A Hand Book on IPE

Tools
[Document subtitle]

S M Ataul Karim Siyam 2/22/23 IPE Infinity

 Line Balancing
What Is Line Balancing & How to Achieve It?

Line balancing is a production strategy that involves balancing operator and machine time to match the production rate
to the takt time.

Takt time is the rate at which parts or products must be produced to meet customer demand.

For a given production line, if the production time is exactly equal to the takt time, then the line is perfectly balanced.
Otherwise, resources should be reallocated or rearranged to remove bottlenecks or excess capacity. In other words, the
quantities of workers and machines assigned to each task in the line should be rebalanced to meet the optimal production
rate.

Benefits of Line Balancing

1. Reduce waiting waste

Line balancing ensures that all operators and machines work together in a balanced fashion. No operator or
machine should be overburdened or idle. By minimizing downtime, line balancing reduces waiting waste.
2. Reduce inventory waste
Line balancing standardizes production, meaning it is much easier to avoid build-ups or surplus inventory. By
reducing idle time, line balancing ensures minimum work is in progress. And finally, by bringing production
time closer to takt time, it guarantees on-time delivery.
3. Absorb internal and external irregularities
Line balancing reduces variations within a production line. A balanced production line is stable and flexible
enough to adapt to changes. For example, if customer demand changes–meaning takt time changes–operations
can be realigned quickly through line balancing.
4. Reduce production costs and increase profits
Perfect line balancing leads to workers and machines that perform in a fully synchronized manner. No operator
is paid for standing idle. All machines are used to their full potential. In other words, manpower and machine
capacity are maximized. Such process efficiency represents fewer costs and more profits.

How can you achieve line balancing?

1. Calculate takt time

Since line balancing aims to match the production rate to the takt time, being aware of your takt time is essential.

Available working time per shift

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 =
Rate of customer demand per shift

2. Perform time studies

Time studies aims to establish the time required to complete each task along a production line. In other words, you want
to find out how long employees and machines spend on each part of a process. With sensors and manufacturing apps,
manufacturers can now perform automatic and continuous time studies, thus eliminating human bias and sample size
effect.

3. Identify bottlenecks and excess capacity

When it comes time to analyse the data from your time studies, notice which parts of the process are taking longer than
takt time. Exceeding takt time means bottlenecks i.e. late deliveries, high shipping costs, or unhappy customers. Also,
notice which parts are taking less than takt time. There is excess capacity in those places.

4. Reallocate resources
Start by considering task precedence, which is the sequence in which tasks must be carried out. Then, rearrange tasks
to reduce excess capacity and bottlenecks. In other words, aim to alleviate the workload where there are blockages, and
move it to places where excess capacity can be filled by absorbing more work. This will reduce the waiting waste in the
places where there was excess capacity. It will also help improve production flow where there were bottlenecks.
Try to organize elementary tasks into groups that minimize operators’ idle time and that maximize the utilization of
machines and equipment. Share the workload among operators in the most logical way. Line balancing might improve
process efficiency to a point where there is excess capacity throughout your line. It might be beneficial to remove
workstations or combine processes. Proper arrangement and allocation of tasks in production lines help maximize output
at the desired time.

5. Make other improvements

The analysis of the quantitative data on your lines will surely reveal other opportunities for improvement that could
improve the balance of your lines. To implement process improvement, you can manipulate three parameters: operator
time, machine time, and setup time. Many Lean practices can also help reduce variation in your lines. 5S and visual
management, Poka-yoke, error-proofing, etc.

Conclusions

Line balancing is an optimization problem with significant industrial importance. By improving the efficiency of their
lines, organizations can reduce the wastes of Lean manufacturing and unlock more value
 Lean Manufacturing
What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is a production process based on an ideology of maximising productivity while simultaneously
minimising waste within a manufacturing operation. The lean principle sees waste as anything that doesn’t add value
that the customers are willing to pay for. The benefits of lean manufacturing include reduced lead times and operating
costs and improved product quality.
Also known as lean production, the methodology is based on specific manufacturing principles that have influenced
production systems across the world as well as those of other industries including healthcare, software, and various
service industries.

How Does Lean Manufacturing Work?

The core principle in implementing lean manufacturing is to eliminate wastes to continually improve a process. By
reducing waste to deliver process improvements, lean manufacturing sustainably delivers value to the customer. The
types of waste include processes, activities, products, or services that require time, money, or skills but do not create
value for the customer. These can cover underused talent, excess inventories, or ineffective or wasteful processes and
procedures. Removing these inefficiencies should streamline services, reduce costs and ultimately provide savings for
a specific product or service through the supply chain to the customer.

Why is Lean Manufacturing Important and How Can It Help?

