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Surface Finishing Technology Selection and Work Team Development Study in a Product Conversion by John Michael Eustis B.S., Materials Engineering Brown University, 1989 Submitted to the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Department of Materials Science & Engineering in Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirements for the Degrees of Master of Science in Management and Master of Science in Materials Science & Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology May 1994 © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994. All rights reserved. / I ' CV -y - I- Signature of Author - I - __ "/x May 6, 1994 Certified by Stuart B. Brown, Richard P. Simmons Associate Professor of Materials Manufacturing Thesis Supervisor Certified by Jnice A. Klein, Visiting Associate Professor of Management Science Thesis Supervisor Accepted by Carl V. Thompsor II, Professor of Electronic Materials Chair, Departmental Committee on Graduate Students Science4 - !tvC a-~~~~'s 1l i -' 1 AUG 18 1994 .,-3p1 r";i'' 2 Surface Finishing Technology Selection and Work Team Development Study in a Product Conversion by John Michael Eustis Submitted to the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Department of Materials Science & Engineering on May 6, 1994 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degrees of Master of Science in Management and Master of Science in Materials Science & Engineering Abstract Intense research efforts have been undertaken in the past decade to try to understand what changes are necessary for U.S. companies to regain their competitive edge. Intelligent use of new technologies and implementation of high-performance work systems are just two of the many recommendations that have come out of these research efforts. This thesis is the result of a six and a half month study of both of these issues at one particular U.S. manufacturing company. In an effort to reduce the production costs of surgical instruments, an investigation of automated surface finishing technologies was performed using a structured methodology. Several different technologies were researched including robotic finishing, several forms of mass finishing, and electrochemical finishing. Once the feasible technologies were identified, technical cost models were developed for each alternative and recommendations for capital expenditure were made. Several technologies proved to be attractive and would provide substantial cost savings compared with manual finishing. Concurrently, a work team development study was performed in one individual production cell. The study included a workplace analysis of the production cell and the initial stages of work redesign based on the small business team (SBT) job model conceived by Janice Klein (1993). The SBT model is a form of self-managed work team based, in part, on sociotechnical systems theory. Commitment at all levels of the organization and an understanding of the corporate culture were identified as critical success factors for a work design project. Although work team development can be a lengthy process, substantial improvements in productivity can be achieved by implementing high performance work systems such as SBT's. Thesis Supervisors: Stuart B. Brown, Richard P. SimmonsAssociate Professor of Materials Manufacturing Janice A. Klein, Visiting Associate Professor of Management Science 3 4 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my family and friends for their support during my internship and during my struggle to write this thesis. I would especially like to thank my parents for everything they have done for me. I would not be at this point in my life without them. I also want to thank Beth for making sure I actually finished this thesis. I would like to thank all of the people at Codman & Shurtleff who helped me during the internship. A special thanks to Chris Sullivan, Jose Almeida, and the rest of the staff in New Bedford who provided me with an opportunity to experience the turbulent and exciting world of manufacturing and expanded my knowledge of Portuguese food and culture. I would like to thank my thesis advisors, Janice Klein and Stuart Brown, for their wisdom and encouragement which enabled me to satisfy the multiple customers of this research. I would also like to acknowledge the Leaders for Manufacturing Program for its support of this work. 5 6 Table of Contents Chapter One - Introduction .................. ...................................................... 9 Description of the plant environment...................................................... 9 Motivation for automated surface finishing technology investigation .................. 11 Motivation for work team development study .................................................... 12 Chapter Two - Technology Selection Methodology ............................................. ......14 Chapter Three - Automated Surface Finishing Technologies ................................... 27 Robotic Finishing .............................................................................................. 28 Mass Finishing ...................................................... 31 Tumble Barrel Finishing ...................................................... 36 Vibratory Finishing ............................................................................... 37 Spindle Finishing ...................................................... 38 Centrifugal Disc Finishing . ..................................................... 39 Centrifugal Barrel Finishing .................................................................... 40 Electropolishing ................................................................................................. 45 Burlytic Processing ...................................................... 48 Chapter Four - Technical Cost Modeling ................................................................... 52 Variable Costs ...................................................... 53 Fixed Costs .................................................................. 54 Technical Cost Models for Surface Finishing Technologies ................................ 60 M odel Results ...................................................... 71 Sensitivity Analysis ...................................................... 72 Chapter Five - Conclusions & Recommendations ..................................................... 74 Recommendations for Investment ...................................................... 75 Future Research .............................................................. 77 Chapter Six - The Evolution of W ork Design ......................................................... 80 Taylorism ...................................................... 80 Sociotechnical Systems ...................................................................................... 81 Internal M otivation and Job Satisfaction ...................................................... 83 Toyota Production System............................................................................... 84 Small Business Teams ................................................................. 85 7 Chapter Seven - Small Business Team Design Methodology . ............................ 89 Chapter Eight - Case Study: Rongeur Cell ............................................................. 107 The Initial Meetings .................... ......... ........................................ 107 Skill Identification Meetings ........................................................ 110 Levels of Expertise ........................................................ 111 Training Requirements ....................................................................... 112 Initial Design Steps and the Need for Future Work........................................... 113 Chapter Nine - Small Business Team Conclusions .................................................. 117 Lessons Learned ........................................................ 117 General Conclusions About Small Business Teams ........................................... 120 Appendix A - Technical Cost Models for Surface Finishing Technologies ............. 123 Appendix B - SBT Data Spreadsheets for Rongeur Cell ......................................... 148 Bibliography ...................... .......... .............................................................................172 8 Chapter One Introduction Many studies have been written about the steady erosion of U.S. manufacturing competitiveness since the end of World War II. Couple this with the rise of many new fierce competitors in many different nations and you might say that U.S. manufacturing companies are facing a crisis. If the U.S. is to become a world-class manufacturing nation, companies must be able to produce in small lots, customizing products to increasing demands. Intense research efforts have been undertaken in the past decade to try to understand what changes are necessary for U.S. companies to regain their competitive edge. Intelligent use of new technologies and implementation of high-performance work systems are just two of the many recommendations that have come out of these research efforts. This thesis is the result of a six and a half month study of both of these issues at one particular U.S. manufacturing company. This thesis is essentially written in two separate pieces. Chapters Two through Five are devoted to a discussion of automated surface finishing technology selection and Chapters Six through Nine document a work team development study. The remainder of the introduction is dedicated to

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