Construction Procurement Methods Compared

Construction Procurement Methods Compared Procurement is comes from the word of procure which is means to bring about and to acquire. Method is about organized method, technique, process or procedure (Rosli Abdul Rashid 2006). Procurement method is an overall management structure and specific management practices used in the project such as houses, office buildings, shopping complex, roads, bridges etc. Traditionally, clients who wished to have projects constructed would invariably commission a designer, normal an architect for building projector an engineer for civil engineering projects. The designer would prepare drawings for the proposed scheme and, where the project was a sufficient size, a quantity surveyor would prepare estimates and documentation on which contractors could prepare their prices. Each of the different methods has been used at some time in the industry. New procurement systems will continue to be developed to meet new requirements and demands from clients, contactor and the professions (Allan Ashworth, 2008). There are many more types of procurement systems used in the construction industry nowadays. However, the focus is only on the type of procurement systems that commonly used in Malaysia for example traditional system, design and build, management contracting and construction management. 2.1 Concept of Traditional System Traditional System is also known as Design-Bid-Build (DBB). It is most common use in the construction industry. With this option, the client appoint an architect to prepare a brief, a scheme outline and working drawings, and to invite tenders and administer the project though issuing instructions, inspecting the work under construction and preparing certificates for payment. In another word, architect is to prepare design proposals to meet the client requirements. The architect may also, with the clients approval, appoint other consultant such as quantity surveyor and structural engineers. The contractor, who has no responsibility for the design, will usually be selected by competitive tendering. The design team work independently from the contractor, who is responsible for executing the construction work in accordance with the teams of the contract (Allan Ashworth, 2008). 2.1.1 Contractual relationships of Traditional System The client is in direct contractual relationship with the consultants on the one hand and the contractor on the other. Any contractual links for only where they clients make nominations is it advisable to recommend collateral agreements to protect his interests in respect of any matters which might lie outside the building contract (Stanley Cox and Hugh Clamp, 2003). 2.1.2 Management Relationship of Traditional System The figure 2.3 is the management relationship of the traditional system. Architect is as the lead designer to coordinate with Engineers on the part of M E works. Architects are also to ensure that the design complies with the local authority requirements. Besides that, Architects is to manage the whole project and supervise the works. Contractors to execute and complete the building works based on the design and specifications in the contracts. Contractors are to coordinate with the nominated Sub-contractors (NSC) on specialist works. 2.1.3 Advantages of Traditional System The quality of work is control by Client. Client can achieve the best price through competitive tendering. Clients can easily request any variation of the works. Clients interest is protected by the Consultants who serve as advisors and independent certifies in the building contracts. 2.1.4 Disadvantages of Traditional System From inception to completion of the project need relatively longer period. The communication channel among various consultants may be incompetent. Client maybe too difficult to coordinate with the various consultants. 2.2 Concept of Design Build Design Build (D B) is a procurement system where a single organization undertakes the responsibilities and risks for both the design and construction phased. There may be various levels of employer involvement in the design: in the pure form of D B, the client engages a building contractor at the outset who is then responsible both for the design and the construction of the work. The typical payment method for D B is a lump sum, payable in monthly installments, based on a cost document that forms part of the Contractor s Proposals which is itself a tendered or negotiated response to the Employers Requirements, documents that form the basis of the contract (W.Hughes, 2006). With D B, it is likely that in the absence of in-house professional staff, the client will wish to engage outside consultants to advise on the preparation of requirements and to evaluate and select tenders etc. the main contractual link is between client and the contractor and the clients agent or representative has only a limited role. The contractor might also have a contractual link with his own design consultants, and with sub-contractors and suppliers. As the contractor is wholly responsible for their performance, both in terms of design and construction, there might be less need for collateral agreements between them and the clients (Stanley Cox and Hugh Clamp, 2003). 2.2.1 Contractual relationships of Design Build With a design and build arrangement, instead of using and architect or engineer for a separate design service, the client chooses to employ a contractor directly for an all-in design and construction services. It may also be necessary and desirable to employ independent professional advisers to monitor the progress and quality of the contractors work and to agree the value of interim certificate for payment purposes (Allan Ashworth, 2008). 2.2.2 Management Relationship of Design Build The figure 2.5 is the management relationship of the D B. Clients state his requirements through his consultants who prepares the Employers Requirement or conceptual design. D B Contractor is prepares the details design and prepare the cost proposals to the client. Therefore, successful D B contractors are responsible for designing, planning, organizing, constructing and controlling the whole project. The scope of the design obligation needs to be set out as clearly as possible. 2.2.3 Advantages of Design Build Ease of communication- Client only needs to liaise with one party i.e DB Contractor, it is direct contact with the client. Saving in time and cost of construction. The contractors experience with the project from inception. The option for contractor s to include their constructing capability in the proposed design. No claim for possible delays due to a lack of drawn information. 2.2.4 Disadvantages of Design Build Design possibilities are not explored in full and tend to be restricted by the D B Contractors standard design and construction method. Quality of materials may be compromised in view of the D B Contractors profit. Client is discouraged to order any variations of works. Client must select only D B Contractor with good reputation and track record. 