LINE OF BALANCE TECHNIQUE

The line of balance technique is a useful scheduling tool when there is a fixed quantity of' a customized product that is to be delivered to a client over a period of time. The purpose of the technique is to check, at various reporting periods, whether the various operations in producing the final product are on schedule that is, whether the actual operation is in 'balance' with the scheduled operation. Elements of the line of balance technique include the following. Delivery schedule The delivery schedule includes the timing when the unit of product are scheduled to be delivered to the client. A point delivery schedule is converted to a cumulative delivery schedule to serve as a control tool. Assembly/lead time chart This is a diagram showing the various activities in the assembly of' the product, together with the lead times. On the assembly charts are various control points indicated by a circle, square or other symbol, showing start or finish of the activity. Progress at any time: Inventory levels are indicated on a histogram, showing the status at any given point so that the manager can know the progress.

RUN OUT TECHNIQUE

The run-out method of scheduling is a way of scheduling: Standard products as opposed to those that are custom made to order. Products that go into inventory awaiting delivery to clients. When there is limited production capacity such that each product is produced in a batch quantity on the same assembly line or in the same processing unit. Approaches of run out technique The run-out method, which does not try to optimize inventory storage cots, assumes that the product demand rates can be reasonably well estimated. There are two approaches: Products are produced in fixed inventories quantity. Aggregate run-out time method. The 'Product produced in fixed quantities' approach assumes that products are produced in fixed inventories, determined by equipment limitations, customer requirements or economic lot size. Run out means determining which product stock would be depleted first (run out of stock) if production is stopped. It is this product which is scheduled next for production. The run-out of stock is given by the relationship:

Run-out time for product X = (Current inventory Of product X / current demand of product X)

In order to apply the method for a series of products, there must be sufficient inventory available of each product to satisfy customer demand while production of other products is in operation. The 'aggregate run out time' approach assumes that lot sizes are not fixed, but can be varied according to requirements. It considers all the products together, as an aggregate and determines the aggregate time in which all products will be depleted. A schedule is then developed in consideration of this time. The key steps are: determining the equivalent processing time in current inventory and determining the equivalent processing time in product demand. Then the ART is given as: Aggregate run-out time (ART) = (Total equivalent processing time available / total processing time required)

OPTIMIZED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY

Optimized production technology (OPT), also called management by the theory of constraints (TOC), is a computerized production, planning, and scheduling tool developed in 1979 by Creative Output of Milford, Connecticut, USA. It is useful for coordinating engineering, manufacturing and marketing operations in a job shop, or a work centre where there is repetitive manufacturing. The OPT software gives a detailed description of the network, defining variables of the resources used such as set up times, production run times, inventory levels, lot sizes, lead times, order quantities and due dates. Optimized production technology is based on a set of nine related rules, which principally revolve around the concept of bottlenecks. In an operations context, a bottleneck is a resource such as a work centre, machine or labour force, where the capacity of this resource is less than the downstream demand. Indications of a bottleneck in an operation would be the accumulation of inventory, people waiting or vehicles queuing. The nine rules of OPT are as follows.

Rule 1: Balance flow of material instead of capacity. Each work centre in a .manufacturing operation is subjected to different random occurrences, such as machine breakdowns, raw materials unavailability etc. These random occurrences will lead to delays. This first rule stresses that efforts should be made to create a smooth flow of material through the system, adapted to the downstream market, rather than to try and keep all resources fully occupied. When there is fluctuation in demand, a smooth flow might be achieved by using operators who are multi-skilled.

Rule 2: Use of a non-bottleneck is determined by other constraints in the system. In a production system two types of resources can be considered: A bottleneck resource (capacity is less than downstream demand); A non-bottleneck resource (capacity is greater than or equal to the downstream demand). The throughput of any system is always governed by the capacity of the bottleneck resource. In the scheme shown in Figure, Box 2 (Non-bottleneck) cannot operate at its full potential, or capacity, because Box 1 (Bottleneck) is unable to absorb all the flow, and the inventory level would increase.

Rule 3: Utilization and full employment of a resource are not synonymous. In Figure given below, the capacity of Box 4 is 250 units/hr. However, it can only be utilized at the rate of 150 units/hr because of the constraints of the upstream, Box 3. Note that though Box 2 is a bottleneck to Box 1, Box 3 is the principal constraint.

Rule 4: An hour lost on a bottleneck resource is an hour lost on all the system. If a bottleneck can only produce 130 units per hour because of an operating problem, then production on the line is only 130 units per hour on all the system, no matter what the capacity is of the machines upstream or downstream.

Rule 5: An hour saved on a non-bottleneck source is just a mirage. Since the capacity of the system is governed by the bottleneck resource, saving time on a non-bottleneck source does nothing for the throughput in the whole system. In Figure below, the first part represents the system before any modifications. Assume that the set up time of Box 2 can be reduced, thereby enabling the production rate to be increased to 280 units per hour. The production rate does not change as it is always limited by the bottleneck resource.

Rule 6: Bottlenecks govern both throughput and the accumulation of inventory. In the scheme in Figure 7.8 below, given the production rate of the system is 150 units/hr, which is also the capacity of the bottleneck. As a result, inventory accumulates at a rate of 250 units/hr.

Rule 7: The size of transfer batch does not need to be equal to the process batch. The transfer batch is the quantity of material transferred from one work centre to another, whereas the process batch, or production lot, Consider the situations where we have a lot size of 500 units which we are transferring to another machine. We can do it either by transferring the whole lot of 500 at a time or we can have process batch size of 100 each. In the latter case, accumulation of inventory in front of machine is less.

Rule 8: Lot sizes should be variable and not fixed. The lot sizes in optimized production technology are a function of the schedule and thus should not be fixed over time, or from operation to operation. When different components are manufactured on different machines, the lot size should be varied in order to achieve a smooth, and timely flow of materials to the customer.

Rule 9: Schedules must be established by taking into account all system constraints.

In a production process, delays are often a function of scheduling and cannot always necessarily be predetermined. In OPT management, delays are flexible whereas MRP assumes that delays are known beforehand, and are fixed.