B716_Tma01

Introduction: I’ve joined Company Swindon organisation only 8 weeks ago. During the first 4 weeks I undergo an extensive training / meet of the various key managers within the organisation but also of the company policies and regulatory requirement. This training is still ongoing as my study on Company University website only recently started. I have now a better understanding of: - the structure - my fellow supervisor role and responsibilities - production output - production daily, weekly reporting within the production department. On Monday this week, my manager (Plant Manager of the plant in Swindon) confirmed my appointment as leader supervisor for the Oxford Uni value stream. The plant is divided in different Value stream or activities based on products/manufacturing process. Each supervisor is given a lead and he also assists another supervisor’s value stream. During this week production meeting on Thursday, we started to look at the prevision of output requirement for 2011. During which I was pleased to learn that Oxford Uni; will represent 25% of the total output of this plant next year. The current weekly output is: - On average 1,500 parts (see attached appendix 3: The 3 parts of The Oxford® Partial Knee and appendix 4: Output Wk47) - The plant output around 7,500 pieces, increase by 1,000 since I joined the company (due to growth in the business). We are now looking toward weekly targets of 2,000 pieces for the first quarter of 2011 evolving toward an estimated 3,000 pieces for the end of the year. This value stream, the team and my performance will be studied closely by the board and my manager. I would like to present in this report a first analysis of the issues that currently slow the value stream growth. 1. Organisation, Management and functional issues identified Introduction There is different aspect of the Value Stream Oxford Uni that I am concerned about. The current structure is based on 4 operators on permanent night, 4 on the red shift and 5 on the blue shift. There is currently no identified Key operator (later refer as “Key Op”) Company UK Swindon runs a 3 shift systems: - Early shift - Late shift - Permanent Night shift Early and Late shift are cover by rotation of the blue and red shift. I am myself on Blue shift. Due to the recent focus of the business for the Oxford Uni cell based on expected output there is substantial amount of work to be done. Few of the issues identified Company like many manufacturing facilities around the word run shift to maximise output and machines usage all in a way to achieve financial results. Unfortunately with such a fragmented shift as I’ve explain in the introduction there is frequent issues with implemented change. Therefore it will be necessary to make clear to all the intended organisation and management of the Value stream. Being the lead supervisor for the cell and being on shift, I will need to define with the management and the HR department Key Op with specific role and responsibility. In the last 2 weeks, I’ve been faced with 2 recurrent issues: 1. The performance of each shift and the cell versus planning 2. The lack of clear identification or record of skills / experience of each operators Being new within the plant, I am currently relying heavily on my colleague to know who is capable of what. As Supervisor you are required to measure your value stream performance in term of output, quality, manning’s, cost. Output is review every morning via a production meeting with the plant manager and the planning manager. Using the tracker below: Table 1: Output tracker of the Oxford Uni cell As you can see on the Table 1, the night shift start on Sunday night and they finish on Friday morning at 6 am while the morning and afternoon shift work from Monday to Friday included. There is also build scope for overtime to absorb any downtime or extra output requirement. This tracker allows the supervisor to monitor shift performance. All the other indicators: output, quality, manning’s, cost; are reviewed weekly using a balance scorecard. Conclusion There is a current plan to reorganise the company structure. However for the scope and perspective of this study I will focus on the man management aspect of the Oxford Uni.   2. Proposed Evidence Based Initiative or EBI Introduction The company structure at Company is mostly based on products type for the manufacturing department all other department have a complex structure with some link direct or indirect with the rest of the group in European and in the US. As lead supervisor for the Oxford Uni value stream, it is clear to me that there is an urgent focus required on the man management of the cell. I was a senior manager within my previous company and I have a very good understanding of business requirement, strategy and cost control. There is a goal already set for 2011 with stages to be achieved. Oxford Uni will represent 25% of the weekly output of Swindon. A target of 2,000 pieces a weeks for first quarter is already approved and we are currently making draft for a growth to 3,000 pieces for end of year. Proposed EBI I did explain previously that I identified an urgent need to review the man management of the Value stream. What do I mean by man management' They were 2 issues discuss in the part 1 of this report: output or performance and skill / knowledge. In my mind both are very closely link to one another. If you have a very skill workforce with recorded training and skill set it is a lot easier to monitor performance and to challenge, nurse it and take it upward. I can see that during the course of this study B716, all students will have the chance to work through different Units: B716 is structured (source: http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php'id=489513§ion=4 ) I’ve identified that 4 units will contribute toward my EBI: - Unit 2: Managing people and organisations - Unit 3: Managing financial resources and performance - Unit 5: Managing Operations - Unit 6: Managing projects As I intend to work on the performance and skill of my teams across all 3 shifts, the first unit selected Unit 2 is a clear choice. I will be managing people via changing the organisation they are currently working and managing performance. Conclusion I am looking forward to this EBI. The possibility to put in practice as you learn in the Open University B716 course will bring me the perspective and hopefully guideline I required to stay on track to achieve the company goal of growth of output.   3. Planned activities for the EBI Introduction The company structure at Company as expended quickly over the last 4 years. A 200% growth of the workforce as brings the plant to a strong 300+ employees. There is currently an investigation on restructuring the management of the company and his composition. A lot of new manager have been brought in. And a variety of skills have been sought to support the change and stabilisation required to support the growth. As I am looking to embark on improving the Oxford Uni Value stream and with the guideline of this study, I am drafting a list of planned activities to take forward this EBI. Proposed Activities GANTT proposal