This industrial based research project was undertaken for British Leyland and arose as a result of poor system efficiency on the Maxi and Marina vehicle body build lines. The major factors in the deterioration of system efficiency were identified as: a) The introduction of a 'Gateline' system of , vehicle body build. b) The degeneration of a newly introduced measured daywork payment scheme~' DJ relating the conclusions of past work onpayrnent systems to' the situation at Cowley, it ,was concluded that a combination of poor industrial relations and a lack of managerial control had' caused the measured dayworkscheme to degenerate into a straightforward payment for time at work. This eliminated the monetary incentive to achieve schedule with the consequence that both inefficiency and operating costs increased. To analyse further the cause of inefficiency, a study of Marina gateline stoppage logs was carried out. This revealed that poor system efficiency on the gateline was caused more by the nature of its design than poor reliability on individual items of plant. The consideration given to system efficiency,at the design stage was found to be negligible the main obstacles being:a) A lack of understanding pertaining to the influence of certain design factors on the efficiency of a production line. b) The absence of data and techniques to predict system efficiency at the design stage. To remedy this situation, a computer simulation study of the design factors was carried out from which relationships with system efficiency were established and empirical efficiency equations developed. Sets of tables were compiled from the equations and efficiency data relevant to vehicle body 'building established from the gateline stoppage logs~ Computer simulation, the equations and the tables when used in conjunction. with good efficiency data, are shown to be accurate methods of predicting production line system. efficiency.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:478274 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Yeates, K. |
| Publisher | Aston University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://publications.aston.ac.uk/13306/ |
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