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analyse the complexities of the manufacturing process that it would require. Much of the
copying work that was done in the department was also considered to be extremely boring
and this would be effectively eliminated with new technology.
A further time reduction would be achieved by removing the need to check the finished
designs, and dealing with problems both within and outside the company, effectively
removing the need to produce complex reports. The system could be introduced on its
own (a so called 'stand alone' system) without the need to integrate it with other units,
though if this integration occurred it would substantially improve the effectiveness of the
entire operation.
Carron Associates estimated that the costs of providing the necessary hardware and
software would be around € 25,000. It would take five weeks training to convert the more
expert staff to the new system, or around 1,000 hours, in total, for the likely number of staff
working within the design department. Central to the continuing and effective use of this
new technology would be frequent meetings to maintain quality. You are committed to
quality circles as a method of improving both quality and overall motivation.
Research
Analysis of the research department shows that the section has been increasingly used to
provide support for the design department. In the new business plan, this commitment will
no longer be necessary. But the research department will still need to be involved in a
limited way with the impact of new concepts upon existing designs. However use of the
design department computer aided design would significantly improve the quality of the
decisions that were taken and the speed at which they were implemented.
This new technology would also help in the preparation of reports. Because you as J
Franklin are determined that the company will be a leader in the market, the business plan
calls for a major increase in the amount of time that the department will devote to
analysing data and market opportunities. Currently this is done manually with staff
checking patents and journals for possible new market directions. Carron Associates have
suggested that by linking up with a range of commercial databases, information would be
substantially improved in quality with a considerable decrease in search times.
The costs of installing the hardware and software were estimated to be around € 10,000,
and this again would be on a stand alone basis. Another major area of increase in work
will be the testing of new materials and concepts. Currently very little is done in this area,
and with a manual process the new plans would require an additional 30,000 hours work
to ensure that the valve units met the higher quality standards that were necessary in the
international market.
The installation of flexible manufacturing systems in the assembly areas would
considerably reduce the time required for such testing, and enable the company to
produce test units rapidly and to much higher quality. Flexible manufacturing (FMS) would
enable the production plant to turn out small quantities of product without a high manual
labour content as the machine would be under computer control. The installation of this
equipment would be expensive. It would involve the purchase of a minicomputer costing
around € 200,000 and a whole range of new lathes and milling machines, costing an
additional € 150,000.
A further advantage of these systems would be to make this part of the shop-floor much
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