2.3 Concept of Management Contracting The term management contracting is used to describe a method of organizing the project team and operating the construction process. The management contracting acts in a professional capacity, providing the management expertise and buildability requirement to the overheads and profits involved in return for a fee. The contractor does not therefore participate in the profitability of the construction work itself and does not directly employ any of the labour and plant, except possibly for those items involved in setting up of the site and the costs normally associated with preliminary works. Because the contractor is employed on a fee basis, the appointment can take place early during the design stage. The contractor is therefore able to provide a substantial input into the practical aspects of the building technology process. Each trade required for the project is tendered for independently by subcontractor, either upon the basis of the measured work packages or a lump sum. This should therefore result in the lowest cost for each trade and thus for the construction work as a whole. The management contractor assumes full responsibility for the control of the work on site (Allan Ashworth, 2008). 2.3.1 Contractual relationships of Management Contracting The contractual relationship in a management contract is between the client and the management contractor, with all works contactor in direct relationship with the latter. It may also be desirable to establish a contractual relationship between the client and each work contactors by means a collateral agreement. In construction management the contractual relationship is between the client and the construction manager, with all trades contractors in direct relationship with the former (Stanley Cox and Hugh Clamp, 2003). 2.3.2 Management Relationship of Management Contracting The figure 2.7 is the management relationship of the Management Contracting. Management contractor (MC) is to manage construction works for a management fee that comprises a percentage for profit and fixed overheads. Normally MC does not undertake the construction works by himself. Consultants prepare the design; MC determines construction/management method. This method is popular used in UK. 2.3.3 Advantages of Management Contracting Early appointment of contractor as a member of design team to provide management skill. Better coordination control of project through improved management qualities. Shorter project period because increase speed of design and construction 2.3.4 Disadvantages of Management Contracting Pressures on design team in preparation of various tender documentation and tender evaluation. 2.4 Concept of Construction Management The contractual arrangement and services rendered by a construction management firm are not dissimilar from those under management contracting. But relieving such an organization of contractual risk for the performance of sub-contractors is much more effective if they are not contractual intermediaries. Thus, the most significant characteristic of construction management is that there is no general contractor; instead there is a series of direct contractual links between the client and the trade contractors, making the role of the construction management more like a consultant than a contractor. The arrangement is used particularly by experienced clients on projects with short lead-times (W.Hughes, 2006). The construction manager is responsibility for the overall control of the design team and the various trade contractors, throughout both the design phase and the construction phase of the project (Allan Ashworth, 2008). 2.4.1 Contractual Relationship of Construction Management The construction manager is appointed after a careful selection process and is paid a management fee. One basic difference from a management contract is that the trades contracts, although arranged and administered by the construction manager, are direct between the client and the trade contracts. The construction manager is a coordinator, and usually cannot guarantee that the project will be finished to time or cost. The clients direct the project and the client is also likely to carry the greatest burden of the speculative risk (Stanley Cox and Hugh Clamp, 2003). 2.4.2 Management Relationship of Construction Management The figure 2.9 is the management relationship of the Construction Management. Construction Management is separating consultants/designers from management of the project. Construction Manager (CM) replace designer in administration of contract except design/ certification matters. CM concentrates on managing time/ cost using his unique construction expertise. Clients selects all trade contractors and CM managers the project for a fee. 2.4.3 Advantages of Construction Management: Independent management function. Reduction in project durations and costs. Design team able to concentrate on design. No conflict of interest between design and production. 2.4.4 Disadvantages of construction Management: Additional management cost. Erosion of Architects power and responsibilities. 2.5 Summary Traditional Speed: Not the fastest of methods. Complexity: Desirable to have all information at tender stage. Consider two stages or negotiated tendering. Quality: Basically straightforward, but complications can rise if the client requires that certain sub-contractors are used. Clients require certain standards to be shown or described. Contractor is wholly responsible for achieving the stated quality on site. Design and Build Speed:Â  Relatively fast method. Complexity:Â  Pre-tender time largely depends on the amount of the detail in the clients requirements. Construction time reduced because design and building proceed parallel. Quality:Â  A sufficient single contractual arrangement integrating design and construction expertise within one countable organisation. Client has no direct control over the contractors performance. Contractor design expertise may be limited. Client has little say in the choice of specialist sub-contractors. Management Contracting Speed:Â  Early start on site is possible, long before tenders have even been invited for some of the works packages. Complexity:Â  Design and construction skills integrated at an early stage. Complex management operation requiring sophisticated techniques. Quality:Â  Client requires certain standards to be shown or described. Managing contractor responsible for quality of work and materials on site. Construction Management Speed:Â  Relatively fast method. The individual trade contractors are in direct contract with the client. Complexity:Â  Design team able to concentrate on design.Construction Manager concentrates on managing time/ cost using his unique construction expertise. Quality:Â  Construction Manager replace designer in administration of contract except design/ certification matters. 