A manufacturing system ‘analysis for re-engineering’ framework for small- and medium-sized enterprises

This paper proposes applying a framework to re-engineer the manufacturing system of a small and medium sized enterprise (SME) producing security doors. A number of well-known analysis tools (IDEF0, activity-on-node, clustering, time analysis, cost analysis, quality function deployment, etc.) were combined in order to highlight and document flaws in specific aspects of the as-is system (e.g. equipment, the human factor, quality control etc.). Criteria employed to assess flaws refer to time, cost, quality and flexibility. The combination of tools used for system analysis and the context in which they are applied are innovative, although the tools themselves are not. After analysis, the system is re-engineered by replacing elements for each flaw, constructing partial empirical solutions, and conducted by failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). The most promising partial solutions and their implementation is suggested within possible manufacturing philosophies, e.g. cellular manufacturing, CIM, etc. The framework is simple, in that it does not consider complex (hierarchical) structures, and therefore it is only feasible for SMEs, whose hierarchical/functional structure is much simpler than that of larger enterprises, and especially for those in the batch manufacturing sector including final product assembly.