CASE STUDY ON TOSHIBA:OME WORKS

Submitted by:Charan Kamal Singh

Gagandeep Singh DhillonVishal Katoch

Mayank Katoch

INTRODUCTION

Formed in 1939 Merger(Shibaura Seisakusho Works,

Tokyo Electric Company) In 1985,Toshiba became the first in the

world to produce one MB DRAM Chip In 1995, Toshiba was 3rd electronics giant

in Japan after Hitachi and Matsushita In 1995 Toshiba was leader in US PC

market with 19% Share

THE WORLD FIRST LAPTOP COMPUTER T3100

C:\Users\Sony\Desktop\Old_Toshiba_Laptop.mp4

STRENGTH

Aggressive pricing Technologically Superior Product

CHALLENGES Strong yen Dependence on Japanese plant The average lifetime of notebook model

was only 6 months

ADVANTAGE OVER COMPETITORS

Huge Investment in Technologies such as TFT(Thin-film transistors),hard disk drives, lithium ion batteries and CD Rom drives

Partnership and joint ventures with other industries Giants

High automated factories and sophisticated communication networks

OME WORKS BACKROUND

Operations began in January 1968

CONTINUED

PRODUCTS: PC’S World Processors Optical Character readers PC boards Hard disk drives Computer and communication’s systems

and other computer systems

CONTINUED

Sophisticated computer network linked OME with other domestic and overseas Toshiba development and production sites

Large R&D laboratories in the Plant It allowed the engineers to work closely

with the manufacturing divisions throughout the design and development of new model

OME WORKFORCE

There were some 2600 employees working in August 1995

TYPES OF WORKERS: Full time(7.5 hrs/day+overtime

wage30%higher than regular wage) Part time(usually housewives) Temporary(external agengy-1month

contract) Affiliated(Affiliated companies

employees)

CONTINUED

17% of full time workers and 100% part time workers were women

POSSIBLE ACTIONS FOR INCREASE DEMAND:

Either affiliated companies increased their own production or send in workers to OME

Hire more temporary or part time workers or ask regular workers to work additional overtime

Revaluating the work load and shift workers from lesser work load area to PC assembly

OME’S PC ASSEMBLY LINE PROCESS

In 1986,First laptop computers were assembled on two 60-meters assembly conveyors, each staffed with 45 operators

In1990,by reorganizing the workspace it had been transformed into three 27-meters line each staffed by 14 operators

In 1995,it transformed into 14.4 meter lines each staffed by 10 operators which had decreased the labor required in manufacturing process

CURRENT ASSEMBLY LINE

Three Assembly lines at OME Fourth always idle – only used when

sudden increase in demand 8 different models of computer were

produced at any given time Each model had 6 combinations - 6*8=48

different model At the head of each Assembly line a

computer displayed daily production schedule

Sub-components to OME were delivered by Fujihashi parts collection and distribution centre

Fujihashi having all production information of OME delivered the parts within two hours

Each line had a material handler taking care of material distribution to workers

Assembly line consisted 14.4 meter conveyor belt separated at 1.2 meter intervals by white stripes on the belt

A “supporter”was assigned to each line who took care of proceeding and solved difficulties

On an average 1 notebook assembled in every 2 minutes by 10 line workers

ASSEMBLY PROCESS

First operator laid out major components of the notebook computer between two white lines on the conveyor.

Second operator entered bar codes on these components by scanning them with hand held scanning wand

Above each shelf there were computers displaying instructions updated instantly by central computers

When the model change the first operator placed the containers of small parts of new model on “blank” space of the conveyor

CONTINUED

The last two operations : Hardware test-an operator inserted

a diskette containing software to test different components of the computer into the floppy drive(4 min)

Shock test-to test the ability of the computers to withstand vibrations and minor impacts

Then the computers were put in the racks for 24 hour 35degree”burn-in”

WORKER TRAINING AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Workers were continuously cross-trained to increase the breadth and depth of their skills

Five highly skilled workers called”pack-men”on all model were available to replace absent workers

Workers skills were displayed on wall chart in the assembly line

WORKERS SKILL CHART

Quality of work was checked at every stage of the process

Each worker was responsible for error committed along with checking the previous operators mistake

In case of operator error,the supporter stopped the assembly line to discuss the error

Only 5% repairs were due to operator error and overall 2% of total production failed the quality checks and was rejected

Four workers were directly responsible for each notebook computer assembled

1.The second assembly line operator(who scanned bar codes)

2.The last Assembly line workers(who performed the shock test)

3.The worker who pre-installed software4.The final workers in the packaging area

Workers were encouraged to give their ideas for improvement in the assembly line or production process

THE END