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, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84). / Advances in medicine rely on accurate data that is rapidly provided. It is therefore critical for the Genome Sequencing platform of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to continually strive to reduce cost, improve throughput, and increase the quality of its data output. In the past, new technology in the form of both chemistry improvements and robotics has allowed the Institute to achieve these goals in a step-wise manner. However, as the rate of technology progression in sequencing has slowed, the Institute has been forced to look to continuous, incremental improvement in order to achieve its goals. The Core Sequencing/Detection group handles the high-throughput sequencing duties at the Broad Institute. Through the use of robotics and cutting edge biology, they are able to process and sequence upwards of 50 billion bases of DNA per year. The work that this thesis was based on took place primarily in this automated production area. This thesis utilizes a number of lean concepts, including the 7 Wastes and pull production control. / (cont.) Kanban systems, workflow changes, and a 5S implementation were used to bring these concepts to life at the Broad Institute. In order to correctly size the kanban system, process buildup diagrams and discrete event simulation were used. Each of these tools helped to drive the process towards the Institute's goals of reducing cost and improving quality and throughput. / by Kerry P. Person. / 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, 2006. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 42). / Lean implementations have had a mixed record of success in organizations. One possible explanation for this observation is that lean is built upon a value system that is not always shared by the organizations trying to implement the philosophy. For example, one element of lean is that employees at all levels of the organization are expected to share ideas for improving processes. This idea might seem foreign in companies where responsibility for process improvement comes only from management or specialized departments. Lean would not be expected to flourish in an environment where employee innovation and initiative is not valued. As this example demonstrates, lean loses its effectiveness when its values are incompatible with those prevailing in an organization. Determining this compatibility has not been straightforward to date. Whereas lean literature is filled with methods and tools for discovering and removing waste, there is little guidance on how to determine if lean can be successfully applied to an organization's unique socio-technical system. Stakeholder Value Mapping (SVM), a technique adapted from the field of Enterprise Management, is presented to address this need. / (cont.) Whereas SVM has already been developed for use at the enterprise level, this thesis aims to extend the applicability of SVM to the micro level. A methodology for mapping stakeholder values around a specific lean project at Raytheon's Integrated Air Defense Center is developed. The project, a pull system for bolted cabinets, is described in detail in this thesis as a case study. We find that SVM alone does not yield sufficient data to guide lean implementations. It is, however, an effective method for understanding the stakeholder interests that can serve as barriers to lean. Leaders trying to bring lean into their organizations will find SVM a promising tool for determining where to initially focus their attention. If lean and stakeholder values are aligned, the groundwork will be set for a traditional lean implementation that focuses on well-known tools for discovering and removing waste. On the other hand, if lean and stakeholder values differ significantly, consideration should first be given to aligning organizational interests with the lean strategy. / by Benjamin H. Lathrop. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (S.M.) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61). / Value-added processes that bear associated wait times occur frequently during production manufacturing and increase cycle time. Since the wait time is integral to the value created by the process, it can be difficult to reduce the cycle time impact. The use of adhesives and the impact of their associated cure times is an example of such a time-dependent process and one that appears frequently on products made at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS). Using a typical Raytheon pod system (RPS) as a case study, this thesis examines various ways to mitigate the impact of these value-added associated wait times (VAAWT) on cycle time. Adhesives with long cure and/or set times are used extensively throughout the design of this RPS in both structural and non-structural applications. Now that the RPS is well into full-rate production, the cycle time impact of these adhesives' VAAWT has become a burden, accounting for over 60% of the cycle time on the three assemblies studied on during the case study. Both short-term and long-term solutions were developed as a result of this project, which enabled a 23% reduction in cycle time exclusive of changes in design. / (cont.) Based upon the lessons learned during this case study, a set of guidelines is presented for application to other time-dependent processes and Raytheon products. This thesis also discusses some of the barriers encountered during the implementation of this project and suggestions for overcoming them. These guidelines and lessons have already been applied successfully to reducing the impact of adhesive cure times on a second SAS product line, resulting in a cycle time reduction of 80%. / by Sara A. Dudnik. / 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, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-98). / Advances in Information Technology and Information Systems delivery over the past decades have restructured industries and created enormous value. Interestingly however, research shows companies traditionally have a very difficult time capturing the value from their investment. Any surplus created by these improvements is often competed away and given back to customers. Wall Street's irrational exuberance of the late 1990's has given way to a far more conservative and critical view concerning IT investment. Decision makers are focused on demonstrating that Information Technology expenditures result in positive net returns to the company. IT managers are faced with a fundamental question: How does the organization use Information Technology to create sustainable competitive advantage and capture value in its industry? This thesis proposes a framework, the Core Competency