2.5.1 Summary Traditional Flexibility: Clients control design and variations to a large extent. Certainty: Certainty in cost and time before commitment to build. Clear accountability and cost monitoring at all stages. Responsibility: Can be clear-cut division of design and construction. Confusion possible where there is some design input from contractor or specialist sub-contractor and suppliers. Design and Build Flexibility:Â  Virtually none for the client once the contract is signed, without heavy cost penalties. Flexibility in developing details or making substitutions is to the contractors advantage. Certainty:Â  There is a guaranteed cost and completion date. Responsibility:Â  Can be clear division, but confused where the clients requirement are details as this reduces reliance on the contractor or design or performance. Limited role for clients representative during construction. Management Contracting Flexibility:Â  Client can modify or develop design requirements during construction. Managing contactor can adjust programme and costs. Certainty:Â  Client is committed to start building on a cost plan, project drawings and specifications only. Responsibility:Â  Success depends on the management contractors skills. An element of trust is essentials. The professionals team must be well coordinated through all the stages. Construction Management Flexibility:Â  Clients selects all trade contractors and CM managers the project for a fee Certainty:Â  Usually cannot guarantee that the project will be finished to time or cost Responsibility:Â  Success depends on the Construction Manager. 2.5.2 Summary Traditional Advantages: The quality of work is control by Client and Client can achieve the best price through competitive tendering. Disadvantages: From inception to completion of the project need relatively longer period. Summary: Benefits in cost and quality but at the expense of time. Design and Build Advantages:Â  Saving in time and cost of construction. Disadvantages:Â  Quality of materials may be compromised in view of the DB Contractors profit. Summary:Â  Benefits in cost and time but at the expense of quality. Management Contracting Advantages:Â  Increase speed of design and construction, hence shorter project period. Disadvantages:Â  Pressures exerted on design team in preparation of various tender documentation and tender evaluation. Summary:Â  Benefits in time and quality but at the expense of cost. Construction Management Advantages:Â  Reduction in project durations and Design team able to concentrate on design. Disadvantages:Â  Additional management cost and erosion of Architects power and responsibilities. Summary:Â  Benefits in time and quality but at the expense of cost. 2.6 Conclusion As a conclusion, the traditional approach to construction has been to appoint a team of consultants to prepare a design and estimate, and to select an independent constructor. The final would calculate the actual projects costs, develop a programme to fit within the period laid down in the contract, organise the workers and materials deliveries and construct to the standards quality specified in the contact documentations. The client would prefer single point responsibility and a truly fixed price and for projects to be completed as required. Procurement procedures remain is a dynamic activity. They will continue to develop to meet the changing and challenging needs of society and the circumstances under which the industry will find itself working. There are no standard procurement solutions, but each individual projects needs to be considered independently and analysed accordingly. However, is a need to evaluate more carefully the procedures being recommended in order to develop good practice in procurement and to improve the image of the industry.

Police Training Essay

Nowadays professional training is paid more attention as it is one of the best ways to increase job commitment and enhance performance. I think that all police officers should have free access to formal and informal courses, seminars devoted to violent death investigation, interrelations, and criminal laws. The training programs should cover also the principle of supervision and civil liability. Training plays crucial role in today’s police work because training ensures not only organizational efficiency, but also increases effectiveness and productivity of all police departments. It goes without saying that it is hardly possible to except effective work from untrained police officers. Moreover, community doesn’t feel safe if they realize that their police officers aren’t skillful and experienced enough to defend them when necessary. Nevertheless, state funding isn’t enough to solve training dilemma because of lack of money assigned to support training programs. Without money and proper funding it would be difficult to solve the problem. The purpose of training is to promote occupational and professional development of police department through specialized job-related programs. Nevertheless, training differs significantly from education because training is so-called study in the process. Education provides only theoretical background of the particular situations, whereas training develops practical skills and acquirements in real situations. However, I think that training is the second step after education as the officer should firstly realize the aspects of actions and only then should master his skills. Harry More defines training as â€Å"something like an inchoate crime†. He means that training is continuous process and can’t be ever fully accomplished. Training is always a process. Education provides knowledge and training applies it to specific situations. The goals of trainings are: To improve police officer’s performances and job commitment; To develop the sense of responsibility in police officers. It is necessary to underline that training is designed to help individuals to cope better with challenging duties and responsibilities. Simply saying, training helps to perform job better. Training is claimed to be unique because it suggests unity within particular organization. According to More and Miller, modern police training is based on the following philosophical foundations: Positive action is ensured when accompanied by acquired skills and motivation; Learning process depends not only motivation and personal abilities, but also on the instructional methods, behavior of the trainers and the climate within department; Training is considered tripartite responsibility; Training is continuous process requiring constant updating of skills and knowledge. Finally, it is important to document all formal and informal training because it helps to identify what type of training is actually needed. Documenting is defined as task analysis aimed at ensuring the relevance of training. While documenting it becomes possible to identify the tasks performed by the person who holds the position. Also documenting ensures easy assessment of training programs. Tasks analysis helps police officers to determine whether the training program is professional enough to provide skills and knowledge required for particular job. In conclusion it is necessary to note that training develops the following professional skills in police officers: interpersonal communication skills, perception and awareness, decision-making ad critical thinking, adaptability and definitiveness, oral and written communication skills.

