CHAPTER!: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS (OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS)
4.2 OPERATIONS
4.2.2 Production
some of their machines and processes were now not capable of producing the fme tolerances and fInishes that are demanded by Mavhu.
Personal interviews with the technical heads of CZI, ZAP and SAZ confIrmed that a lot of local manufacturers' skills and equipment was nearly obsolete and as a result most of them were struggling to meet local standards, never mind international levels. International customers, customers who were more exposed to other international goods of international quality standards, also echoed this position.
Table 4.4
Machine Efficiencies June 2003
Machine Product Std. Output Act. Output Varaiance Var.% Reason for Variance FFS I 2kg Rice 80 bph 90 bph +10 bph +12.5 Material Good*
FFS 2 1kg Rice 100 bph 95 bph -5 bph -2.5 Jaw Sealing Heaters*
MF I 100g Beans 200bph 202 bph +2 +1 Pre-sorting
MF2 200gMopani 120 bph 132 bph +12 +10 Pre-sorting
SW 1 Various 20bph 19 bph -1 bph -5 Material Burning
SW2 Various 20bph 19 bph -1 bph -5 Material Burning
Table 4.5
Production Volumes January to June 2003
Month Planned Volume Actual Volume Variance Variance% Reasons for Variance January 500 tons 490 tons 10 tons -2 Material and low season February 750 tons 735 tons 15 tons -2 Mainly material problem March 600 tons 580 tons 20 tons -3 Mainly material problem April 560 tons 540 tons 20 tons -3 Mainly material problem May 600 tons 580 tons 20 tons -3 Mainly material problem
June 500 tons 495 tons 5 tons -1 Mainly machine problem
Inthe above tables, the major reasons for failing to achieve standard output levels are all material related. (The palletisation of finished product was not included in the above analysis as it has no bearing on production efficiencies and was not a bottleneck at all.)
InMay, machines FFS 1 and FFS 2 fail to achieve target or standard output because of the BOPP material slipping as it drawn from the feeder rollers on to the forming mandrels. The
mentioned two machines were from a local supplier.InJune, the same machines ran the same products using imported material and the efficiencies improved significantly. Problems that relate directly to material were hardly experienced. Meanwhile, variations in efficiencies of locally supplied materials that ran on other machines were insignificant.
The researcher took cognisance of the fact that recorded statistics do not rule out that other variables such machine settings could have a bearing on results.Itwas confirmed and accepted that such variables were catered for in the costing system, which budgeted for allowable waste, both material and time wise. To rigorously pursue the intricate causes of overall waste would have caused the study to deviate from the core problem; that of sub- standard packaging material and not sub-standard practices per se. Though not up to first world or even second world standards, the researcher was convinced that the current operational systems standards were less contributory to the problem as compared to the quality problem of the material.
Machine SW 1 fails to achieve target due to SW film burning excessively and crinking as it goes through the SW tunnel. The cause for the crinking is the SW film not being made to the right micron gauge by the supplier.
Mavhu works on a cost plus pricing system, which, when one considers the above production scenario, the material recovery rate is overstated by between 10% and 25%, thus meaning either the customers pay for the inefficiencies or Mavhu's margins are reduced. Either way, Mavhu stands to lose revenue because their goods are overpriced or margins are
compromised.
*
Denotes machine used imported materials.Table 4.6
Material Efficiencies May 2003
Machine Material Product Std Ouput Act Ouput Variance Var.% Variance Reasons PLT 1 Cling Film Various 50 pIt/kg 50 pIt/kg 0 0 None
FFS 1 BOPP Reel 2 kg Rice 500 bg/kg 400 bglkg -100 bg/kg -20 Mat. Slipping FFS 2 BOPPRee1 1 kg Rice 800 bglkg 680 bglkg -120 bglkg -15 Mat. Slipping MF 1 PE Bag 100g Beans 101 ea/kg 101 ealkg 0 0 Pre-sorting MF2 PE Bag 200g Mopani 201ea/2kg 201 ea/2kg 0 0 Pre-sorting SW 1 SW Film Various 50 bl/kg 45 bl/kg -5 bl/kg -10 Gauge variance SW2 SW Film Various 50 bl/kg 45 bl/kg 5 bl/kg -10 Gauge variance
Table 4.7
Material Efficiencies June 2003
Machine Material Product Std Ouput Act Ouput Variance Var.% Variance Reasons PLT 1 Cling Film Various 50 pltlkg 50 pltlkg 0 0 None
FFS 1 BOPP Reel 2 kg Rice 500 bg/kg 490 bg/kg -10 bglkg -.5 Fast Running*
FFS2 BOPP Reel 1 kg Rice 800 bg/kg 720 bglkg -80 bg/kg -1 Miscellenious*
MF1 PE Bag 100g Beans 101 ealkg 101 ealkg 0 0 Pre-sorting MF2 PE Bag 200g Mopani 201 ea/2kg 201 ea/2kg 0 0 Pre-sorting SW1 SW Film Various 50 bl/kg 45 bllkg -5 bllkg -10 Gauge variance SW2 SW Film Various 50 bl/kg 45 bl/kg -5 bl/kg -10 Gauge variance
*Denotes imported materials were used.
The above tables clearly show that imported materials perform better than locally supplied materi
The seemingly good efficiencies that are consistent with MP I and MP 2 are not truly
Table 4.8
Waste Analysis May 2003
Machine Material Product Issued Waste Unavoidable Avoidable PLT 1 Cling Film Various 120 kg 1 kg 1 kg Okg FFS 1 BOPP Reel Various 600 kg 80 kg 12 kg 68 kg FFS 2 BOPP Reel Various 400 kg 40 kg 8 kg 32 kg
MF 1 PE Bag Various 9000 ea 60 ea Nil 60 ea
MF2 PE Bag Various 12000 ea 100 ea Nil 100 ea
SW 1 SW Film Various 400 kg 20 kg 4kg 18 kg
SW2 SW Film Various 360 kg 20 kg 3.6 kg 16.4kg
Table 4.9
Waste Analysis June 2003
Machine Material Product Issued Waste Unavoidable Avoidable PLT 1 Cling Film Various 120 kg 1 kg 1 kg Okg FFS 1 BOPP Reel Various 600 kg 30kg 12 kg 18 kg*
FFS2 BOPP Reel Various 400 kg 20 kg 8 kg 12 kg*
MF 1 PE Bag Various 9000 ea 60 ea Nil 60 ea
MF2 PE Bag Various 12 000 ea 100 ea Nil 100 ea
SW 1 SW Film Various 400 kg 20 kg 4kg 18 kg
SW2 SW Film Various 360 kg 20 kg 3.6 kg 16.4kg
*Denotes imported material.
PLT 1 always runs imported material and hardly has any waste to talk of.InMay and June machines FFS 1 and FFS 2 ran local and imported materials in that order. Evident in the above tables is that BOPP waste figures improved by more than 50% in June, a month when imported materials were used.
At this point, all things being equal, it can be confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that imported materials performed better.