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Manufacturing process engineering · Lesson 1 of 4

Manufacturing process engineering: principles and terminology

What a process engineer changes and what stays fixed, how an AFS order moves from drawing to delivery, where the process stops a mistake early, the words that mean two things in flow and capacity, and the machine-safety rules to check before changing a process.

You will be able to: Describe AFS’s order-to-delivery process as a flow with control points, define the vocabulary of flow and capacity (processing time, flow time, takt, work in process, throughput, bottleneck), and state the safety boundary that applies before any process change.

13 min · 12 slides · 9 questions

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Slide 1 of 12

What a process engineer changes and what stays fixed

Here a process means the ordered steps from an accepted order to a checked, delivered piece. A process engineer changes the order of work, where checks sit and what is measured.

AFS's published limits are 48 in of flat width at most and a piece 126 in (10 ft 6 in) long at most.

Those limits are inputs to the work, not opinions to argue with.

The module at a glanceFour cards summarising the module: AFS limits, flow and bottlenecks, variation and capability, and whose value is whose.The module at a glanceLimits are inputs48 in girth, 126 in piece0.5, 0.75, 0.375 in minimumsFlow has one ruleThe slowest step caps the lineThroughput = work in process / flow timeVariation is measuredChart for stability, then CpkNIST example goal: Cpk of 1.0+Say whose number it isAFSManufacturerStandard

Four cards on a navy field summarising the module: AFS limits of 48 in girth and 126 in piece length, a line capped by its slowest step with throughput equal to work in process over flow time, variation measured with a control chart before Cpk, and three chips AFS, Manufacturer and Standard.

The four ideas of the module. Red marks AFS register values and blue marks values from outside sources.

Sources

Glossary

Process
In this module, the ordered steps from an accepted order to a checked, delivered piece, including the checks placed along the way.
Takt time
The available production time divided by customer demand, used to match the pace of production to demand.
Processing time
The time required to produce a part or complete a process at one step, as timed by actual measurement. The Lean Enterprise Institute calls this cycle time.
Flow time
The average time parts spend as work in process in a line. Prof. Gallego’s lecture notes call this cycle time, so the word means two things depending on the source.
Throughput
The average output of a production system per unit of time, for example widgets per hour.
Work in process
The inventory between the start and the end of a production system, not counting finished goods.
Bottleneck
The process center with the least long-term capacity; its rate limits the throughput of the whole line.
Poka-yoke
Japanese for error-proofing: simple, inexpensive devices that find defects at their source.
Standardized work
Precise procedures for each operator’s work, based on takt time, work sequence and standard inventory.