Political Nature Of Music Essay

Music has influenced man in a lot of ways and it can be evidently seen in the events that have occurred throughout the years. The vastness of music’s capability to create influential concepts and ideas ranges from the smallest of intents to the broadest of intentions. Politics is not an exemption to the scope of musical boundaries. Through the years, music has provided various influential impacts to society and to politics. In the United States, music has become a popular method to promote political intentions. Music and Politics Through the years music has evolved and added up different genres from time to time. This aspect of music provides a wider range of impact on different types of music lovers. From punk to hip-hop, jazz up to pop, these different musical styles possess the influential aspects that determine the concept of music and its ability to affect people. There are various artists and bands who blatantly express their political outcries through the use of their music. There have been the bands from the past until present who showcase their protests to political leaders and their actions. To these bands, their capability to influence people most especially the die hard fans makes them believe that they can make an impact or better yet a change to society. This potential of bands to influence and affect the perceptions of people is a powerful tool that displays music’s power. Bands and artists that showcase their political views creates a controversial stir due to the fact that not all people have the same political views. Despite all of this, these bands continue to stand on their opinions and still create music to promote their side. There are also those bands and artists who promote politically but does not display their political side. These artists are the ones who advertise people to vote. Due to the greatness of music’s influence especially on the youth of today, artists promote political awareness and help these youth to care for the country and vote. There have been various commercials of bands or artists who display their stand to vote. Years ago, artists started to create the thought of â€Å"vote or die†. This shows their strong stand to help people vote. If there are the musical artists who promote their stand to vote, there are also those who oppose the actions of political leaders. For instance, there are several music artists who display their strong stand against President Bush’s actions especially of the decision to send the country’s troops to Iraq. Years ago, there became a nationwide controversy regarding the Dixie Chicks opposing President Bush. This has led to different scenarios. This is just one example of music artists expressing their side. Through the years there are the bands like the notable punk artists such as the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, The Clash and Green Day who have been notorious to utilize controversially political lyrics that bash the administrations. There are so many other bands who make use of their lyrics and catchy sounds to stir up messages that bring forth impact. We already jumped to the present times but the 1960s and 1970s are the decades that have really made expressionistic views through music. From the influential music of the rock bands of that era up to the formulation of the phenomenal rock concert named Woodstock, politics has served as a source of musical â€Å"revolution†. Woodstock, is the whole epitome of music serving as a tool towards political views. It is one of the most phenomenal events of history, a compilation of musical artists who serve for a single and peaceful cause. An expression of peace and a blatant display of care and intent to provide a better resolution to the war during those times, Woodstock became a festival of driven intention to promote peace and somehow express the side of the youth towards the actions of the American government especially pertaining to the Vietnam War then. Jumping back to the present, music’s influence stands on different aspects. In the United States, such prominent music icons serve as the most influential artists that can accumulate a larger prospective view. There are those artists who serve for patriotic intentions while there are those who serve for what they think is better for the country. It’s hard to count all these artists and specify their political views but the whole point is that the power of music is so great that when people choose to believe in it, their views and principles can be altered by music’s life-changing influences. For music lovers and the die hard fans, most of them copy or imitate their favorite artists or bands, and in turn, some of them find it cool to follow their footsteps or even yet their views. Such is the power of music that it can affect political views and principles of people. Music can unite people but it can also segregate people. The genres are the ones which takes care of the segregation part but with the evolution of music today, the genres have become side by side with views and perceptions. All of them serve as the segregating factor. But nonetheless, music still has the power to unite and make people believe in something. Though it is a fact that all people don’t possess the similar views, with regards to politics for that matter, there is a magnanimous challenge for music to unite everyone. The socio-economic class of people vary in a lot of ways and music also takes a part on it. As it is widely known, African Americans mostly take the side of Jazz, Hip-Hop and R&B due to their history while the Whites take country music, pop, rock and punk. Segregation can also be evidently seen in these types of music which appeal to certain groups of people. All in all, music has served great not only in the United States but also around the world. The contributions of music to the history of the world somehow have created the different impacts on events. Whether be it on the past or today, music’s vast power to capture a single person’s political point of view is quite underrated. To some it may not look like as a big factor, but to some it also means a lot. Some people love music and that love for music helps them to believe in something. Personally, my political views have been strong from the start. It’s not that music has influenced me or something, but seeing my favorite bands and artists taking a stand on what I believe in makes me feel that I am on the right side. Music helped me to become what I am today. It made me realize that someway, somehow I have something to believe in, something to be a fan of, and that I share this feeling with other people around the world. Music is a part of my life. I could not imagine my world without music. Though I know that not all people agree on my views, I still believe that music helps me to believe in something. The poetry of the lyrics, the awesome guitar rifts, the fast pace of the drums or even just the enlightening voice of the artist, these factors are the ones that helps me to create peace of mind and believe in something that has power and influence. Although I may not share the political views of all people, my music helps me take a stand and realize my worth and the worth of the country. Music artists have personally influenced me to vote and take a political stand but on what stand that is, it’s all up to me. Such is the power of music, it can alter, influence, and unite people.

