Cbf Case Study

1. What type of process flow structure is CBF using?

CBF uses a workcenter processing flow structure; a workcenter is a layout that optimizes the movement of materials. A product that is being worked on travels according to established sequence of operations from workcenter to workcenter where proper machines are located for each operation. In CBF case they purchase circuit boards from a vendor, once they accept the order boards are loaded that performs the cleaning process. The boards are automatically transferred to the coating machine. An operator places the boards on a cart to be moved to the clean room for the photographic process. The boards are than loaded on a machine for dipping. Once the dipping process is complete a conveyor is used to transport to the inspection station for scanning. The boards are then conveyed to the bake oven and loaded on a cart to be moved to the drilling station. Boards are manually loaded on a conveyor that passes through a plating bath and are placed on a cart for the final inspection. CBF process follows an established sequence of operations from work center to work center where the proper machines are located; therefore this is a workcenter flow structure.

3. Analyze the capacity of the process

CBF capacity is unbalanced the requirement of 1000 circuit boards per day requires a board to leave the inspection area every 27 seconds (60 x 60 x 7.5 = 27000; 27000/1000=27). The current production of 700 shows that it takes 38.5 seconds (27000/700=38.5) for one board. A couple of factors may be causing CBF from running at full capacity they include the use of manual loading and unloading. The processing time of production will fluctuate because human labor time is not exact every time. CBF should take this into consideration for their requirement of 1000 per day. There are also 7 machines that do not have any employee assigned to. Having one person run two machines is also causing the company not to run at full capacity. CBF should finally look into reducing the set up times for each station, currently it takes one full hour to set up machines which is contributing to them not meeting the 1000 board requirement.

4. What is the impact of losses in the process in Inspections and final test?

The impact of loses in the inspections and final test is very significant. 15% of the loses occur early in the process. This causes a bottleneck that slows down the process. The remaining 5% of the loses occur at the final stage, however with 6 machines running this stage takes the longest. This is also causing the company to make an additional 5% of the boards that will not be used or counted in with the order of 60. The time it takes to make the additional 5% could be used to make the next order.

5. What