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, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-75). / by Alison L. Page. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-128). / by Andrew J. Muench. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 44). / Many manufacturing companies face significant challenges in maintaining their factory equipment in a cost efficient manner so as to provide reliable production capacity. CEI (Consumer Electronics, Inc., a pseudonym for an electronics marketing, sales, and assembly company that this work is based on) is no exception. The factory maintenance organization at CEI, similar to many other companies, had been relegated to the status of necessary evil, a cost center that was necessary but not always effective or efficient. Historically, the maintenance organization had been almost entirely reactive in its approach to maintenance. This study reviews many ideas for how CEI could, consistent with management objectives, become more proactive in its approach to maintenance. This work presents an investigation into the work flow processes inherent in CEI's factory maintenance organization and suggests improvements to the processes and the software infrastructure to support those processes that might be appropriate. Specifically the reactive (emergency) and preventative maintenance work processes are analyzed and suggestions to improve data integrity and to improve communication are presented - providing the maintenance technicians with better information with which to do their jobs. / (cont.) Improvements for factory spare parts management are also suggested describing how CEI could potentially improve its fill rate while holding significantly less inventory. The role of equipment analysis technology and materials analysis in predicting equipment reliability is also discussed. / by H. Ryan Chase. / 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 Materials Science and Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 79). / The extended value stream for the ABB Power Technologies Medium Voltage Business Area consists of numerous factories situated across various different countries. Most of these facilities were originally acquired by ABB to provide an established presence in local markets. In an effort to consolidate and align the Business Area's materials resources and reduce internal competition between similar factories, PTMV assigned specific products to specific factories on a regional basis. As a result, factories that use to have broad control of their entire manufacturing process from raw material to finished products are now either internal suppliers or internal customers of other ABB factories. The Business Area must now develop internal processes across these factories that focus on achieving timely delivery balanced with low inventory. In order to do so, it is essential for the Business Area to inspire individual factories with different cultures and languages to cooperate and work for a common goal. 'This thesis describes how Value Stream Mapping can be used to analyze current order processes in individual factories and across multiple factories in a single value chain. / (cont.) Value Stream Mapping reveals the areas where non-value added time is the greatest in the overall order delivery process. Using this information, recommendations are formulated to reduce materials 'work-in-progress (WIP), and subsequently, system lead-time. This internship looked at the inventory management control of key components between two factories in the internal value chain. The impact of inventory cost due to inventory location, transportation, and production decisions is investigated and documented. Additionally, this thesis studies the strategic, cultural, and political challenges that ABB faces as it attempts to implement operational change management in a new organizational structure. / by Brian W. Siefering. / 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, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-94). / by José Leoncio Valdés R. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--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, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80). / This thesis examines issues which must be resolved before implementing a Supplier- Managed Inventory (SMI) program. The research was conducted at a partner company of the Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) program. The goal of the research was to lay the groundwork for a pilot SMI plan to be implemented in 2000. In manufacturing companies, there is a current focus on supply chain issues, with inventory reduction being one of the main goals of any supply chain initiative. In today's competitive business environment, inventory reduction can not be gained at the expense of customer service - the customers can take their business elsewhere. One method to reduce inventory and improve service levels is through an SMI program. Under SMI, the manufacturer's suppliers will hold, manage, and deliver materials to the manufacturer as needed to support production. The manufacturer will support the suppliers by giving them more accurate forecasts and real-time demand. SMI is a partnership that requires close cooperation between both parties. Everyone wins - the manufacturer decreases inventory costs and increases service levels, the supplier reduces safety stock levels and smothers out production. There are a number of issues to address before implementing a SMI program, ranging from information technology to new metrics for suppliers. While these issues will be explored, the thesis analyzes in-depth two key areas which must be understood in order to successfully implement an SMI program: Demand Forecasting and Inventory Stocking Levels. / by Kevin M. Smith. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 103). / This thesis provides insight into methods for data analysis of testing procedures to optimize the overall testing times within the electronics manufacturing industry. By analyzing each test regime within the manufacturing sequence individually, with the goal of overall test time reduction, better test system optimization may occur. Specifically, within Burn In testing it was found that failure rates were heavily dependent upon the device on/off cycle. Once discovered new test cycles were proposed to reduce overall test times by 50%. Once implemented such new test cycles increased early failure capture as expected. In addition, industry benchmarking studies showed new forms of testing such as Highly Accelerated Stress Testing (HAST) are pushing the product testing earlier into the product life cycle where in-process tests such as Burn In may be reduced. In the case of HAST testing, the tests are being conducted in the design phase reducing more costly Burn In testing in the production phase. / by Erik Tighe Nelson. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61). / Intel Corporation, the world leader in manufacturing microprocessors, has beer successful in achieving high margins because of its ability to successfully deliver high volume and reliable microprocessors at high demand. By ensuring the reliability and quality of the same product at multiple sites, Intel coordinated knowledge sharing across multiple facilities through a virtual factory, an approach known as "Copy Exactly". "Copy Exactly" methodology is a dominant force and integral part of Intel's culture in achieving high quality and high volume manufacturing. However, as the demand for microprocessors dropped in recent years, Intel focused more on lowering cost for higher margin earnings. Although lowering cost has been a normal process within Intel's operating environment, cost reductions usually occurred upfront during the product development period or the latter part of the manufacturing product life cycle. Between those stages, quality and output improvements were the primary focus. Cost reductions projects in manufacturing were delayed until sustainability stage. Intel initiated a paradigm shift on managing cost in manufacturing by pushing cost reduction projects earlier in the manufacturing product life cycle and moving accountability to groups that impact cost directly. The challenge of implementing this strategy posed is the focus of this thesis. The LFM (Leaders for Manufacturing) internship at one of Intel's fabrication plant was developed to initiate and implement the commodity cost reduction program during production ramp. This thesis analyzes the challenges that Intel's manufacturing organization faces, while implementing a radical change in reducing commodity cost. By exploring the details of Intel's current organizational culture, technical strategy, and core competencies, the thesis describes how these factors affect the implementation and execution of the cost reduction program. By means of the concepts of reengineering as described by Michael Hammer, the cost reduction strategy will be analyzed for effectiveness. This program led the organization to focus on cost consciousness, while maintaining the high quality and reliability Intel is known for. / by Marie Carla Eustache. / M.B.A. / S.M.

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, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 138). / Outsourcing is becoming the norm in business today. This is a natural insight from the management philosophy of the 80's and early 90's of doing only what is "Core" to the business. A company, if their main focus is to keep their margins as high as possible, will focus on what gives their company a competitive advantage and differentiates them from the competition. To The Firm, all other tasks outside of these advantages are superfluous and unnecessary. It is only rational, in this management paradigm, to get rid of, or outsource, all of these activities that take scarce resources away from what the company considers core. The next logical question is: "How to conduct an analysis for outsourcing decision making." Current methodologies coalesce cost alternative analysis with a strategic "gut feel" from management to make decisions that will last multiple cycles into the future. Cost analysis is basic. However, strategic analysis is far reaching, impacts the company's future capabilities, and is difficult to evaluate. This thesis proposes a Decision Support System (DSS) for evaluating the strategies of outsourcing and determining the impacts on The Firm. A thorough review of industry and academic literature on outsourcing, analysis of historic outsourcing results, and discussion of current capability concerns has led to the development of six strategic factors: Customer Experience, Technical Clockspeed, Industry Climate, Supply Chain Excellence, Product Architecture, and Competitive Position. Included is an exhaustive discussion of these strategic factors, strategic matrices for evaluating the business climate, development of excel spreadsheets with questions for evaluation of these factors and matrices, development of a database for knowledge transfer, and implementation of the DSS in the organization. / by Richard Philip Nardo. / M.B.A. / S.M.

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, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 76). / This thesis applies lean enterprise principles to the product development process at Ford Motor Company. Based on an internship, the author conducted a detailed study of three Ford product development sub-processes: head lamp appearance design, road load testing, and prototype build process. The value-added activities and wastes are analyzed using a value-stream mapping approach. Lean solutions are proposed in each case and for the overall organization. The last part of the thesis suggests the future research direction. / by Lee Y. Koa. / M.B.A. / S.M.