The Lean tools impact of performance - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3817 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Lean production first came along in 1950. It all began in Japan when Toyota, the auto manufacturer, was having some problems. It started in the 1930s when the military government had prevented their effort to build passenger cars, instead they had to make trucks. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Lean tools impact of performance" essay for you Create order In 1949 Toyota had sales collapse which forced the company to lay off great part of the work force. This also led to the resign of Kiichiro, the companys president, because of management failure. Toyota was also producing very little volume. It was then, in 1950, when the engineer Eiji Toyoda and his friend Taiichi Ohno, a production genius, realised that mass production could never work in Japan. They introduced the Toyota Production System also called lean production system. [1] Lean thinking involves few principles, they are: [2] Keeping processes customer focused. All activities should be driven by the customer needs and expectation. Knowledge driven process. Keep everyone in the organisation involved and exploit their ideas and skills to implement systematic changes. Dynamic process regarding change and capability building to ensure the sustained competitive advantage. Elimination of waste throughout the value chain with the goal of creating value. These princi ples need to be understood and applied correctly in order for the lean production system to be a success. To implement lean manufacturing the following elements need to be worked upon: [2] Manufacturing flow. Organisation. Process control. Metrics. Logistics. Lean manufacturing involves tools. One or more tools are chosen for a certain production, it depends on what organisations choose to do and what kind of production they have. Lean tools are for example One Piece Flow, Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing), Visual Management, The 5S Method, Kaizen, Kanban, Value Stream Mapping, Demand Management, Heijunka, Continuous Flow and Cell Design and Changeover Reduction. [2] The rest of the paper focuses on lean tools. Case studies from two companies, that use different lean tools, will be examined. The focus will be on what lean tools they implemented and the impact they had on the companies. KAIZEN NICHOLS FOODS KAIZEN Kaizen, or 5S, is one of the lean tools. 5S stands for five Japanese words, they are: [3] Seiri: Separates necessary things from unnecessary and abandons the latter. Seiton: Arranges and identifies things for ease of use. Seison: Maintain cleanliness. Seiketsu: Maintain the 3S mentioned above. Shitsuke: Make sure workers always conform to rules. These 5S words can be translated to a cleanup activity at the work place. Kaizens principles are to implement smaller improvement activities to the production. It diminishes slack hidden in plants. Various kinds of undesirable things can accumulate in plants such as unnecessary work-in-process (WIP) inventories, unnecessary measures and tools, defective inventories and unneeded carts, equipment, tables, etc. 5S can be implemented to get rid of or reduce these things which should lead to improvements in quality, lead time and cost. These three are the main goals of production management. [3] To achieve these goals, slack must be diminished. Slack involves: [3] Excessive setup time: By arranging necessary materials for a specific setup operation can reduce or even eliminate setup time. Defective materials/products: Workers are motivated to keep the plant clean to reduce defects. Defects become apparent in a clean plant. Disorder on work areas: Cleanliness at the workplace increases the operations efficiency. It also raises worker morale which leads to increase in attendance rate. Missed delivery times: To deliver products on time the input for making them must flow smoothly. Keeping the plant clean will give better overview of necessary units and consequently the orders to suppliers will become more efficient which leads to less time wasted in waiting for materials. Unsafe conditions: Keep the workplace safe to prevent injuries of workers or damage on inventories. It is very important to focus on these things to reduce slack among others such as good human relationships and morale. [3] One of Kaizens advantages is how little time it takes to train people. When a company decides to apply the Kaizen tool it usually develops a corporate plan which involves dividing all the employees into self managing teams and assigning every person a role. The team works as good as it can to reach its targets based on Kaizen activities. It can be said that Kaizen is vital to the achievements of group targets and the improvement and involvement of the personnel seen from an operations point of view. Kaizen is a spirit of improvement founded on a spirit of co-operation. [4] NICHOLS FOODS Nichols Foods manufactures products for vending, food service and retail markets. It was founded in 1981 and has three factories in Haydock. [5] Nichols Foods started applying the Kaizen tool on its production in 1998. After applying Kaizen the company has achieved its success because of great customer service. To be able to deliver great customer service, the employees need to be really great motivated people. That is where the companys value comes in. The company does not only think about the results, it also thinks about the values who give the results. [5] The company has outlined some values that make the business tick, they are: [5] People: All the employees have responsibility, accountability and commercial awareness. The organisation values its employees. Passion: The organisation has passionate commitment to quality and customer service excellence. It seeks to continually improve in all that it does. Energy: The organisation has a culture of team sp irit. Its employees are also motivated to be free thinking, creative