Category Archives: Manufacturing

Debugging the New Airbus A350 Jet

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FEBRUARY 21, 2014

The A350's curved wingtips reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency

“A million parts, flying in tight formation,” is how BusinessWeek(Feb.17-23, 2014) describes the debugging of Airbus’ latest new plane, the A350. The European company desperately wants to avoid the kinds of problems that have plagued rival Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. After several production fiascoes, the 787 endured further problems when its lithium-ion battery packs burst into flame. For the A350 to be economically viable, says Airbus, “the airlines need an operational reliability above 99 percent.” That means that no more than one flight out of every 100 is delayed by more than 15 minutes because of technical reasons.

To ferret out the flaws in an airplane, Airbus technicians have come to depend on sophisticated computer systems. These, too, can introduce problems. Like the A350, the A380 superjumbo was designed entirely on computers, but engineers working in the company’s German and French operations hadn’t used the same versions of the design software. When assembly line workers started installing bundles of wires, they discovered that the German software had miscalculated the amount of wiring needed for the fuselage, which had been designed on French software. Miles of wiring turned out to be too short and had to be torn out from half-completed airframes and replaced.  In 2011 and 2012, cracks were found within the A380’s wings, prompting authorities to order the entire fleet to undergo detailed inspection of the structural integrity of the plane. To minimize the chances of that occurring in the A350, Airbus is putting the airframe sections through more than 80,000 simulated takeoff and landing cycles.

But much of the work is done by suppliers, not by Airbus itself. While the company might look to the outside world like an aircraft manufacturer, it’s more of an integrator: It creates the overall plan, then outsources the design and manufacture of the parts, which are then fitted together. “We have 7,000 engineers working on the A350,” says Airbus, “and at least half of them are not Airbus employees.”

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.

Why the VW Vote to Reject a Union is Big News

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FEBRUARY 19, 2014

vwThe presence of labor unions can have a major impact on a company’s decision where to locate a manufacturing plant. So when workers at the Tennessee VW auto factory voted 712 to 626 last week against joining the United Automobile Workers, it was national news. VW did not oppose unionization, reports The New York Times (Feb. 17, 2014), and seemed to give tacit approval for unionization as a step toward establishing a “works council” at the plant. A works council is a committee, common at German factories, in which white-collar and blue-collar workers elect representatives who establish policies on issues like work hours, vacations and standards for firing workers. But it would be illegal under U.S. law for a company to establish a works council unless workers first voted to have a union represent them. Had a works council been set up at the VW plant, it would have been the first in the U.S.

U.A.W. officials were stunned by the defeat; they had expected to win because VW was not fighting the effort and, just months before, a majority of the plant’s employees had signed cards saying they favored union representation. One industry expert called the loss “a very serious setback for the union, a setback that will resonate throughout the South.” The U.A.W. campaign was clearly hurt by the anti-union sentiment common in the South, as well as an intense campaign by anti-union workers inside the plant who argued that they did not need a union or union dues because VW already treated and paid them well. Wages at the plant average $19.50 an hour.

Union officials accused Tennessee Senator Bob Corker of poisoning the atmosphere and preventing a fair election before the vote. Corker had told the media that VW had assured him they would add another production line at the plant (instead of going to Mexico) to make a new SUV if the factory’s workers rejected the union.

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.

Harley-Davidson’s Manufacturing Strategy

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FEBRUARY 5, 2014

harley2“Before the great recession, Harley-Davidson didn’t have to worry about counting the seconds,” writes The New York Times (Feb. 2, 2014). There was little competition for their core customers — “fat white guys,” as one employee called them. Harley charged a huge premium for its bikes, and its customers waited as long as 18 months to receive them. The union rep at Harley’s York plant said workers could assemble motorcycles at their own pace, music blaring. “We had 30% absenteeism every Monday and Friday,” added the plant manager. This all worked fine until the recession, when the company was close to collapse.

Many firms respond to global competition by breaking their unions, by moving to a right-to-work state (or out of the country), and by employing robots on the assembly line. But Harley has an “American blue-collar, working man” brand, and to get rid of its union or to make its motorcycles in Mexico would have been catastrophic. The company could only compete by redesigning the production system so that each worker created more value than they cost. So Harley tore down the existing plant and built a new one. Unlike most factories, the new plant has people everywhere. There are no robots on the main assembly line; instead, hundreds of workers, operating in teams of 5 or 6, manually build each motorcycle. There are around 1,200 different Harley configurations, and a new bike starts its way through the production line every 80 seconds. Virtually each one is unique.

Human beings can also solve thorny problems that lead to major inefficiencies. At Harley, there are 150 “problem solvers” whose entire job is to continuously monitor their small sections of the production line and search for better ways to make motorcycles. The average tenure of a line worker at the York plant is 18 years, and these workers are extremely devoted to the company. (“How many factory workers have the company logo tattooed on their arm?” asks the plant manager.) Costs have fallen by $100 million at the plant and quality has improved even more significantly. Customer demand is extremely high, especially now that people can get a bike within a few weeks.

This post provided courtesy of Jay and Barry’s OM Blog at www.heizerrenderom.wordpress.com. Professors Jay Heizer and Barry Render are authors of Operations Management , the world’s top selling textbook in its field, published by Pearson.