Assembly lines: operation bulletins, balancing and hourly output
Set up each line with its stations, and write an operation bulletin per item with the SMV of every step. See the bottleneck and line balance at once. Each day's line plan becomes a production order, and the hourly board fills from the shop floor terminal.
PLANSScale only
Why it matters
On most small lines the hourly board is a whiteboard, and the reason one station holds up the rest is found days later. Here the operation bulletin works out the bottleneck, the line balance and the output an hour as you type the SMV of each step. The day's plan becomes a production order with a job per station, and every good piece counted at the terminal lands in that hour's row. You see output against target, efficiency and the reason for each short hour while the shift is still running.
The problem it solves
- Hourly output is written on a whiteboard and rubbed out before anyone looks at the day.
- One station holds up the whole line, and nobody can say which one until the day is lost.
- The line's efficiency is a guess, so targets are set by habit, not by the minutes the work takes.
- A new style or model goes on the line without anyone working out how many it can make an hour.
How it works
- Your administrator sets up each line under Configuration > Lines: its plant and the stations in order. Each station is a machine or station with the operators planned. Add the start hour, the working hours a day and the target per hour. The takt time follows.
- Your planner writes an operation bulletin for each item on the line: every step, its station and its SMV. The total SMV, the load on each station, the bottleneck, the line balance and what the line can make an hour show at once.
- Each day the planner adds a line plan on the Line Board: the line, the item, the bulletin and how many to make. Release to Line makes the production order with one job per station and lays out the hours.
- Operators count good pieces at the shop floor terminal on their station. Each count goes into that hour's row for that station. Supervisors can also type the made pieces, operators present and why an hour fell short.
- At the end of the shift the supervisor presses Close Day. The pieces made at the last station go onto the production order, and the day's output against target stays on record.
Everything it does
Lines and stations
- A line has a name, a code, its plant, a line supervisor and its Entity
- Stations in order, each with its machine or station and the operators planned (1 to start with)
- Starts at 9 and works 8 hours a day to start with; both are settings per line
- Target per hour, and the takt time it gives: 3,600 seconds divided by the target
- Lines can be archived when they stop running
Operation bulletins and balancing
- One bulletin per item and line, with each step, its station, its SMV in minutes (three decimals) and the machine type
- Total SMV of the item
- Load on each station, shared by its operators: a station with two operators carries half the minutes each
- The bottleneck station and its minutes
- Line balance (%): total SMV against the operators times the bottleneck; 100 % is a perfectly balanced line
- Can Make an Hour: 60 divided by the bottleneck minutes, times the expected efficiency (80 % to start with)
- Every change to the bulletin's figures is kept in its history
Line plans (Line Board)
- A line plan per line and day: item, operation bulletin, quantity to make; numbered LP/year/00001
- Release to Line: refuses a plan with no quantity. Makes and confirms the production order from the item's bill of materials, starting at the line's start hour
- With a bulletin, the order gets one job per station that has steps. Each is expected to take the station's SMV times the quantity, divided by its operators. Without a bulletin it keeps the bill of materials' own steps
- Lay Out Hours: one row per working hour and station. Each has the target from the bulletin's rate an hour (or the line's target) and the operators planned
- States: Draft, Running, Done, Cancelled; Cancel also cancels the production order; a closed day cannot be cancelled
- Filters for today and not done; group by line or day
Hourly output
- Per line, day, hour and station: target, made, operators present and why it was short
- Good pieces counted at the terminal on a line station go into that hour's row by themselves; a missing row is added
- Short of Target is marked when made is below target
- Earned minutes: the station's SMV times the pieces made
- Efficiency (%): earned minutes against 60 minutes times the operators present
- Made on the line plan counts only the last station, so pieces are not counted twice
- Hourly Output as a list or a pivot, today and grouped by line to start with; filters for short hours, group by line or hour
Close Day
- Puts the pieces made at the last station on the production order as the quantity being made
- Marks the line plan Done; the hourly rows stay for the reports
Who uses it
Manufacturing AdministratorSets up lines and their stations, hours and targets.
PlannerWrites the operation bulletins, adds line plans and releases them to the line.
SupervisorReads the bulletins, fills or corrects the hourly output with the reasons, and closes the day.
OperatorCounts good pieces at the shop floor terminal on the station; the hour fills by itself.
Production ManagerLooks at output against target and efficiency by line and hour.
Where you use it
- Web: Manufacturing > Lines > Line Board, Hourly Output and Operation Bulletins
- Web: Manufacturing > Configuration > Lines
- The shop floor terminal: a web page in a tablet's browser at each station, where the counts come from
- Not in the SmartMy Manufacturing app (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet): this screen is on the web
- Not a TV board of its own: the hourly output is a list and a pivot on the web
What you control
Settings
- Per line: start hour, 9 to start with; working hours a day, 8 to start with; target per hour
- Per station: operators, 1 to start with
- Per bulletin: expected efficiency, 80 % to start with
Questions
Do sewing lines work the same way?
Yes. A sewing line is an assembly line: its stations are the machines, and the style's operation bulletin carries each operation with its SMV.Do operators have to type the hourly figures?
No. Good pieces counted at the shop floor terminal on a line station are added to that hour by themselves. A supervisor can still type or correct the made pieces, operators present and the reason an hour fell short.How is line balance worked out?
Total SMV divided by the operators times the bottleneck's minutes per operator. A line where every operator carries the same minutes is 100 %.Does closing the day finish the production order?
No. Close Day puts the pieces made at the last station on the order as the quantity being made. You finish the order as usual.Which plan has assembly lines?
Scale. Counting at the terminal comes with Growth and is part of Scale.Related features
SHOP FLOORThe shop floor terminal: a tablet at each machineA tablet at each machine or station shows its jobs in big tiles. Operators sign in with a PIN or badge, and start and pause jobs. They count good and rejected pieces with a reason, and stop the machine with a reason. Every count goes straight into the order.SHOP FLOORPiece rates, skills and earnings, to HRMS payrollSet a rate per good piece for a step, a machine, an item or a category. Every good piece counted on the terminal earns its operator the rate that applies that day. With SmartMy HRMS, the month's earnings go on the payslip as wages for PF, ESI and tax.SHOP FLOORAndon: calls for help and the andon boardAn operator presses Call on the terminal and picks who is needed: a supervisor, maintenance, quality or material. The people of that kind are told at once. The andon board shows every call waiting and being handled, with the minutes it waited and took to fix.LINES AND SCHEDULINGOEE per machine and day, and the machine board on a TVOEE is worked out every hour for each machine and day from its running time and the pieces counted at the terminal. It is split into availability, performance and quality. A machine board on a TV shows every machine as working, stopped or idle.TEXTILE AND GARMENTSCutting lay by lay, and bundles with barcode ticketsRecord each lay with its marker, plies and the rolls it used. Cut books the fabric really used onto the colour's production orders and adds the pieces to the style order. It makes bundles with barcode tickets that operators scan at each sewing station.LINES AND SCHEDULINGScheduling board: jobs across machines and daysEvery machine is a row and every day a column, with each job as a bar. Drag a job to move it in time or to an allowed machine. See each day's load against the machine's hours, and replan a machine in one click.
See your shop floor on it.
Tell us what you make, how many machines and people you run, and how production is recorded today. We will set up a line with you and run a job on the terminal.