Operations Management Final

Operations Management Final Report Case Study (1) Gate Turnaround at Southwest Airlines (Chapter Six) (2) Constraint Management at Southwest Airlines (Chapter Seven) (3) Lean Systems at Autoliv (Chapter Eight) ??? (Derek Silkebaken) D974557 2012? 1? 2? Chapter 6 Planning Capacity Video Case: Gate Turnaround at Southwest Airlines Q1. How can Capacity and utilization be measured at an airline such as SWA? Answer: Capacity is the maximum rate of output of a process or a system.

And utilization is measured as the ratio of average output rate to maximum capacity. In Southwest, capacity can be measured in available seat-miles (AMS) pre month. Therefore, utilization can be measured as the ratio of average seat-mile rate to maximum seat-miles. Q2. Which factors can adversely impact turn-around time as SWA? Answer: There many factors can adversely impact turn-around time as SWA. The aircraft has to be served by the ground operations team for its next departure.

The grounds operations team consists of a baggage transfer driver who has responsibility for getting connecting flight baggage the ground operations team consists of baggage transfer driver who has responsibility for getting connecting flight bags to baggage claim for passenger pick-up, a lavatory truck driver who handles restroom receptacle drainage, a lead gate to handle baggage carts and track incoming and outgoing bag counts, and a bin agent to manage baggage and cargo inside the plane.

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In the same time, the provisioning truck has to restock supplies such as drinks and snacks. The fuel truck has to load fuel to the airplane. If any unexpected thing happens during the maintenance, it might slow down the flow of operations. Meanwhile, if the passengers can deplane and enplane as schedule, it is another concern. Anything from weather delays to unexpected maintenance issue at the gate can slow down the flow of operations and adversely impact turn-around time. Q3. How does Southwest Airlines know they are achieving their goals?

Answer: Company executives know when they have achieved their goals when internal and external metrics are reached. For example, the Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks on-time departures, customer complains, and mishandles baggage for all airlines. Southwest Airline can collect all the relating information and The company sets targets for achievement on these dimensions and lets employees know on a monthly basis how the company is doing against those metrics compared to the rest of the industry.

Regular communication with all employees is delivered via meeting, posters, and newsletters. Rewards such as prizes and profit sharing are given for successful achievement. Q4. What are the important long-term issues relevant for managing capacity, revenue, and customer satisfaction for SWA? Answer: Rolling King and Herb Kelleher started Southwest Airlines in 1971 with this idea: if they could take airline passengers where they want to go, on time, at the lowest possible price, and a good time while doing it, people would love to fly their airplane.

These issues are still important for managing capacity, revenue, and customer satisfaction for SWA. Moreover, improving the utilization of its fleet by turning around an aircraft at the gate faster than its competitors is another major issue for SWA because even a single minute reduction in aircraft turnaround time system wide means additional seat-miles being added to the available capacity of Southwest Airlines. Chapter 7 Planning Capacity Video Case: Constraint Management at Southwest Airlines Q1. Analyze Southwest’s passenger boarding using the Theory of Constraints.

Answer: From the lobby check-in process through to boarding at the gate and processing plane turnaround, the process of operating the airline filled with constraints that must be managed in order for them to be successful and profitable. Fight schedules are tightly orchestrated and controlled, departure and arrival gates at airports are limited, and individual aircraft have seating capacities in each section of the plane, to name a few. Q2. Which boarding scenario among the different ones proposed would you recommend for implementation? Why?

Answer: In my personal opinion, “assigned boarding gate line positions based on both boarding group and gate arrival time” is the most workable. The principle to assign position based on boarding group can satisfy the customers who travel in group and want to sit together. The customers might be family, friends or couples. Then the principal of gate arrival time is to meet the rule: first come, first served. If the assignments of the positions are according to the arrival time, there are few customers would complain about the unfairness.

Therefore, customers would like to follow the rules and accept the assigned positions. The high-quality and fast customer service will impress all his customers. Q3. How should Southwest evaluate the gate boarding and plane turnaround process? Answer: Southwest should check if it can manage all potential bottleneck are effectively. Southwest’s famous rapid gate-turnaround of 25 minutes or less demonstrates how attention to the activities that ground operations must complete to clean, fuel, and prepare a plane for flight can become bottlenecks if not properly scheduled.

