulation of drones because FAA is concerned regarding the safety and security. As there is a possibility for the drones of colliding with other objects and humans. Some drones don’t need the FAA permit but they need some rules and regulations. All the drones that are used by commercial or business purpose are subjected to FAA. Contrary to what is being speculated as to the rules which are being applied to consumer drones ‘SHALL NOT APPLY’. Today's Drones are not fit for taking care of the see and maintain a strategic distance from rule yet. Despite the fact that it could be conceivable as Intel has given a heads-up to this utilizing "Genuine SENSE" innovation. All the organizations need protected and dependable flying as the obligation begins up with the controller then to the producer lastly to the clients.

Solar Plane Pioneers Lay Out Round-the-World Flight Plan

Ever since the beginning of an unnatural weather change and ascend in the measure of contamination; specialists, researchers and preservationists have dealt with creating eco-accommodating method of transportation. The utilization of coal and petrol as fuel makes a lot of contamination furthermore influences the soundness of the individuals. The impacts of these a dangerous atmospheric devastation and contamination can be felt harder as the days go by directing us the need for such high number of individual vehicles. Presently the late headway in transportation area is the development of sun powered plane. This sun oriented plane tackles immaculate vitality from the sun and uses this to power the plane. It has been named as Solar Impulse which is a bigger model of the to start with, which flew a couple of years prior. The task organizers and pilots have chosen to fly this over the globe with stops at different spots. This could be the world's first plane ever to circumnavigate the globe utilizing just the force of the sun and to drive with its four propellers. The plane has stand out seat in it to drive it, so that the delays will give the pilots an opportunity to swap puts and draw in with the neighborhood groups along the way. If this works out well this will lead to many inventions which can run on solar energy and save our natural resources for our future generations.