Model, to help companies think about Information Services strategy and Information Technology deployment. Instead of seeking to create competitive advantage through IT investment alone, it introduces the concept of core competencies. IT resources can be quickly duplicated by competitors, as has been shown in the research. / (cont.) Core competencies, the complex blending of unique resources and capabilities, are much more difficult to duplicate and form the basis for true sustainable competitive advantage. At its heart, the Core Competency Model suggests that the role of the IS group is to support the formation and enhancement of the organization's core competencies. It further identifies several capabilities and resources that the IS group must possess to fully support the core competencies of the enterprise. This model, if truly utilized, would change the nature of a company's internal dialog on IT spending. Debate over which business units should get which IT resources would be replaced with discussion of the strategic direction and core competencies of the company. Decisions concerning IS resource allocation and IT spending would follow very naturally from this discussion. The Core Competency Model provides a framework for this dialog, beginning with the strategic identification of core competencies, and ending with the tactical analysis of the Information Systems group's capabilities and resources. The final chapter presents some recommendations aimed at helping BMC West successfully develop a set of core competencies, the first step toward creating sustainable competitive advantage in their industry. / by Kurt Campbell. / 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, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63). / Raytheon Company is currently ramping up production radars for a fighter aircraft. This product is doubling production in the next year to meet customer demand; however, the program has not been able to meet the current demand schedule for the radar. In addition, the cost of producing this radar is over the budgeted amount. Management is pushing cost and cycle time reductions on every piece of the radar, a task the team is diligently working to accomplish. The main focus of this project is one sub-assembly of the AESA radar system, the "coldwall", a heat sink that also provides the base structure by which all of the radar sensing equipment is connect to. The coldwall also acts as a heat sink, reducing the internal temperature of the radar assembly, thereby improving the fidelity of the radio frequency signal and longevity of the system itself. Currently, the cycle time to manufacture the coldwall is on average twice the planned cycle time and the cost is three times the budgeted amount. This thesis provides a case in which a process improvement investigation takes place under tight budgetary and time constraints in ramp-up mode. / (cont.) The goal of this thesis is to develop a case for accurate and complete data collection to help future process improvement decisions. The act of focusing this investigation was cumbersome due to the lack of data available on the process. In addition, the case study shows a situation where proactive issue resolution and active waste elimination could alleviate the stress incurred by cost over runs and delayed product shipments. / by Ryan W. Chew. / S.M. / M.B.A.

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. 98). / Background: Since the 1980s, the pace and dollar value of acquisitions in the US have grown at an astounding rate (Hitt, Sirower). The benefits from many of these acquisitions are elusive, with 60% of recent acquisitions showing negative return for the acquiring company (Hitt et. all, 5). Expected synergies are not realized despite the valiant efforts of the integration team who struggle with implementing the plans developed prior to deal close. Correlations can be drawn to the field of systems engineering, where specific processes and tools are employed to understand the interactions of various functional areas and avoid such implementation difficulties. Enterprise Architecting (EA) is one such framework that has shown promise in analyzing complex enterprises. Results: The thesis shows that all currently analyzed aspects of a potential acquisition are evaluated if the EA framework is used. It also shows that enough information is available prior to closing to use the EA framework to understand the potential enterprise. Further, it shows that the EA framework is flexible enough to accommodate the unique aspects of an acquisition analysis. Finally, the thesis shows a definite qualitative benefit from applying the EA framework. / (cont.) Conclusions: Despite the fact that one of the aspects of the hypothesis was not met, EA is still a valid and beneficial framework to apply to the acquisition process. It provides a sound process framework that should be used to design and implement robust acquisition analysis processes. This will enable greater process efficiency, quality, and consistency. / by Christopher Vernon Porter. / 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, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-61). / Intel Corporation's Fab17 located at Hudson, MA underwent a large scale manufacturing ramp-up, increasing its production volume by over 50%. As a result of this manufacturing ramp-up, the factory is faced with various capacity issues. These capacity issues along with current work-in-progress inventory (WIP) management strategies lead to an unbalanced inventory flow within the factory. The unbalanced WIP flow results in wafers accumulating in front of certain operations/areas. This WIP accumulation or "WIP bubbles" creates unexpected demand for the various resources on the shop floor, putting an undue strain on them. This strain is felt the most in the bottleneck area. The objective of this project is to develop a sustainable solution methodology to alleviate the strain on the bottleneck. The scope of this project falls under Fab 17's lean manufacturing organization, known as the manufacturing excellence (mX) group, and, the analysis used in this internship utilizes lean manufacturing concepts and principles. The solution methodology analyzes the wafer fabrication process in layers rather than in segments. This approach clarifies WIP movement and identifies problem areas that cause WIP bubbles. Further, the thesis applies the concept of production leveling to wafer fabrication in order to alleviate (and eliminate) the pressure on the bottleneck. / by Nima Subramanian. / 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, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-78). / The production of aerospace grade titanium alloys is concentrated in a relatively small number