IDAK - Field studies

(1)

IDAK - Field studies

Outline:

• Background

• Our first study - ABB

• One of the new studies - Brüel & Kjær

• General observations and findings

• Three core activities

• Principles and overall requirements for IT support

Peter Carstensen,

(2)

Background

• Increased job-satisfaction

• Increased variation in, and control of, the work • Increased flexibility in the production

Previous observations / Assumptions:

• Central planning and managing systems are not designed for the shop-floor. • Central planning and managing systems do not have ”a complete picture” • The models on which MRP-systems are based are not

well understood by the actors on the shop-floor

• The mutual interdependencies are extremely complex

-->> What characterizes the ”overhead activities”

(3)

Background (II)

What has been done?:

1) The first study at ABB

- a field study at ABB

- principles and ideas for IT support

- a prototype (supporting the planning activities)

2) The IDAK project:

• Five new studies in different settings (more or less autonomous working groups): Blika, Brüel & Kjær, Lindø, Man B&W, NKT

• Characterize differences and similarities in the ”overhead activities” • Relate the findings to general Systems Design and CSCW knowledge

• Establish principles and requirements for IT support for autonomous working groups

Investigate a CSCW approach for shop floor support ??

- explicit focus on work and its articulations, - local control,

- awareness ...

(4)

The ABB study - the plate factory

The situation:

- A Fabrik 2000 project had just been initiated.

- Redesign of the factory layout. - ”Move planning to the shop floor”

- Changing from estimation-based production to order-driven production - Progressive foreman

Our study?:

- Interviews - Observations - Explicit focus on

their interaction, and the articulation of their activities

- Drawings, proces cards, job lists´, etc. used

(5)

ABB - The plate factory

Plate factory Excenter Press

Standard plates

Cutter & Puncher center

Specialized canting centers

Standard welding work centers

Surface treatment work centers

Intermediary storage

The Component Factory

Cutter

Excenter work centers

Polisher

Multi work center for copper bars Plates

and bars Standard bars

The Plate Factory

Standard plates

Programable punch center

Standard canting center 1

Standard welding work centers 1-4

Surface treatment work centers

Intermediary storage Buffer storage 1 Buffer storage 3 Buffer storage 2 Buffer storage for outgoing plates

Specialized

(6)

The plate factory

Approximately 30 people - 1 foreman - 1 or 2 working shifts.

Roles:

Operators, 2 planners, 1 QA, 1 Personnel administrator

Processes:

Punching, Canting, Welding, Surface treatment

Means for organizing the work:

• Morning meetings (planner, planning specialist, plus...)

- production order list (job lists), list of problems, knowledge of state of affairs

• Job lists, drawings, and process cards

• Experience

• Monitoring state of affairs - replanning

(7)

Observations - ABB

• To many ‘top priority’ jobs - many just for storage!

- not clear which are “really important”

• No-one has a coherent picture of state of affairs. • No useful basis for actual (re-)planning.

• The morning planning meeting defines the work of the day. • The MRP system does not have sufficient information on the

individual work stations and the state of affairs.

• Hard to plan and control the workflow within the group. • The production order list is used without reflection, or • The sequence in the production order list is ignored. • The MRP-system was still based upon sales estimates.

(8)

Observations - ABB (II)

Our assumptions that

• the central IT systems are not designed for the shop-floor.

• establishing a ”complete picture” is impossible

• the models are not well understood by the actors on the shop-floor

- bills of materials - process models - process cards

• the mutual interdependencies are extremely complex

were confirmed.

(9)

Brüel & Kjær: The micro elektronics group

• Production of pre-amplifiers for microphones • 18 actors - 17 unskilled - highly experienced • A high degree of autonomy since 1992

Der kræves QuickTime™ og et Photo - JPEG-komprimeringsværktøj,

for at man kan se dette billede.

Our study?:

- Observations - Interviews

- Drawings, plans,etc. used

Focus:

- The organization of the work - The flow of the work

- Planning and mananging of the processes - Coordination activities

- Their interaction within the group - Interaction with other groups / actors ...

(10)

The micro elektronics group

Testen Rent rum Trykkeriet

Laser- trim Monteringen Møde- lokale / Frokost- stue

for at man kan se dette billede. Der kræves QuickTime™ og et Photo - JPEG-komprimeringsværktøj,

(11)

Observations

The character of the work:

- Complex assembly etc. - high demands for precision, cleanness - Many variants

- The physical layout supports interaction within the subgroups - but complicates it among the subgroups

- Long production time (8 - 14 weeks). Up to 15 different processes. -->> Many different production orders to manage

-->> Each order has a ”long life” in the local plans The group is supposed to handle som fairly

complex management tasks: • planning and re-planning

• monitoring and controlling state of affairs • Storage management

• (Process improvements)

• Order materials external support, etc.

• plus the actual work !

