2.4 Planning and Scheduling Systems
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ABSTRACT WAGONER, APRIL GAIL. Plant Floor Scheduling Systems in a Lean Environment. (Under the direction of Dr. George Hodge and Dr. Kristin Thoney.) The objective of this study was to determine how companies in the US textile industry are using lean manufacturing practices in their planning and scheduling systems. The study uses primary and secondary data sources to explore the utilization of lean techniques in manual or automated planning and scheduling systems. In addition to a literature review, ten open ended in-person interviews with textile industry executives and three in-depth case studies were used to gather data. The case studies were conducted to further explore whether or not the use of lean principles can be applied to planning and scheduling systems in specific textile operations. Many textile companies are interested in implementing lean scheduling systems for the plant floor but have not quite come to that point in their lean transformation. This study will provide examples, identify barriers and suggest solutions to the barriers for those companies who are on the path forward to implementation of lean planning and scheduling systems. Textile companies who are already using lean practices in their planning and scheduling systems are seeing improvements through reduced finished goods and work-in- process inventory, as well as less time and effort required by the production planners and schedulers to schedule the plant floor. A directory of planning and scheduling software that can handle lean concepts and is applicable to the textile industry was compiled as part of this research. PLANT FLOOR SCHEDULING SYSTEMS IN A LEAN ENVIRONMENT by APRIL GAIL WAGONER A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science TEXTILES Raleigh, NC 2007 APPROVED BY: _____________________________ _____________________________ Dr. George Hodge Dr. Kristin Thoney Co-Chair of Advisory Committee Co-Chair of Advisory Committee _____________________________ _____________________________ Dr. Jeffrey A. Joines Dr. Lei Qian Committee Member ITT Committee Member BIOGRAPHY The author, April Wagoner, was born in Charlotte, NC on December 10, 1981. In 2000, April began studying at North Carolina State University. In December of 2004, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Textile Technology with a concentration in Textile Design and a minor in Design. In the fall of 2005, April returned to North Carolina State University to pursue a Master of Science degree in the Institute of Textile Technology program at the College of Textiles. She is currently completing the degree requirements for her graduate degree in Textile Management and Technology. April has accepted a job with General Motors in Warren, Michigan where she will begin her career as part of the General Motors Design Team. ii ACKNOWLEDEGMENTS I would especially like to thank my committee members, Dr. George Hodge, Dr. Kristin Thoney and Dr. Jeff Joines for their guidance and support throughout this research. Their patience and expertise were greatly appreciated. I would like to thank the staff, the membership and the alumni of the Institute of Textile Technology for funding my graduate research and fellowship, for providing the opportunity to be part of this amazing program, and also for participating in the research. I would also like to thank Rob Cooper for his help with the logistics of the plant trips and case studies. I also want to acknowledge Kelly Goforth, my fellow classmate and friend, who was conducting research with me throughout the project. I would like to extend my appreciation to DATATEX TIS – USA, Inc. for allowing me to evaluate their software and to NCSU IES for their participation and assistance in this research. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their love and support. Their belief in me and continued encouragement made this journey a lot easier. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................. viii List of Figures.............................................................................................................. ix Acronyms.......................................................................................................................x 1 Introduction...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Research Objectives...........................................................................................3 1.2 Significance of Research ...................................................................................5 2 Literature Review......................................................................................................7 2.1 Lean Manufacturing...........................................................................................7 2.1.1 Background ...............................................................................................8 2.1.2 Lean Terminology and Tools ..................................................................10 2.1.2.1 Agile ..............................................................................................10 2.1.2.2 Flow ...............................................................................................11 2.1.2.3 Push vs. Pull...................................................................................12 2.1.2.4 Kanban...........................................................................................15 2.1.2.4.1 Seven Step Process to Implementing Kanban ....................16 2.1.2.4.2 Additional Kanban Calculations.........................................21 2.1.2.5 JIT..................................................................................................26 2.1.2.6 Heijunka.........................................................................................27 2.1.2.7 The Seven Types of Deadly Waste................................................28 2.1.2.8 Value Stream Maps (VSM) ...........................................................29 2.1.2.9 Kaizen............................................................................................30 2.1.2.10 Product/Process Layouts................................................................31 2.1.2.11 Cellular Manufacturing..................................................................31 2.1.2.12 Lean Six Sigma..............................................................................32 2.1.2.13 5s....................................................................................................33 2.1.2.14 Inventory Control...........................................................................33 2.1.3 Simulations for Implementing Lean Pull Systems..................................34 2.2 Lean Enterprises and Supply Chains ...............................................................36 2.3 Information Technology..................................................................................41 2.4 Planning and Scheduling Systems...................................................................43 2.4.1 Automated Planning and Scheduling Systems........................................44 2.4.1.1 Material Requirements Planning (MRP) .......................................45 2.4.1.2 Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRPII) ................................47 2.4.1.3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).............................................48 2.4.1.4 Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) ....................................49 2.4.1.5 Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) ...................................50 2.4.1.6 Aberdeen Group’s Best of Breed Software Systems.....................51 2.4.1.6.1 Factory Logic......................................................................51 2.4.1.6.2 PeopleSoft...........................................................................51 2.4.1.6.3 Pelion Systems....................................................................52 2.4.2 Manual and Visual Planning and Scheduling Systems ...........................52 2.4.3 Limitations of Implementing Lean..........................................................53 iv 2.4.3.1 Mental and Physical Limitations ...................................................54 2.4.3.2 Lean Planning and Scheduling Limitations...................................56 2.4.4 Need for Lean Upgrades in Automated Planning and Scheduling Systems....................................................................................................59 2.5 Lean Textile Company Case Studies & Success Stories.................................63 2.5.1 Quaker Fabrics, Massachusetts ...............................................................64 2.5.2 Fountain Set, Hong Kong........................................................................65 2.5.3 National Textiles, North Carolina. ..........................................................65 2.5.4 SI Corporation, Tennessee. .....................................................................66 2.5.5 Absecon Mills, New Jersey.....................................................................66 2.5.6 Joseph Abboud Apparel Corporation, Massachusetts.............................68 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................69 3 Methodology...........................................................................................................70