and innovative. Partnership: The organisation aims to build long term relationships with customers, suppliers and the community it operates in. Integrity: The organisation acts with integrity. Before, managers were the ones improving things and driving changes. This has changed a lot with the implementation of Kaizen. Now, the employees are treated with respect. They should be the experts in their own jobs and therefore be able to drive positive changes in their jobs. Employees are challenged to participate enthusiastically in work by having to take responsibility and accountability for what they do. [5] In addition, Nichols Foods also recognises employees achievements. It has its own performance recognition scheme, known as GEMs (Going the extra mile). Each staff member can nominate a colleague for doing something beyond the normal scope of their job. Every month the overall prise winners are ann ounced. Each year the first price winner is announced at the companys conference and the price is always the same, a two week long holiday on Florida. By doing this, more interest and involvement is created among the employees as well as education and entertainment. At the conference every member of the factory participates in a video clip, outlining their own Kaizen achievements, which is shown to everybody. Another thing Nichols Foods also did was to introduce a sick pay scheme for all employees. Everybody who has 100% attendance record can win a price. Each year the winner is drawn from a pot at the companys conference. The price is always the same every year, a brand new car. To maintain the employees motivation the managing director of the company meets quarterly with the staff to discuss how things are going. This is a great opportunity to sort out problems if they occur. When first implementing Kaizen, every member of the operations team took a two day course to unde rstand and learn how to be involved in improving quality, cost and delivery in their jobs. Because of interest, a success was recognised right away. However, the focus on improving the right things was missing in many cases. At this time the commitment to success was born, which was all that mattered to start with. Some things were not done right at the beginning. There was no steering group in control over each activity, both focus and structure were needed regarding what to do and how to apply the Kaizen tool, visibility through activity boards was also needed and both audit and review were lacking. From this point and on it was worked on improvements with the focus set on quality, cost and delivery. Another two day course was held, focusing on 5S. After this course significant improvements started to take off. The factory was divided into areas of responsibility, colour coded and assigned to Kaizen teams. Photos of people were put on the equipment they were using and perfor mance measures were displayed next to the machines and they were updated daily. After these changes, daily production meeting was held at the shop floor in front of the performance graphs. By using this approach, problems can be addressed first hand and the operator can explain issues and work with the management team to put corrective actions in place. Clarity in understanding the problem becomes much greater than before when meetings were held in offices. Equipment levels improved rapidly resulting in old equipment being returned to better condition. Clean machines are better running and can therefore deliver better and the performance is also more reliable. Ownership, performance measurements and workplace organisation is not all that takes. If improvements are to be maintained it is necessary to have standard operating procedures. Operators need to come up with the best way of doing things and be able to do it again the same way each time, every time. Only when the team de cides there is a better way of doing things, the operation is changed. Once started on continual improvements it is important to maintain and build on the momentum. To celebrate a success every time it occurs is the key to this. JUST IN TIME, VALUE STREAM MAPPING POKA YOKE PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDED AUTO-PARTS MANUFACTURER IN INDIA JUST IN TIME Just in Time (JIT) refers to inventory management. Its focus lies on making inventory on hand reach zero. To be able to do that, products are only produced or components procured as needed with only the necessary materials, equipment, and employee time that will add value to the product. [6] The benefits involved in implementing Just in Time are considered to be: [6] Reducing inventory levels to only the parts or supplies that are needed each time which results in lowering the holding or carrying cost of inventory. Improvements in both productivity and quality by reducing labour and equipment time. Decrease the time required to make and deliver the product and hence increase customer satisfaction. VALUE STREAM MAPPING Value Stream Mapping is one of the lean tools. Value Stream Mapping is used to identify every action needed to design, order, and make a specific product. These actions are sorted into three categories: those who the customers sees as value adding, those who create no value but are required in either the product or the process and those that do not add value according to the customer. [7] This tool is used to find waste in the system, from the suppliers raw material delivery until delivering to end customer. It is also used to find out where to take actions in the supply chain to make the production more efficient. [8] POKA YOKE This is a way of process and/or product design that makes things go the right way the first time by preventing defects from happening. In other words it makes defect operations physically impossible in the first place. [9] PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDED AUTO-PARTS MANUFACTURER IN INDIA This company supplies both plastic injection moulded components and assemblies to leading auto