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, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 49). / For this study, a novel wire inspection system was developed to detect surface defects and monitor diameter real-time during the final wire drawing operation. Throughout his work, it was proven that the new inspection system was able to catch common wire defects under manufacturing conditions (wire speed). Furthermore, defect density limits were defined based on data collected during this study. A production version of the wire inspection system was jointly developed with the equipment supplier and an order was placed for three complete systems to be installed in all final draw machines. Increased competition and poor economic conditions forced the manufacturer to place an unprecedented focus on decreasing manufacturing costs. The wire inspection system reported in this thesis was developed with the objective of increasing productivity at the most critical operation in the factory; final wire drawing. / by Carlos A. González. / 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, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45). / The principles of lean manufacturing have taken hold in a number of manufacturing firms as a means of achieving operational excellence through continuous improvement. Womack and Jones have suggested a generalized process for lean transformation in their 1996 book, Lean Thinking. A key element of this process is the creation of value stream maps for each product line. Value stream maps are the basis for planning and tracking a firm's lean transformation. Rother and Shook go further in their 1998 work Learning to See as they describe how these maps are created and then integrated into both the transformation process and the regular business planning cycle. The authors note that difficult questions remain, including: "In what order should we implement?" and "Where do we start?" Advice offered by Rother and Shook is helpful but insufficient given the complexity of many business environments and the scarcity of resources in competitive industries. This thesis builds upon Rother and Shook's work in proposing a framework for prioritizing lean initiatives. Specifically, Theory of Constraints (TOC) tools are employed as a basis for selecting programs and projects that provide the greatest system-wide productivity improvement for the least cost. In this manner, application of the proposed prioritization framework results in a more effective and efficient lean transformation. Research at the Eastman Kodak Company illustrates how this framework can be applied in a paper finishing production facility. Results highlight the system constraint in the paper slitting operation and the high leverage of machine changeover time in productivity improvement. We conclude that the Theory of Constraints can provide an effective focusing tool for the lean enterprise. / by Kevin D. Schwain. / 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, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 68). / As part of its responsibility to the National Institutes for Health, the sequencing operation at the Broad Institute strives for cost-effective production. This thesis attempts to reduce variability in the sequencing operation's E. coli colony picking process-thereby improving efficiency-through the application of traditional operations improvement methodology. To achieve control over variability, the author first seeks to characterize the variability and identify its drivers, then to reduce the variability by manipulating the drivers, and finally to optimize productivity. The operations techniques utilized include fishbone cause-and-effect diagram, process flow diagram and organizational analysis. Several industrial statistical techniques such as control charting, linear regression, analysis of variance and designed experimentation are also heavily employed. Many factors were studied as candidate drivers of variability. Three criteria are used to discriminate among them: statistical significance, magnitude of effect on variability and controllability. The results show that one of the largest but least controllable factors is plate density, i.e., the number of colonies on a plate. Instead of attempting to control individual confounding factors in plate preparation, this thesis presents an alternative strategy for overcoming the plate density variability: introduction of a novel spotting process that allows for plate variability but still yields higher efficiency. / by Julia L. Chang. / 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, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-105). / The design and implementation of a lean production system is a complex task requiring an intimate understanding of the fundamental lean principles. Much of the published lean literature is written at a high level of abstraction and contains very basic examples. When lean tools are applied blindly to complex, highly constrained systems, lean implementation becomes challenging and often ineffective. This thesis develops a set of management tools that emphasize the fundamental lean principles and the importance of an overarching value stream level management perspective in an effort to drive appropriate system design decisions and management behavior in such an environment. This thesis proposes the design of a high-mix, low-volume (HMLV) lean production system for implementation at Hamilton Sundstrand, a global supplier of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products. The system establishes a series of mixed model flow lines based upon the principles of cellular manufacturing. The flow lines operate in a true pull fashion with an optimally sized finished goods supermarket and a strategic, continuous review incoming material ordering policy. In addition, a capacity planning tool, a long term resource cross-training planning tool, and a series of leading metrics and management levers are developed in order to help steer management decisions. / by Kevin McKenney. / 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, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). / The research and project implementations described in this study took place during a seven-month period in 2004 at a distribution transformer factory in Germany. The purpose of this research is to show how quality management tools were used to break down functional business barriers and spread the responsibility for quality improvement throughout the local factory organization. A Cost of Quality (CoQ) analysis was used to diagnose the factory's main problem areas and prioritize the ensuing improvement efforts. Based on the analysis results, projects were developed that focused on reducing expenditures associated with failures found internal to the factory. These projects included: redesigning the failure resolution process to improve documentation practices and root cause analysis, implementing a First Pass Yield metric to help reduce the number of revisions generated by the Engineering and Order Management departments, and implementing a process-focused problem solving methodology to reduce Partial Discharge failures (the site's most costly internal quality failure). Each of the aforementioned projects required collaboration from multiple departments, and tools were implemented to facilitate process improvements and cross departmental communication. The ultimate goals of these initiatives are to decrease failure costs, reduce waste and increase the profitability and competitive position of the factory's transformer product. / by Christopher Kilburn-Peterson. / 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, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-110). / The basis for this thesis involved a six and a half month LFM internship at Efficient Storage, Shipping, and Selection. ES3, Efficient Storage, Shipping, and Selection, is