Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 63). / This thesis describes a project that applies the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) in support of the Manufacturing Excellence (MX) program at Cisco Systems, Inc to reduce the cycle time of new product development initiatives (NPI). Because they are inherently iterative with interdependent tasks, NPIs are difficult to manage. Two case studies applying the DSM were performed and used to study the inputs and outputs of the process as well as the dependencies between the process steps. Both case studies indicated that defining product requirements and needs upfront helped to eliminate rework later on in the process. The DSMs also showed that cycle time and standard deviation of cycle time were especially sensitive to interactions between changes in the Bill of Materials (BOM) and other tasks. In fact there was a "tipping point" where reducing the dependency between tasks could yield significant reductions in cycle time and standard deviation of cycle time. More significantly, the case studies highlighted the large number of stakeholders involved in the process and revealed the degree to which engineering and manufacturing must work together to reduce NPI cycle times. / (cont.) In fact, the name "Manufacturing Excellence Initiative in NPI" is a misnomer. New Product Introduction is not just the job of manufacturing but is highly integrated between such groups as marketing, design, and engineering. If the Mx Initiative in NPI is to fully meet its potential, all of these groups must fully realize this. In addition, there is a need for process infrastructure, data infrastructure, and close examination of incentives. This thesis thus shows that in order for Cisco's process improvement initiatives to succeed, buy-in from all relevant stakeholders must be won. / by Julie W. Go. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82). / For the past two decades, virtually all manufacturing companies in the United States have adopted or are in the process of adopting lean manufacturing. Globalization has resulted in the increased availability of reliable, low cost sources putting greater pressures on traditional US manufacturing companies to reduce costs. The need to successfully transform to lean has only grown in importance in this new operating environment, resulting in renewed focus on such initiatives in the United States. This thesis discusses various approaches to lean manufacturing with reference to specific examples from both academia and industry. In particular, lean transformation efforts in Mitchell Engine Company's* Final Assembly Plant will be provided as a case study. Focus on the JP-3525 fan case assembly cell provides specific examples on how shop floor improvements, assembly cell redesign, and flow can improve process cycle time and decrease variability. The direct result of this work has been a 15% decrease in cycle time and a 100% decrease in variability in the JP-3525 fan case assembly cell. Finally, the role front-line supervisors play in change initiatives will be introduced, discussing the position from both management and labor perspectives. Based on past research, recommendations will be made on how to improve cell leader effectiveness, recognizing these changes require systemic change within the organization. / by Douglas H. Frauenberger. / M.B.A. / S.M.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2002. / "June 2002." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61). / ABB Automation is starting to experiment with Micro-electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) as an enabling technology for their products. If ABB's implementation of MEMS is found successful, it will be able to create breakthrough products and services that will revolutionize the market in ABB's industrial sensors, instrumentation and analytical areas. The thesis begins with a description of ABB as a company and then provides a brief overview on MEMS and the challenges ABB faces as it tries to commercialize MEMS enabled products. A literature review is also included to explain how companies can better profit from technological innovations such as MEMS. An analysis of ABB's decision to outsource MEMS is described with multiple frameworks including a vertical integration versus outsourcing model as well as a traditional make or buy decision assessment from a financial perspective. The decision to outsource is valid given the stage of the technological life cycle and the company's resolution to use MEMS in selected products. Since the strategic fit argument is still questionable through much of ABB, outsourcing is a legitimate choice for MEMS. Outsourcing allows a greater amount of flexibility and the least amount of capital investment. Although ABB has decided to outsource its MEMS capabilities, it has to realize that there is a possibility of vertical market failure with MEMS. There are very few suppliers in the market today with potentially fewer in the future as mergers and acquisitions begin to take place once a dominant design is established. This vertical market failure encourages vertical integration and not outsourcing. / Christine Y. Wong. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / In 2006, Pratt and Whitney launched the Global Material Solutions business model aiming to supply spare parts to non-OEM engines with minimum 95% on-time delivery and fill-rate. Lacking essential technical knowledge of the target engines, predictability and associated confidence of the parts demands are very limited. This thesis focuses on exploring alternative and innovative approaches to providing more accurate demand forecasts based on limited information. Approaches including application of fundamental sampling theorems, random walk simulations based on Markov Chain simplification, and sensitivity analysis on incremental scrap rates were introduced. A software tool, based on the sensitivity analysis was introduced for all gas path parts. The methodology could potentially be applicable to industries other than Aerospace. / by Kien K. Ho. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90). / The strategic alignment of a company impacts the culture of the organization, which in turn reinforces the strategic alignment. The corporate behavior resulting from the combination of alignment and culture determines the organization's ability to handle disruption and change. This thesis explores the intersection of these two elements in the context of experience gained at Spirit AeroSystems through an internship. The importance of alignment and culture of Spirit comes to light in observing the response of different parts of the organization to a supply shock caused by an industry wide titanium and aluminum shortage. A method to analytically assess delinquent part delivery and determine the optimal balance of increased upstream labor capacity versus downstream cost avoidance is presented. This information requires a supportive organizational structure to be utilized fully, and the form of this structure depends heavily on the existing culture to determine its viability. Several organizational structures are proposed to internalize the external costs of delinquency, and the cultural viability of these options is explored. The key attributes of this viable, effective structure are control by the Fuselage customer and cultural infusion and strategic coordination with Supply Chain Management. / by Benjamin C. Harper. