Toshiba’s Assembly Line

In business, one of the basic principals is to reduce costs as much as possible, in an effort to maximize profits. For manufacturing companies, this can be particularly challenging, as the costs associated with producing various goods can be become very volatile. To address this issue many companies have implemented the concept of the assembly line, by mirroring key parts that have worked well for different organizations in the past. A good example of this can be seen by looking no further than, Henry Ford using interchangeable parts and the concept of mass producing automobiles as cheaply as possible. (McClellan, 2006, pg. 339) This is important, because it underscores how ideas from the past are often implemented with contemporary ones, to help a company increase their profits dramatically. One place where this can be seen is with the strategy that Toshiba is using for producing different notebooks. As engineers would take some of most basic concepts and augment them creativity, to cost effectively produce their different these products. To fully understand the strategy that is being implemented requires: examining the daily capacity of the assembly line, the maximum capacity / efficiency, how redesigning the line could achieve the target objectives of 300 units per day / the efficiency of the new design and other issues that Toshiba needs to consider. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights, as to how Toshiba is taking these ideas and is enhancing them to increase their productivity while (reducing their costs).

What is the daily capacity of the assembly line designed by the engineers?

The total daily production capacity of the engineers was 300 units per day. However, it is important to remember that they were planning on phasing in the new production strategy. As the company would start at 150 units per day, then begin increasing to 250 units per day, followed by 300 units. (“Designing Toshiba’s Notebook Computer Assembly Line, ” n.d.) the idea was that incrementally increasing production would help everyone, to become familiar with the new changes and allow managers to work out any issues. This increased the overall balance that the Toshiba would have in their assembly line. As the process, would provide more personnel to address possible issues, helping them to maximize production. (Kusaik, 2000, pp. 454 — 457)

When it is running at maximum capacity, what is the efficiency of the line?

Toshiba is running at maximum capacity when several different conditions exist to include: running the assembly line 24 hours a day / seven days a week and maintaining the proper staff / support levels at all times. These two elements are important, because they are allowing the company to receive the maximum amount of production from the line. Once this takes place, is when it is running at maximum capacity. (“Business Glossary,” 2010)

The efficiency of the line is when you are maximizing the total amount of production, while maintaining a low cost structure. When the strategy is being implemented properly, it can help the company to save time and money producing various notebooks. (“Efficiency,” 2010)

How should the line be redesigned to operate at the target 300 units per day, assuming that no overtime will be used? What is the efficiency of your new design?

The best way that the line could be redesigned is through the use of flexible manufacturing systems. This is when you are using a process, of ensuring that every placed on the line, is having the parts and necessary support they require. During the current manufacturing process that Toshiba is using, they are embracing the idea of added productivity through staff line support. This is where the company will have two employees monitoring various members of the production team. This is usually a total of ten people. If one of them begins to feel tired or they start to slowdown, the individual is relieved of their position on the line. It is at this point, that someone else can step in and maintain high levels of productivity. (“Designing Toshiba’s Notebook Computer Assembly Line, ” n.d.) This is important, because it shows how Toshiba is taking a step in the right direction. Yet, when you look at the issue of parts and suppliers, it is clear that they could face the possibility of seeing potential disruptions for key components or sharp price increases. Once this takes place, it could mean that Toshiba may have a parts shortage (which is having an adverse effect on productivity). To address this issue, the line should be redesigned to ensure each station has its own extra supply of parts. This will help to prevent possible supply disruptions and can maintain the 300 units per day target. Where, the strategy will allow the line, to continuously function, without having any kind of slowdowns or disruptions. Once this takes place, it will increase productivity and maintain the current labor cost structure.

The efficiency of this new design is that it will eliminate the wasted amounts of time during the work week, by ensuring that there is no reason for the line to slowdown. The constant monitoring for employee exhaustion / productivity addresses the human factors of the production line. While the parts shortage will ensure that the there will never be any kind of slowdowns. (“Designing Toshiba’s Notebook Computer Assembly Line, ” n.d.) Once this occurs, it will increase efficiency by allowing the company to streamline their operations.

What other issues might Toshiba consider when bringing the new assembly line up to speed?

Two additional issues that Toshiba would have to wrestle with as far as the new assembly line is concerned are: possible changes in demand and challenges facing outside suppliers. Changing demand is problematic, because if the company is not carefully monitoring their supply chain, they could easily over ship a number of different units. Once this occurs, it could force Toshiba to scale down production. Given the fact that the production line is fairly new, means that there is a possibility that managers could realize changes in demand (once it is to late). This is because, there was no past benchmarks to help determine when this was taking place, which contributed to the situation.

The various challenges facing outside suppliers are troubling, because they could have an impact upon the new production line. The reason why, is the various costs for raw materials and other components could be increasing. A recent example of this occurred when raw material costs for: praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium and gadolinium increased. These different elements are essential in the production of electronic devices ranging from: cell phones to computers. This is the consequence of strong demand and not enough supplies on the market. As a result, this is having an adverse effect on the company’s product line. As it is making it more challenging to find the parts they need to maintain production levels. (“China Japan Dispute Shine Light on Rare Earth Materials,” 2010)

Clearly, Toshiba is taking the ideas of the past and is augmenting them with their own strategies to improve the production of various laptop computers. As they are using an approach of monitoring how each employee is performing on the line. This is accomplished through having added personnel that can relive the individual, once they become tired. At the same time, they are having each team member monitor for various quality and control procedures. This is important, because it is underscoring how the new strategy can be able to address the issues of reducing costs and maximizing productivity. However, the three biggest issues that will be faced with the implementation of the new production line are: maintaining the maximum production rate of 300 units per day consistently, changes in demand and challenges facing outside suppliers. These issues are important, because they can undermine the productivity of the new system that is being introduced. As a result, management needs to engage in a strategy that will give executives flexibility. Over the course of time, this will help the company be able to adapt to these possible challenges, allowing them to realize their productivity and cost objectives.

Bibliography

Business Glossary. (2010). All Business. Retrieved from: http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaries/maximum-capacity/4944497-1.html

China Japan Dispute Shine Light on Rare Earth Materials. (2010). VOA News. Retrieved from: http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/China-Japan-Dispute-Shines-Light-on-Rare-Earth-Metals — 104541629.html

Designing Toshiba’s Notebook Computer Assembly Line. (n.d.). (pp. 212 — 214)

Efficiency. (2010). Dictionary.com. Retrieved from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/efficiency

McClellan, J. (2006). Tool Makers Take Command. Science and Technology in World History. (pg. 339). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins’s University Press.

Kusaik, a. (2000). Designing and Scheduling an Assembly Line. Conceptual Intelligence in Design and Manufacturing. (pp. 454 — 457). New York, NY: Wiley.

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

• Plagiarism free papers
• Timely delivery
• Any deadline
• Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
• Subject-relevant academic writer
• Adherence to paper instructions
• Ability to tackle bulk assignments
• Reasonable prices
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Get superb grades consistently

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

• When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
• We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

• The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
• We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
• Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment  Help Service Works

1.      Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2.      Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3.      Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4.      Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!