of producers. The market for these materials has always been cyclical in nature. During periods of high demand, metal producers claim to operate near full capacity utilization. During periods of reduced demand, metal producers struggle to remain profitable. Additionally, the manufacturing processes for aerospace grade titanium alloys are capital intensive and require long lead-times in order to bring new capacity online. The combination of these factors often results in an inflexible titanium alloy raw material supply chain for Pratt & Whitney. At the same time, Pratt & Whitney experiences a variety of rare but disruptive events within the supply chain that affect their raw material requirements. Examples of these disruptive events include customer drop-in orders, manufacturing complications resulting in scrapped material, and planning deficiencies. In order to protect engine and spare part customers from delayed deliveries due to long lead-time raw materials, Pratt & Whitney holds a strategic inventory of various titanium alloy raw material. / (cont.) This thesis presents a mathematical model utilizing a Compound Poisson Process that can be used to optimize the amount of strategic titanium alloy raw material held by Pratt & Whitney. The associated mathematical algorithms were programmed into Microsoft Excel creating the Strategic Raw Material Inventory Calculator. Historical data was then collected and used with this unique tool to calculate service levels at current inventory levels as well as optimized inventory levels under various scenarios. / by Robin L. Vacha, Jr. / 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, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-70). / Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with their research headquarters (Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research) located in Cambridge MA. In this thesis, I explore Novartis's process for developing drugs, specifically the earlier stages of research leading to high throughput screening. During the course of a 6.5 month, on-site project, Novartis's processes were identified, data were collected and relevant literature in product development and organizational structure were surveyed. Based on the accumulation of this information, several opportunities for improvement were identified and from these, recommendations were developed and implemented. This thesis considers the improvements Novartis could see in their drug discovery process by improving communication between organizations. In particular, I suggest that the company could benefit in cycle time and quality by designing and following more robust lateral processes and by moving their communication mode closer to integrative problem solving. / (cont.) Following these recommendations, I investigated why Novartis did not already have these processes in place. I hypothesize that the main reason for this is because the research organization at Novartis is focused primarily on exploration, therefore their ability and need to coordinate has not been an area of focus. Novartis has made a very deliberate effort to design an organization that promotes novel drug discovery; perhaps sacrificing cycle time and process efficiency. Because of this strong focus on drug discovery, Novartis has not had opportunity to design and implement efficient processes. By bring in interns from MIT's Leaders for Manufacturing Program, the company is beginning to explore ways to improve their processes without sacrificing their ability to develop novel drugs. / by Rebecca Anne Roberts. / 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. 99-101). / American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. (AAM) is still in the process of transitioning to a culture of "lean manufacturing" as opposed to the current culture of "mass production". This thesis involved working with AAM employees and suppliers at various locations to understand how material flows between and within AAM's plants, the reasons for and analysis of the current state of material management, and opportunities for improvement. Attention is also given to the cultural and business context in which this work takes place, and the issues relating to efforts to implement change in large industrial organizations. This work produced two strategic-level products and one tactical-level product to improve lean material management at AAM described herein. Cultural observations are also provided. At the strategic level, one project focused upon making extended value stream maps of material flow between AAM plants and suppliers/processors. This information allows all decision-makers at AAM to objectively examine a common set of information, information which was previously unavailable to any one individual. Extended value stream mapping allowed supply chain inventory and lead time-reduction opportunities to be identified. / (cont.) The focus upon extended value streams increased awareness of the need to more fully account for costs in making part procurement decisions. Therefore, a second strategic project involved the development of a total cost decision tool, and its use in making sourcing decisions. This computer spreadsheet-based tool uses simple inputs to quickly produce a more all-encompassing estimate of the total costs of purchasing parts from a given supplier. Traditionally, only piece-price plus freight costs were used to determine sources of supply. Other, additional factors may alter the decision of which supplier to use if they are considered. The tactical-level project involved implementation of a lean pull system. This project involved coordinating teams at two separate axle shaft manufacturing plants to implement a more effective visual pull system between and within the plants, using lean concepts for material management and flow. A final aspect of the thesis was to examine the current business context in which the lean systems are to operate, as well as the strategic, cultural, and political aspects that influence change management in large organizations. / (cont.) One conclusion drawn from the internship is that the firm should start emphasizing visual control on the plant floor, and less supervisor work on paper in their offices after their shifts end. If the production boards and visual controls are in constant disarray, this needs to be resolved as quickly as a failed customer delivery, because it is fundamentally undercutting the ability of the organization to improve what it provides to customers through better quality and productivity. It also hinders efforts to reduce costs to bid for new work. Failing to attract new work is as damaging as a failed customer delivery, except that it will happen a year from now rather than today. / by Justin Harper. / M.B.A. / S.M.