In the terminal at the gate, passenger boarding also can be a bottleneck if the boarding process itself is not carefully managed. In 2007, as part of the company’s improvement activities, Southwest focused its attention on the passenger boarding process to determine whether there was a better way to board. Its existing process consisted of three groups: A, B, C, with no assigned seating. Depending on passenger check-in and arrival time, passengers were given a spot in group. Those first to check-in received choice places in the A group.

Last to check-in ended up in the C group, and usually had a choice of only middle seats in the back of the plane upon boarding. As passengers arrived at the gate, they queued up in their respective boarding group areas to await the boarding call. Q4. How will Southwest know that the bottleneck had indeed eliminated after the change in the boarding process? Answer: It can be evaluated by the change of the gate-turnaround time. If the bottleneck in the boarding process has been eliminated, then the gate-turnaround time should be shorter than 25 minutes. Meanwhile, profitability and customer satisfaction should be improved.

Chapter 8 Designing Lean Systems Video Case: Lean Systems at Autoliv Q1. Why is a visual management approach such an integral part of Autoliv’s lean system? It allows Autoliv to keep track of work time needed to complete a customer’s order. A “rail” is used for the management of the heijunka cards in each cell. For instance, if the card is green, it means the work on a product that fulfills the customer’s order can be completed during normal working hours. If the card is yellow, overtime is needed to complete the order. But if the card is red, it means weekend overtime is needed.

Also, the visual communication allows for the determination of when a group of cells is backed-up and not performing properly. If a cell is not performing at the required pace to meet customer demand, the cards will stack up on the rail and provide a very visual cue that the cell is not meeting expectations. And, this will provide an opportunity for the cell team members and management to implement immediate countermeasures to prevent required overtime if the situation is not remedied. Q2. Describe the JIT considerations presented in the chapter as they relate to Autoliv’s manufacturing environment?

The following are types of Just in Time (JIT) activities according to the Tokyo Production System (TPS): Eliminate waste or muda: by cutting excess capacity or inventory and removing non-value-added activities. Kaizen: the understanding that excess capacity or inventory hides underlying problems with the processors that produce a service or a product. Jidoka: automatically stopping the process when something is wrong and then fixing the problems on the line itself as they occur. Poka-yoke: mistake-proofing methods aimed at designing fail-safe systems that minimize human error.

Takt time: cycle time needed to match the rate of production to the rate of sales or consumption. Heijunka: the leveling of production load by both volume and product mix. Q3. Which method of workflow is embodied in Autoliv’s system? Why is this approach most suitable to its lean environment? The Kanban System – a card is attached to each container of items produced. The container holds a given percent of the daily production requirements for an item. When the user of the parts empties a container, the card s removed from the container and put on a receiving post.

The empty container is then taken to the storage area; the card signals the need to produce another container of the part. When the container has been refilled, the card is put back on the container which is then returned to a storage area. The cycle begins again when the use of the part retrieves the container with the card attached. Q4. When Autoliv started its lean journey, a number of operational benefits and implementation issues had to be addressed. What were they, and how were they addressed? Autoliv was not able to meet customer demands by fulfilling the needs of its automakers; they were pressured to change operations.

They adopted the Autoliv Production System (APS) which was modeled after the Toyota Production System (TPS). In order to resolve visible problems, Autoliv performed daily audits, monthly training, and more in-depth education to help focus attention on where changes needed to be made. If there as an abnormal condition during the work execution that slowed down the work of the cell or stopped altogether, a “stop and fix” model was put into place. This allowed Autoliv to stop the production line immediately and be able to correct the problem before operations got worse.

Next, to help focus efforts daily, Autoliv had a blue “communication wall” that everyone sees as they head to their work site. The wall contains the company’s “policy department,” which consists of company-wide goals for customer satisfaction, shareholder/financial performance, and safety and quality. Consequentially, all aisles and walkways surrounding cells are to be clear of materials debris, or other items. If anything appears in those areas, everyone can quickly see the abnormality and be able to keep the areas surrounding the cells clear of debris.

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