a third party logistics firm that specializes in a vendor-neutral consolidation model for the food distribution industry. ES3 receives, stores, and ships multi-vendor products through a distribution center (DC) in York, Pennsylvania. The product is moved and stored by an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) which consists of a network of conveyors, vertical lifts, and Selection and Retrieval Machines (SRMs). The ASRS system is not performing to the designed put-away and shipping rates, thus limiting the DC's overall performance during peak operations. The warehouse operations and warehouse design teams had numerous design suggestions for improving the ASRS operations, but it was difficult to predict the enhancement or impact on performance. A simulation model for the inbound system was created to analyze the impact, prioritize, and develop new ideas for improving the system. / by Clifford A. Smith. / 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, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 92). / Many manufacturing companies have developed their own operating system, usually based upon the Toyota Production System, in an effort to improve productivity, quality, and profitability. Continuous improvement is a central theme to most operating systems. Typically large continuous improvement projects or kaizen bursts are used to improve processes. However, these often lead to variable and unsustainable results. A hypothesis is that a detailed standardization of processes will enable opportunities to be quickly revealed. Then a focus on incremental improvement through experimentation can lead to dramatic sustainable results. This thesis is based upon my experience at Mighty Motors in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding about standardization and continuous improvement. I obtained this understanding through direct observation by working with operators on the assembly line to standardize the process and make improvements. I developed the following conclusions: Focus on standardization to achieve sustainable continuous improvement. Without standardization, randomness and variability will hide the wastes and improvements will deteriorate. / (cont.) Value the incremental improvement approach to continuous improvement. Through simple, common-sense, and low cost experimentation a great deal of process improvements can be made. Creating an organization that values standardization and continuous improvement is the hard part. This involves more than using a set of problem solving tools. / by Mark E. Stover. / 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, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. / A primary bottleneck in DNA-sequencing operations is the capacity of the detection process. Although today's capillary electrophoresis DNA sequencers are faster, more sensitive, and more reliable than their precursors, high purchasing and running costs still make them a limiting factor in most laboratories like those of the Broad Institute. It is important to run those sequencers as efficiently as possible to reduce costs while producing robust assemblies. Polymer media for electrophoresis is the most important determinant for sequencing throughput. This thesis investigates the effect of polymer media on the performance of Applied Biosystems (ABI) 3730xl, the de-facto standard of DNA sequencers and develops analysis procedures for ABI3730xl system and its data. Due to its use in the human genome project (HGP), ABI has established a monopolistic position in the DNA-sequencing tool industry. As the de-facto standard of DNA sequencers ABI3730xl is highly automated, well-optimized, and black-boxed, despite the importance of higher throughput sequencing for diagnostic applications, third parties have found it difficult to improve sequencing methods. / (cont.) This thesis also conducts an analysis of the DNA-sequencing tool industry to discuss how ABI has established current monopolistic status, what kind of business model would be attractive for ABI in the post-HGP period, how new companies can successfully enter this industry, and how they can keep improving DNA-sequencing throughput along the line of "Moore's law". / by Kazunori Maruyama. / 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, 2005. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-110). / The Broad Institute is a research collaboration of MIT, Harvard University and affiliated hospitals, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Its scientific mission is to "(1) create tools for genomic medicine and make them broadly available to the scientific community and (2) apply these tools to propel the understanding and treatment of disease." The Broad Institute contains the world's largest high throughput genome sequencing center, which contributed approximately one third of the sequence for the Human Genome Project (HGP) completed in 2003. The Molecular Biology Production Group (MBPG) is the most upstream part of the Broad Institute's genome sequencing operation. This group is responsible for incoming DNA quality control, construction of DNA Libraries, and production of agar plates containing E.coli cell colonies (with many of copies of DNA). In this way, MPBG scales up raw DNA to a quality and quantity necessary for the subsequent high-volume, automated genome sequencing process. While most of the genome sequencing process at the Broad Institute had already been highly industrialized, MBPG had not yet undergone such a transformation and was still operated more like a laboratory than a manufacturing group. / (cont.) This low level of operations capability resulted in a highly variable output from MBPG processes in terms of quantity, physical quality, and data quality. Additionally, the MBPG processes were not well understood or measured, yet had a very significant effect on downstream processes in the genome sequencing center. Thus, the goal of this thesis was to create a framework for improving the operations capability of a molecular biology laboratory in a high throughput genome sequencing center. This framework defined an operations strategy of maximizing quality in MBPG, characterized the group's sources of quality problems, implemented lean manufacturing and production forecasting in MBPG, and defined future opportunities for MBPG to implement Six Sigma and RFID. This thesis work resulted in significant quality improvements in MBPG as well as a much more industrial approach to the management of the laboratory's operations. More broadly, this thesis work can be applied to the operations capability improvement of any high-throughput laboratory in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. / by Matthew R. Vokoun. / 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, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 60). / The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) is the world's largest manufacturer, seller, and distributor of carbonated and non-carbonated Pepsi-Cola beverages. The supply chain network in the United States consists of 52 plants, over 360 warehouses, and an ever growing portfolio of SKU's. Currently, there is no robust method for determining the sourcing strategy - in which plant(s) to produce each product. The objective of this thesis is to develop an approach that allows PBG to determine where products should be produced to reduce overall supply chain costs while meeting all relevant business constraints. An approach to sourcing utilizing an optimization algorithm is presented, along with a suggested implementation plan. This approach has demonstrated the potential to generate significant cost savings throughout the supply chain. The research for this thesis was conducted during an internship with the Pepsi Bottling Group, in affiliation with the Leaders for Manufacturing program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. / by Sandeep Khattar. / S.M. / M.B.A.