Wastes in industry, whether that is idle workers, poor processes, or unused materials, are a drain on productivity and
lean manufacturing aims to eliminate these. The motives behind this vary depending on opinion, from increasing profits
to providing benefits to customers. However, whatever the over-arching motives, there are four key benefits to lean
manufacturing:

 Eliminate Waste: Waste is a negative factor for cost, deadlines, and resources. It provides no value to products
or services.
 Improve Quality: Improved quality allows companies to stay competitive and meet the changing needs and
wants of customers. Designing processes to meet these expectations and desires keeps you ahead of the
competition, keeping quality improvement at the forefront.
 Reducing Costs: Overproduction or having more materials than is required creates storage costs, which can be
reduced through better processes and materials management.
 Reducing Time: Wasting time with inefficient working practices is a waste of money too, while more efficient
practices create shorter lead times and allow for goods and services to be delivered faster.

What is the Meaning of Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing entails streamlining processes and procedures to eliminate waste and thereby maximize
productivity. Womack and Jone defined lean as, “a way to do more and more with less and less - less human effort, less
equipment, less time, and less space - while coming closer and closer to providing customers exactly what they want."

The basis of lean is often translated into five core principles.

What are the 5 Principles?

The five core principles of lean manufacturing are defined as value, the value stream, flow, pull, and perfection.
These are now used as the basis to implement lean.

1. Value: Value is determined from the perspective of the customer and relates to how much they are willing to
pay for products or services. This value is then created by the manufacturer or service provider who should seek
to eliminate waste and costs to meet the optimal price for the customer while also maximizing profits.
 2. Map the Value Stream: This principle involves analysing the materials and other resources required to produce
a product or service with the aim of identifying waste and improvements. The value stream covers the entire
lifecycle of a product, from raw materials to disposal. Each stage of the production cycle needs to be examined
for waste and anything that doesn’t add value should be removed.
3. Create Flow: Creating flow is about removing functional barriers to improve lead times. This ensures that
processes flow smoothly and can be undertaken with minimal delay or other waste. Interrupted and
disharmonious production processes incur costs and creating flow means ensuring a constant stream for the
production or service delivery.
4. Establish a Pull System: A pull system works by only commencing work when there is demand. Push systems
opposite of pull systems determine inventories in advance with production set to meet these sales or production
forecasts. However, due to the inaccuracy of many forecasts, this can result in either too much or not enough of
a product being produced to meet demand. This can lead to additional warehousing costs, disrupted schedules,
or poor customer satisfaction. A pull system only acts when there is demand and relies on flexibility,
communication, and efficient processes to be successfully achieved.
5. Perfection: Lean manufacturing requires ongoing assessment and improvement of processes and procedures
to continually eliminate waste in an effort to find the perfect system for the value stream. To make a meaningful
and lasting difference, the notion of continuous improvement should be integrated through the culture of an
organization and requires the measurement of metrics such as lead times, production cycles, throughput, and
cumulative flow. The pursuit of perfection via continued process improvements is also known as ‘Kaizen’

The 8 Wastes of Lean Manufacturing

The Toyota Production System originally detailed seven wastes that don’t provide value to the customer. These wastes
were:
 Defects that require costly correction
 Excess inventory
 Overprocessing or adding unnecessary features to a product
 Over-production of a product
 Unnecessary movement of people, equipment, or machinery
 Unnecessary transportation
 Waiting – either people or idle equipment
An eighth waste has since been highlighted by many lean practitioners:
 Unused talent and ingenuity

These types of waste can be broadly split into three specific types:
1. Mura: Unevenness i.e. waste as a result of fluctuating demand, whether from customer requests or new services
(and thereby additional work) being added by an organization.
2. Muri: Overburden i.e. waste due to trying to do too much. This relates to resource allocation and involves
people being asked to do too much. Time can be wasted as people switch tasks or even lose motivation due to
being overburdened.
3. Muda: Unnecessary i.e. this is process-related waste and work that adds no value. If an activity doesn’t add
value or directly support one that adds value, then it should be eliminated.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Lean manufacturing carries several advantages and disadvantages depending on how and where it is implemented.

Advantages:
1. Saves Time and Money
Cost-saving is the most obvious advantage of lean manufacturing. More efficient workflows, resource allocation,
production, and storage can benefit businesses regardless of size or output. Time-saving allows for reduced lead
times and better service in providing products quickly to customers, but can also help save money by allowing
for a more streamlined workforce.
2. Environmentally Friendly
Reducing waste in time and resources, and removing unnecessary processes can save the costs in energy and
fuel use. This has an obvious environmental benefit, as does the use of more energy-efficient equipment, which
can also offer cost savings.
3. Improved Customer Satisfaction
Improving the delivery of a product or service, at the right cost, to a customer improves customer satisfaction.
This is essential to business success as happy customers are more likely to return or recommend your product
or service to others.

