Focused Manufacturing

Professor KleinbergBraulio Soto, Rob Morris, Evelyn Ozburn, Tiye

Cort

Focused Manufacturing

Basic ConceptsCharacteristicsApproach

Basic Concepts of a Focused Factory

Producing a lower cost is not the only way to compete

A company cannot perform well all the time

Simplicity and repetition create competence

Characteristics of a Focused Factory

Process Technologies – Typically, unproven and uncertain technologies are limited to one per factory. Proven, mature technologies are limited to what their managers can easily handle, typically two or three.

Market Demands – Quality, Price, lead times, and reliability specifications.

Product volumes – comparable levels such as tooling, order quantities, materials handling techniques, and job contents, can be approached with a consistent philosophy. But what about the inevitable short runs, customer specials, and one-of-a-kind orders that every factory must handle? The answer usually is to segregate them.

Quality levels – set approaches to neither over-specify nor over-control quality and specifications.

Manufacturing Tools – limited to one or two at a time.

Manufacturing FocusA way to achieve it

Focus the whole manufacturing system on a limited task that is exactly represented by the company’s competitive strategy and its actual technology and economics.

GuidelinesCenter the factory’s focus on appropriate

competitive skillsStay away from the tendency to increase

staff and overhead in order to save on direct labor and capital investment

Each manufacturing unit should work on a limited task instead of a complex mix of opposing objectives, products and technologies.

Note:Others may also apply as company sees fit!

How can I achieve a focused plant?

4 step process1. Develop a specific, brief statement of corporate objectives and strategy

1. Should cover the next three to five years and top-management should be involved to (marketing, finance, control executives etc.)

2. Translate the statement into: What it means to manufacturing?1. What must the factory do well to meet and carry out the corporate strategy?2. What will be the most difficult task we face?3. If function is not strong where will we most likely fail?

3. Carefully examine each element of the production system1. How is it setup, organized, focused, and manned now?2. What is it especially good at now?3. How ought it be changed so it can carry out the key manufacturing task?

4. Reorganize the elements of structure to produce a congruent focus1. This means organize it so that it is able to do the limited things that are most

important to completing the manufacturing task.

Wickham SkinnerConsidered the father of Manufacturing

StrategyGraduated from YaleEmeritus professor at Harvard UniversityWrote “The Focused Factory”

Basic Changes in Management of ManufacturingFour Basic Changes

1. “How can we compete?”2. Look at efficiency as the whole manufacturing

organization3. Each plant needs to learn to focus on a limited,

concise, manageable set of products, technologies, volumes, and markets*

4. Learn to structure basic manufacturing policies and supporting services so that they focus on one explicit manufacturing task instead of on many inconsistent, conflicting, implicit tasks*

*W. Skinner, “The Focused Factory”, Harvard Business Review June 1974

Reasons For InconsistencyProfessionals in each field attempt to achieve

goals that are not corresponding with goals of other areas

Manufacturing tasks were never made specific

Inconsistencies never identifiedManufacturing task lightly changed while

certain departments like operating and service stayed the same

Market & Product Proliferation

Alternative Approaches to Focusing FacilitiesBased On:

Products/Markets Directed for specific customers or product groups

Processes Puts products together based on similar processes

usedManufacturing’s Strategic Task

Products are assigned to a specific unit based off OW & Q

Task is consistent

Plant-within-a-Plant (PWP)Divide existing plant into PWPs

PhysicallyOrganizationally

Each PWP has its only facilities where it can focus onIts specified manufacturing taskUse its own working styleProduction controlOrganizational structure

Results From Using a PWP

Volume & Quality will not be mixedClear focus for worker training & incentivesResources are now sharedEquipment, engineering processes and

materials handling are specialized as neededDecreases focus regressionSmaller size

Forces That Make it Difficult to Focus

MarketingSalesManufacturingAccounting & FinanceCorporate Forces

Questions?