manufacturers and consumer goods manufacturers of India, like TVS motors, Ashok Leyland, Whirlpool, IFB etc. It is medium sized and it is growing fast, with 200 employees and turnover over $8 million. [2] This company is customer and quality focused and it decided to try lean manufacturing in hope to stay ahead of the increasing competition. In 2006 it was decided within the company to initiate a lean manufacturing pilot program. The program included more than one lean tool, it was composed of Just in Time, Value Stream Mapping, Poka Yoke and Kaizen. The product chosen for the pilot was Air cleaner assembly of TVS-victor motor bike. The reason why this product was chosen was because it was emerging as the major bread winner for the company with great future potential. [2] The first step taken towards lean was to make employees aware of the program and educate them. [2] JIT is the pre-requisite of lean so separate projects were initiated for that. This helped the company organise itself for the implementation of lean manufacturing. [2] Value Stream Mapping was done on the value stream of victor air cleanser assembly and current state map was drawn. [2] The findings and plans made from JIT and the value stream mapping were: [2] TVS motors, the customer, should give monthly forecast and weekly requirements to production planning department. Then it is possible to plan and produce the amount needed of the product each time. Case of air cleaner moulded in-house according to weekly schedule. Cover of air cleaner moulded by subcontractor. Other parts bought from nearby suppliers. Moulding of the cases and the assemblies of the air cleaner is done at separate places. Production supervisor controls the production as per weekly requirement. Takt time was 57 seconds. Total value added time was 197 seconds. Lead time including lead time fo r raw material, cover and beginning of period should was 8.5 days. Finished goods inventory took 2 days. Work in process inventory between case and assembly took 0.5 days. Beginning of period inventory took 2 days. The lean team also identified wastes and problems as follows: [2] Inventory between case molding and assembly took 0.5 days. Assembly between cover moulding and assembly took 2 days. Finished goods inventory took 1 day. Long distance between assembly and moulding caused material movement to be approximately 75 meters. 15 seconds spent in material handling. Multiple visits to store for parts Out of 97 seconds of the assembly cycle time, 9 seconds were spent in packaging which may not add any valueto the air cleaner. Batch production for moulded case and cover parts lead to significant amount of scrap due quality problem coming into picture at the assembly process only. Current fixture used in assembly process of air cleaner is not useful for screwing tube outlet subassembly with the main body leading to difficult and tiring operation for workers. Spring clamp entangling leading to wastage of 3-4 seconds. The focus was put on all these factors to check if they could be improved by applying lean tools. By implementing lean manufacturing system, a single-piece pull based flow system was implemented. The reason was to remove the waste of work in process inventory. A single-piece flow was achieved within the required takt time of 57 seconds but before lean the whole assembly was done on 97 seconds. [2] Figure II: Victor Air Cleaner, lean cell [2] Figure I: Manufacturing system before lean [2] The principle of single minute exchange of die (SMED) was used to achieve faster change of dies for other air cleaner, which decreased the set up time from 74 minutes to 15 minutes. Before lean, the moulding machines availability was 86%. To make it 100%, total productive maintenance was initiated. [2] Poka Yoke was applied in one of the assembly operation because the employees had the tenancy to forget the assembly of a piece of small foam. [2] Kaizen was already successfully running in the factory, to continuously improve the processes. [2] The following steps were taken to eliminate the remaining waste in the system: [2] It was suggested to TVS people to receive air cleaners in covered bins, without individual cover. This suggestion was standardized, after successful pilot run, resulting in time saving of 9 seconds as well as in poly bag savings. A spring clamp dispenser was designed to solve the problem regarding the spring etangling. A new fixture was desi gned which made the assembly of tube outlet possible. Two trolleys were design to hold a shifts parts required. One was kept in store and the other one was in use in the cell. This eliminated multiple visits to store for parts. The company delivered air cleanser once a day to TVS motors. The deliveries were increased to two a day which resulted in space saving of 10 m2 as well as reduction in finished goods inventory. [2] RESULTS NICHOLS FOODS Changes which have occurred: Quality complaints are down 50% year on year for the third consecutive year. Graph I: Manufacturing Quality Complaints [5] Change over time has been reduced by 50%. Graph II: Manufacturing Labour Cost [5] Manufacturing efficiencies are up. Pence per case are 28% lower today than in 1995. Service levels are at record highs. Graph III: Service Levels [5] Graph V: Customer Satisfaction [5] Graph IV: Customer Satisfaction [5] Profit has doubled in the last 3 years. Graph VI: Profit Performance [5] The company has won: The Duke of Westminster Business Excellence Awards in 1998. The Management Today Business to Business service Excellence award in 1998. The Management Today Best Household in 1999. General Best Factory Award in 1999. Best supplier award for a major customers, which have been very important to the company because award from customers mean business. PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDED AUTO-PARTS MANUFACTURER IN INDIA Implementing lean manufacturing to the company resulted in: 25% increase in production because of elimination of various waste activities. Before, the