Disadvantages:
1. Employee Safety and Wellbeing
Critics of lean argue that it can ignore employee safety and well-being focusing on removing waste and
streamlining procedures. It is possible to overlook the stresses placed on employees who are given the little
margin for error in the workplace.
2. Hinders Future Development
Lean manufacturing’s inherent focus on cutting waste can lead management to cut areas of a company that are
not deemed essential to the current strategy. However, these may be important to a company’s legacy and future
development. Lean can create an over-focus on the present and disregard the future.
3. Difficult to Standardise
Some critics point out that lean manufacturing is a culture rather than a set method, meaning that it is impossible
to create a standard lean production model. This can create a perception that lean is a loose and vague technique
rather than a robust one.

What is an Example of Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is used across industries for a variety of production processes, although notably, it was first seen
within the automotive industry. Creating efficient workflows and processes is important to maximising output on a
production line, which in itself harks back to Adam Smith’s 1776 ‘Division of Labour,’ where he noted how the
efficiency of production was vastly improved if workers were split up and given different roles in the making of pins.
This was because workers could be tasked with work that suited their skills or temperament, there was no need to move
them from their stations or for them to learn different skills or swap tools.

Lean manufacturing has drawn on these ideas and extended them to include removing waste from multiple processes
and procedures. Lean methods can also be seen outside of production with the provision of services too.

Lean Manufacturing Tools Used

There are a variety of tools that can be used to help implement a lean management system, these include:

 Control Charts – to check workflows  Rank Order Clustering – to aid production flow
 Kanban Boards – to visualize the workflows analysis
 5S – a methodology for organizing the workplace  Single-Point Scheduling
 Multi-Process Handling  Total Productive Maintenance – to improve
 Error Proofing (also known as ‘Poka-Yoke’) manufacturing integrity and quality
 Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) – a fast  Value Stream Mapping
method to move between manufacturing processes  Work Cell Redesign
Lean vs Six Sigma

 Six Sigma is a method of data-driven management that is similar to lean in that it also seeks to assess and
eliminate process defects to improve quality.
However, while both processes seek to eliminate waste, they use different approaches to do so.
 Lean contends that waste is a product of additional steps, processes, and features that a customer doesn’t
believe add value
 Six Sigma sees waste as a product of process variation.
Despite the differences, Six Sigma and lean can be combined to create a data-driven approach called ‘Lean Six
Sigma.’

Conclusion

Lean manufacturing is a methodology that can help streamline and improve manufacturing processes or other services
in order to provide enhanced benefits for customers while saving time and money through the elimination of waste. As
a methodology, lean is best applied across the entirety of an organisation with continual monitoring and improvements
being applied with the support of employees at all levels.

RIF

Waiting waste is one of the 8 types of waste of Lean manufacturing. It refers to any idle time that occurs when
operations are not fully synchronized. For example, waiting waste occurs when operators are waiting for materials or
for someone else to complete their task. Equipment downtime–time during which equipment is not operating–is another
example of waiting waste.

Inventory waste is another type of waste. It corresponds to an excess of raw materials, works in progress (unfinished
goods), or finished goods. Inventory waste indicates the inefficient allocation of capital.

Streamlining, by definition, is the act of altering an item to make it simpler or more efficient.
 Time Study for Garment Production
Time study is a work measurement technique commonly used by apparel engineers to determine the rate at which a
specific operation is performed. The objective of a time study is to develop and check production standards.

An operation is studied by time analysts while a style is in production. Time studies are an appropriate method of work
measurement for high-volume operations with a high degree of repetitiveness. They are frequently used to establish
production standards for operations performed in a progressive bundle system.

Time Study Procedure

The procedure for time study can best be described step-wise, which is self-explanatory.

1. Select Garment
At first garment has to be selected for time study which has not been studied before. Time study is conducted by analysts
while a style is in production.

2. Identify Operation
The garment is analysed to identify the process or operation for study. A time study also requires a method description
for the specific operation to be done. Time study may be conducted on a specific operation rather than whole garment,
which has not been previously studied or method has been changed recently or there are any complaints regarding time
standard.

3. Break Operation Down into Elements

To prepare a time study, analysts break the operation down into elements. Each element involves a group of motions
with a definite beginning and end that can be identified and timed. Elements of the operation are listed in the left column
of the time study sheet. Potential elements for a sewing operation may include
 Picking up and positioning parts
 Matching and aligning parts
 Positioning parts to the needle or presser foot
 Sewing
 Disposing of parts
Machine-controlled elements are separated from manually controlled elements on cycle machines because they are
always constant.

