In six weeks, the plant would be calling back workers on its second shift to begin the production ramp-up. Given the tremendous cost pressures in this business, the management team wanted only the minimum number of people necessary to assemble the new vehicle. The only way to do so was to use accurate labor standards to create a balanced work load. The plant industrial engineers had so much work on their plates that they needed someone else to develop standards using the approved pre-determined time study method MODAPTS. Within six weeks, 250 work stations needed to have standard work defined with accurate predicted times.

IET assigned four engineers to the task because the timeline was so short. Working as a team, these engineers took responsibility for separate work stations, yet collaborated with one another to take advantage of each person’s unique strengths and ensure consistency. They reviewed progress daily with the client to stay on-target and resolve problems that could delay the effort. IET engineers recorded their results in the client’s business system that maintained standard work assignments so it would be ready to use. At the end of the project, the client had information that they could use to determine optimal manning levels for varied levels of production for each of the targeted areas.