Upcoming model changes for this customer’s highly customized product were expected to increase labor content. At the same time, strong cost containment pressures were making it imperative to utilize existing labor as efficiently as possible. Accuracy of existing assembly work standards for the affected operations was suspect, so it was difficult to assess whether or not the current labor force had enough slack time to accommodate new work content. Outdated time studies had to be revised while incorporating various process changes and methods improvements that had occurred over the years. All time studies had to be completed within a two-week window.

IET estimated the project work load and decided two engineers could perform the required time studies. Three basic models were being produced using 30 different operations and each model/operation combination required a study. Cycle times ranged from 2 – 20 minutes. IET’s engineers observed one to several cycles as not always standardized. They proceeded to measure at least three cycles, recording processes to familiarize themselves with the processes and document the work sequence, which times for all work elements in the sequence. Every day, IET checked the production schedule to learn which operations were running the models that still had to be measured. They also reported daily progress in completing the approximately 240 cycles that the customer expected. This tracking tool held IET accountable, as well as showed the customer what production schedule changes were necessary on their part for IET to capture the required product mix.

IET’s engineers completed all necessary data collection during the prescribed two-week time period. The following week, engineers summarized their data and prepared a file that the customer used to update automatically its business system’s standards data records. In addition to presenting time study data, IET also provided productivity improvement suggestions based on their observations. These suggestions represented value above and beyond the customer’s expectations.