(12)

Observations (II)

Some social aspects (”why it works”)

• Positive attitude to each other and the work -->> flexibility and mutual support

• Much pride in the work

-->> formal quality assurance becomes less important • 10-15 years of experience in average

-->> planning is possible

”not because of the tools - but despite!”

• The actors are very reflective in relation to their work! • ”Var stories”

• No explicit roles

(apart from their ”man-of-all-work”)

(13)

Observations (III)

Planning:

• An updated ”demand for production” is received once a week

• Much time spend on planning • Much discussion of ”flow”

- A guess on the time required for a task

- Sub-tasks are not specified -> Experience based

• Rubber is the most important tool!

• BOMs and process cards is not available until the task is initiated

• The work load differs from subgroup to subgroup

Der kræves QuickTime™ og et Photo - JPEG-komprimeringsværktøj, for at man kan se dette billede.

(14)

An example: The weekly demand for production

QuickTime™ and a Photo - JPEG decompressor are needed to see this picture.

(15)

Observations (IV)

Monitoring and controlling state of affairs

• No gathering of status-information

• Very little gathering of quality information

- except from the Test

• Some subgroups organize according to ”FIFO” • No organized gathering of experiences

- a few individual notebooks

for at man kan se dette billede. Der kræves QuickTime™ og et Photo - JPEG-komprimeringsværktøj,

Interaction and coordination

• Meetings

group meetings, subgroup planning meetings, planning meetings, breaks, ad-hoc discussions, etc.

(16)

General findings: ”The required overhead”

1) Division of labor and staffing planning

• Vacation, days off, lend of manpower, etc. • Manning plans

• Rotation planning, training planning

2) Production planning and management

• Who is doing what, on which work station, when, and what resources are required? • Order of materials and support

• Monitor state of affairs and control progress

• Monitor in-flow of materials and sub-components • Quality assurance

• Document the processes • Storage management

3) Coordination and experience exchange

• Coordinate the activities

(17)

Means for handling the activities

1) Division of labor and staffing planning

- paper and pencil - manning plans - list of compentences - training plans ….. 2) Production planning and management

- plans from the central systems - meetings

- manning plans

- job lists and process cards - drawings

- home-made plan sheets and ”overliners” - lists of finished tasks in the central systems …….. 3) Coordination and experience exchange - meetings - discussions - post it - notes - log books - notebooks ……..

(18)

An example: A list of compentences

QuickTime™ and a Photo - JPEG decompressor are needed to see this picture.

(19)

General observations

• No coherent picture of state of affairs

• No useful basis for actual (re-)planning

• No picture of what is really important

• No support for understanding the consequences

and affects of the (re-)planning

• The core models for controling and managing the production are

not understood at the shop floor.

• The existing IT systems are designed for central control

- not for decentralizing control and competence

• No means for gathering and distribute relevant experiences

• Only little support for documenting the processes

• Only little support for quality assurance

• No means for feed back information.

(20)

Overall principles for support

Observations _{Basic CSCW and HCI lessons learned}

• Plans are resources for action • Preview of planned work

• Provide overview of state of affairs - “open ended”! • The MRP-based information is basically okay.

- ”White spots” will always exist. • Local control

- Reduction of constraints to absolute minimum - Indications of possible problems

- Open planning horizon

• No automation (intelligence = the human actor). - Provide good suggestions,

- Allow experimentation,

- Visualize the consequences (computation of capacity utilization).

(21)

Overall requirements for support

For example:

• Preview of planned work

• Overview of current and planned staff allocation, and of staff and training levels • Overview of the state of affairs

• Provide plans - allow experimentation - preview consequences • Selectable level of details and perspective

• User defined rules and categories (for all aspects of the system)

• Interaction and communication support at all levels must be provided (within and outside the group)

• Integration to CNC-libraries, general information systems, etc. Facilities for all aspects of:

1) Division of labor and staffing planning 2) Production planning and management 3) Coordination and experience exchange

(22)

An example: Planning

• Preview of planned work

• Allow experimentation - preview consequnces • Access to background information

• Information on similarities in production process, deadlines, etc. • Flexible planning horizon

(23)

Other requirement examples

Monitoring and re-planning

All the facilities for planning, plus

• Overview of state of affairs related to planned progress • Overview of flow and usage of materials

• Status for preceding processes

• Start jobs although the preceding is not finished • Specification and collection of data on quality etc. etc.

A bonus list

Coordination and experience exchange

• Formal and informal communication facilities • ”The horror cabinet”

• Notebook facilities

• Gathering of statistical information

(24)

Conclusions

The administrative tasks handled by autonomous groups are highly complex and demanding.

Three main set of tasks have to be supported: • Division of labor and staffing planning • Production planning and management • Coordination and experience exchange

The approach taken for designing the existing IT systems for shop

floor work is problematic seen from the point of view of autonomous groups. IT support for autonomous working groups should not be seen as an alternative to the existing systems - rather it is a necessary supplement.

We have a good basis for discussing: - requirements for IT support