4. Select Operator
A qualified operator must be selected for study if there is more than one operator doing the same task. The selected
operator should have the necessary skill, experience, temperamentally, and knowledge about the purpose of study. So
selection of worker for time study is a very important factor in the success of the study. If there is only one person on
the job so, there is no choice.

5. Record Cycle Time

A time analyst records readings from a stopwatch or digital time board at the completion of each element. Times are
recorded for each element for 10-20 cycles. A minimum of 10 cycles should be timed to provide a fair representation of
the operation. The amount of lapsed time is averaged for each element. This is called observed time, which is the
average amount of time that the analyst determined was used to complete each element.

6. Adjust Rating Factor

To level the observed time to what a normal operator could do, the operator’s performance is rated by the analyst. The
speed at which the observed operator worked may be above or below the rate that a normal operator can perform. A
rating below 100% reduces the time and above 100% increase the time allowed for an element to be completed. So it is
necessary to adjust a rating factor with the observed time

Basic time is always constant as observed rating is increased observed time decreases. Standard rating is 100, the
observed rating may be below or above of standard rating. There are different systems used but they must be consistent;
thus, analysts must be well trained if time studies are to be fair and reliable. The performance rating which depends on
the judgment of the analyst is the most difficult and controversial part of a time study.

7. Determine allowances
To get the standard time, a proper allowance must be added to include the non-productive time that occurs as part of the
production process. An allowance factor is a percentage of time added to the normal time including
 Machine allowances
 Relaxation allowance
 Interference allowance
 Process allowance
 Contingency allowance
 Special allowance

8. Determine production standard

Production standard is a rate stated in standard allowed minutes (SAM) or standard minute value (SMV) that reflects
the time required for a normal operator to complete one operation using a specific method. The production standard is
also an indicator of how many times the operation can be completed in a given time. A total of the production standards
of each style indicate the minimum throughput time to produce a specific style.

𝐒𝐀𝐌 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐌𝐕 = 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 + 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

Objectives of production standard

Production standards are used in production planning to accomplish the following objectives
1. Production calculation
2. Efficiency calculation
3. Performance calculation
4. Line balancing
5. Load and capacity calculation
6. Adjustment of factory capacity
7. CM calculation

Time Study Equipment

The following equipment is needed for time study.

1. Timing Device
The stopwatch is the most widely used timing device used for time study, although an electronic timer is also sometimes
used. The two perform the same function with the difference that an electronic timer can measure time to the second or
third decimal of a second and can keep a large volume of time data in memory.

2. Time Study Observation Sheet

It is a printed form with spaces provided for noting down the necessary information about the operation being studied,
like name of operation, drawing number, and name of the worker, name of time study person, and the date and place of
study. Spaces are provided in the form for writing detailed description of the process (element-wise), recorded time or
stop-watch readings for each element of the process, performance rating(s) of operator, and computation. A typical time
study observation sheet is as below.

Operator Code
Operation Code
Cycle Rat. B/Time
Code Elements Avg.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Size Total Std. Min
Style Allowances
Fabric SAM/ Pc.
Machine SAM/ Dzn.
RPM Workplace Layout Sketch of Parts Dzn/ Day
SPI Piece Rate
Analyst
Plant

3. Time Study Board

It is a lightweight board used for holding the observation sheet and stopwatch in position. It is of size slightly larger
than that of the observation sheet used. Generally, the watch is mounted at the centre of the top edge or near the upper
right-hand corner of the board. The board has a clamp to hold the observation sheet. During the time study, the board is
held against the body and the upper left arm by the time study person in such a way that the watch could be operated by
the thumb/index finger of the left hand. Watch readings are recorded on the observation sheet by the right hand.

Other Equipment
This includes pencil, eraser, device like tachometer for checking the speed, etc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Time study

Advantage
An advantage of time study compared to other work measurement techniques is the breakdown and analysis of the
method prior to time measurement. Time studies measure actual performance; thus, they provide realistic data on the
materials, equipment, and method being performed.

Disadvantages
Disadvantages are the time and training required for an analyst to become skilled in conducting time studies and the fact
that operators have to be experienced in the operation before time studies can be done. Another disadvantage is the
subjectivity of performance rating that must be done by the time analyst.

Operator Code

Operation Code
Cycle Avg. Rat. B/Time
Code Elements
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total
1

10

11

12

13

14

15

Size Total Std. Min

Style Allowances
Workplace Layout Sketch of Parts
Fabric SAM/ Pc.

Machine SAM/ Dzn.

RPM Dzn/ Day

SPI Piece Rate

Analyst

Plant