Evaluation 2 Project Definition

Note: This case study is fictitious. Although based on an actual project the actual situation is purely imaginary. All quantities and values (scrap rates, part costs, etc.) have been selected to illustrate project definition and bear no relationship to the actual situation.

Background

Your organization manufactures Time-of-Flight Laser Inspection Systems. These systems perform 3-dimensional scanning using laser light to probe an object. The laser range finder determines the distance of a surface by timing the round-trip duration of a pulse of light. This detects the distance in a specific direction of view at a point in time.

To map the surface of an object, the laser scans the entire object by changing the direction of the laser beam through the use of a system of mirrors mounted on galvanometers.

This type of configuration allows the mirrors to be rotated very quickly and with great accuracy allowing up to 100,000 measurements per second.

These are complex assemblies that are assembled in-house from procured sub-assemblies. A listing of the major components and procured costs are provided in Table 1.

The total time to assemble and test the final unit is about 50 hours and is at a cost of $3000.

The selling price of a completed system is $25000.

For some time, customers have been complaining about a high rate of failure of recently installed systems and this is impacting profitability and customer satisfaction. This dissatisfaction was first noted about 12 to 18 months ago and is now at a level where problems need to be addressed.

Using some or all of the following information, define a LSS project.

Assignment (Individual)

Your assignment is to prepare a presentation or report to the Time-of-Flight Laser Inspection Systems company complete with cover page, references, assumptions, detailing how you would define this LSS project. Make sure the document includes:

1. A Problem Statement that is descriptive of the business problem. It must follow the SMART format and connects with Objective Statement.
2. An Objective Statement that is descriptive and uses the format in course. It must follow SMART criteria. Connects with Problem Statement.
3. Applying a quality tool to the data to help define the focus for this business problem.
4. Applying the use of LSS Project Definition Worksheet. All ideas supported with original analysis and ideas for each section. For this assignment, only rows 34 will be completed in the spreadsheet.
5. Five original gaps and at least three improvement recommendations for the company stated. For your recommendations, include an element of priority and time. Make sure all support work calculations are included.

Process Flow

The basic process flow is very simple. Subassemblies are procured from subcontractors and held in stock. They are released to the floor in batches for production assemblies. Subassemblies are mounted to a chassis, wired up, the galvanometers and lasers are aligned and a simple functional test is performed.

Once the technician is satisfied with the functional performance. The unit is closed and a final test process is performed.

On completion of final test, the unit is packaged and shipped to customers for installation. Field installers report problems via an incident report.

Once commissioned the systems remain under warranty for one year. If a problem is experienced, the customer can return the unit for repair or replacement.

If a customer identifies an issue which requires that the equipment be returned, he informs the manufacturer and is issued with a Return Material Approval (RMA). The equipment is then returned and a troubleshooting exercise is conducted. On completion of troubleshooting, the unit is repaired as necessary and is either returned to the customer or goes into a replacement pool. There are currently 30 systems in the pool.

Available Data

Final inspection data is available in Table 2. Data covers the last 12 months of manufacturing.

Table 3 is a summary of install issues for October. Assume that it is representative of any month.

Table 4 provides summary troubleshooting and repair analysis for the month of October, again assume that it is representative of any month.

The labour rate is $60/hour.

Part Type	Procured Cost
Laser Module	$3000
Galvanometer Assembly (per pair)	$4000
Power Unit	$1500
Control Board	$750

Table 1

Month	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct
Built	100	50	50	100	100	50	100	50	100	50	100	100
Fail	1	0	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	0	1	1

Table 2

Issue	Number of incidents
Laser output low (adjusted on-site)	2
No output	1
Retuned Galvanometers (adjusted on-site)	4
Other	1

Table 3

Time since install	Issue	Repair action	Total time taken
Less than 1 month	X-Axis galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned X-galvanometer	10 hours
	Y-Axis Galvanometer not functioning	Replace galvanometer and re-test	20 hours
	No laser output	Replace control board	5 hours
1 to 3 months	Both Galvanometers out of calibration	Replace Galvanometers and retest	25 hours
	X-Axis galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned X-galvanometer	10 hours
	X-Axis galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned X-galvanometer	10 hours
	X-Axis galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned X-galvanometer	10 hours
	Low laser output power	Retuned control circuit	5 hours
	Power supply short circuit	Replaced PSU	10 hours
	Y-axis Galvanometer failure	Replace galvanometer and re-test	20 hours
	X-Axis galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned X-galvanometer	10 hours
3-6 months	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned control circuit and replaced galvanometer	15 hours
	No output power	Replaced laser	10
	No output power	Replaced laser	10
	No output power	Replaced laser	10
	No output power	Replaced faulty control circuit	15
	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned galvanometer	10
	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned galvanometer	10
	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned galvanometer	10
6-12 months	No output power	Replaced laser	10
	No output power	Replaced faulty control circuit	15
	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned galvanometer	10
	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned galvanometer	10
	Galvanometer out of calibration	Retuned galvanometer	10