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-114). / Historically the pharmaceutical industry has been highly profitable. However, the increasing regulatory requirements, bargaining power of buyers, and drug failures together with the threat of biosimilars and decreasing R&D productivity are creating challenges for research driven pharmaceutical companies. With future revenue growth uncertain, pharmaceutical companies must focus on cost reduction to sustain the profit margins needed to support research and development of new medicines. The lean methodology first developed by Toyota is recommended as a way to achieve operational success. A deep analysis of the current state of the pharmaceutical industry and the operational inefficiencies inherent in regulated drug production is provided. The renewed importance of operations within the pharmaceutical business model is explored through a case study of the biotechnology segment's leader, Amgen. Specifically, the design and initial rollout of the Amgen Process Excellence (APEX) initiative is studied. The APEX methodology is a six step process based on lean and six-sigma principles to guide operational improvement activities at Amgen. During the author's internship at the Rhode Island site the rollout of the APEX movement included a current state analysis of the site's financial and operational performance. As a result of this analysis, a prioritized list of improvement ideas was generated and incorporated into a future state vision for the site. Implementation of these improvement ideas is estimated to result in a reduction in cycle time by 55%, lower inventory levels, and the elimination of millions of dollars in waste. The following major conclusions were developed as a result of this work. / (cont.) First, substantial improvement opportunities exist within current pharmaceutical manufacturing. Second, pharmaceutical companies must build operational efficiencies into manufacturing process design. Lastly, operational excellence cannot simply be attained through the implementation of an improvement toolkit. / by Shonna Coffey. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (M.B.A.) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-94). / Businesses take deliberate action to change their internal context when managers believe that better performance lies beyond the capabilities of assets in their present configuration. A typical course of action is reorganization. A key consideration for organizational design is how the relationship between an organization's structure, the structure of its products, and the structure of its processes influence the value delivered to customers. In some sense, products, processes, and the organization should "fit" each other. This thesis presents a framework for thinking about product architecture, enterprise architecture, and the value stream of processes that binds them together. Critical to any enterprise architecture are process owners that control and improve organizational processes and product owners that manage the end-to-end development of products. When a product is significantly complex, independent tiers of product ownership might be established to ensure that different levels of products - systems, subsystems, or components - are managed with appropriate developmental objectives in mind. For example, some components must be distinct to a single product; other components can be common among several products. The proposed framework shows how product and enterprise architectures can be integrated to support the development of complex systems. The thesis also presents a case study to which the proposed framework is applied. The study focuses on a business that has recently restructured its organization to achieve better alignment with the complex products it develops. Using the proposed framework, the new organizational structure is evaluated to determine if the new enterprise architecture positions the business to increase customer value and accomplish its long-term goals. / by Jeffrey M. Pasqual. / M.B.A. / S.M.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-92). / The basis to develop this thesis was performed after executing an internship in ABB Inc. The main objective of the study was to design the organization to operate the procurement function at a new manufacturing campus.The enterprise architecting roadmap was applied to decompose the complex problem of designing an organization into building blocks that could be easily developed. For this purpose, two enterprise architecture tools were applied: stakeholder analysis and enterprise relevant views. Once the basic building blocks of the enterprise were defined, different analytical tools were applied to design the details of each one. The analytical tools applied to this project were process mapping, total cost modeling, organization design and information technology selection.The outcome of the study was the detailed definition of the following building blocks of an enterprise: processes, process costs, organization and information technology. The conclusions of the thesis generalize the applied concepts to companies that are in the situation of starting new operations. / by Leon Felipe Villegas Kavanagh. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-72). / The manufacturing of turbine blades is often outsourced to investment casting foundries by aerospace companies that design and build jet engines. Aerospace companies have found that casting defects are an important cost driver in the price that they pay the foundries for the turbine blades. Defect types include porosity, stress, grain, fill, and mold-related defects. In order to address the defect problem, aerospace companies have adopted a design for manufacture approach to drive the cost of the turbine blades down. The principal research objective of this thesis was to discover how the critical part features on the turbine blade drive the number of manufacturing defects seen in the casting process. This problem was addressed by first selecting and evaluating a casting simulation software package. Secondly, a robust design of experiments was performed by using the simulation software. In the experiment, the dimensions of the critical part features were varied in order to quantify how the critical part features relate to manufacturing defects. / by David Margetts. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-109). / Over the last decade, the U.S. aircraft industry has experienced increasing levels of international integration as companies seek to access global talent and resources, cut production costs, spread financial risk, and secure access to airplane markets throughout the world. In an increasingly complex environment, decision makers seek an effective framework to evaluate the true benefits, costs and risks of sourcing alternatives-both relating to the short-term effects of selecting particular suppliers or groups of suppliers, as well as the long-term effects of redrawing their firm boundary and developing a more vertically disintegrated supply chain. This thesis is an examination of strategic sourcing decision practices at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, based on a six-month internship study with the Future Airplane Production group in Seattle, Washington. In this thesis we will discuss the application of strategic analysis, lean operational analysis, managerial accounting, and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to improve existing sourcing analysis practices. An integrated decision support model is introduced to represent key sourcing decision factors, their relative importance, and the expected benefits, costs and risks to stakeholders related to each factor (comparing two sourcing alternatives). Using a weighted average, the model expressly indicates the relative value of each alternative. The model is applied to two case studies involving local insourcing and offshore outsourcing, respectively. This study demonstrates the need for incorporating explicit valuation of 'softer' strategic, operational and risk components along with the 'hard' financial analysis when making sourcing decisions. / by Victor A. Mroczkowski. / S.M. / M.B.A.