production was 200 assemblies/operator/shift but by implementing lean tools this number increased to 250. Finished goods inventory was managed to be reduced by half. Bought out parts inventory was reduced by half. Work-in-process inventory became negligible. Approximately 20m2 of space was able to be saved due to inventory reduction and cell formation. The production became defect free because of implementation of Poka-Yoke and single piece flow. CONCLUSION AND LEARNING Case studies from two companies who apply lean tools were surveyed. It is not enough to make some conclusions regarding weather lean tools are more preferable than other methods or tools. Conclusions about these two companies can only be made. NICHOLS FOODS Applying Kaizen to Nichols foods has made some obvious changes to the better for the company. Employees are made more aware of what they are doing. They are also made feel like they are important and encouraged to do their best. Everybody wants to do the best they can to have a chance to win the prise handed out at the companys conference. This has created more ambition among the employees and it is good as long as it is kept within some limitation. It has to be made sure that cooperation is dominant. It cannot turn to core competition between teams or individuals which might lead to them ruining things for each other. As long as everybody work together to reach mutual goal this should work fine. Having performance measures updated daily at the machines is also very clever. It gives the employees a chance to see for themselves how things are going and if they need to improve anything. Having meetings daily at the shop floor to discuss these performance measures is also very good . It gives each and every employee a chance to improve what he is doing right away. Simple thing like cleaning the machines resulted in them being more reliable and delivering better. That has definitely been worth it and made good things for the company. If the graphs shown in the results are examined than it can be seen that the company has started thinking about improvements before it implemented Kaizen. The starting year of all the graphs is 1995, ever since that year the company has been improving. The manufacturing quality complaints seem to reduce in the same ratio before and after implementing Kaizen, as seen on graph I above. The company has obviously been making some changes to reduce these complaints before Kaizen. There are some improvements in this area but it is hard to say whether it can be related to the implementation of Kaizen or not since it was already reducing before. It can be seen from graph II that labour cost decreased a lot between the years 199 5 and 1996, from 1996 to 1998 there was no great difference. It can be assumed that the company had started some arrangement about reducing manufacturing labour cost in 1995. After implementing Kaizen in 1998 it decreased significantly again so it can be assumed that Kaizen had something to do with it. The company has obviously been working on improving service level since 1995, as seen on graph III. There is no significant difference in the service level between the years 1998 and 1999 so it cannot be assumed that Kaizen has had some impact on that factor. But it should also be noted that the service level is very high, almost 98%, which is very good. Maybe there would have been more difference after implementing Kaizen if it had been a lot less. As seen on graphs IV and V, all customer satisfaction factors are better at Nichols Foods compared to its competitors. Numbers from 1998 are only known so it is hard to say whether Kaizen had something to do with it or not since no i nformation is available regarding how things were before. It is likely that Kaizen has had something to do with it, but how much cannot be said. The companys profit has been increasing every year since 1995, as seen on graph VI. It increased the most between 1995 and 1996 so the company has probably been focusing on this factor since then. But another big increase was between 1998 and 1999, which can be attributed to Kaizen. After implementing Kaizen the company has won several awards. That should give some sign of better success both on the inside and the outside of the company. Using this tool has not done the company any harm, things have only been improving. In terms of tangible measures of quality, cost and delivery it has without a doubt been worth implementing Kaizen in this company. PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDED AUTO-PARTS MANUFACTURER IN INDIA In the Indian manufacturing company many tools were applied at the same time. That makes it a little bit hard to see what changes occurred by implementing each tool if there were any changes. By implementing these tools a lot of things were changed and improved at the same time, such as production planning, equipment setup in the plant, waste was reduced, management , assembly operation, delivery system, etc. Nothing went from the better to the worse when all these changes were implemented. Factors like production, finished goods inventories, bought out parts, free space were all increased, work-in-process inventory became negligible and the production became defect free. These changes are all good and the company is more successful than it was before implementing the lean tools. Without a doubt, lean tools have done the company good. But whether it was necessary to implement all these tools and if they all have some purpose in making things better is hard to say because they were all implemented at the same time. It might have been better to try each tool individually first and combine them afterwards when it was known whether it had purpose or not. The learning from writing this paper is mainly that according to the resources used, lean tools do nothing to harm the manufacturing in companies. Things always seem to improve. Therefore there is no reason not to recommend lean tools when trying to improve things in organisations.