Versatile Composites Inc. is a manufacturer of honeycomb panels servicing the transportation/farming industry. They would like to improve on-time delivery, reduce lead time, and achieve 10% cost reduction annually over the next 2 years for panels A and B. They are at present running a batch-type production with a push system. They believe, that through 5S, autonomous maintenance, quick change-over and continuous production they can achieve the targets. At present, they are running a day shift with net available production time of 420 minutes. The team gathers appropriate data which is shown in the below tables. Demand/month Part Sanding Cleaning 80 40 A Large Panel X X B Medium Panel X X C Small Panel X X Assembling Heat Treating X X X X X 20 ** The smallest panel does not cure in the oven. It is cured at room temperature for 24 hrs. Cleaning 5 min 0 Cycle time C/O time Sanding 30 min 5 min Operators 1 - Sand uptime TBD 1 - Clean TBD Available time 420 min 420 min Assembling 20 min 7 min 2 - Assemble TBD 420 min Heat Treating 55 min 5 min 1 - Loading TBD 420 min a. Although your focus is on improving products A & B, how many value streams would you need based on the PRA? Explain. b. Calculate the total daily requirement (based on 20 days/month) based on the value stream selected. Also, calculate daily requirement for each product in the value stream. c. What is the total product cycle time in minutes. d. Calculate the value stream takt time (min) and the pitch based on 2 pack-out quantity. e. f. Is the takt time achievable based on the capacity at Heat Treating. Explain/Quantify. Adjust the capacity at Heat Treatment based on uptime. Comment. g. The present state shows an imbalance of the production line. Since the company is trying to move towards a continuous flow (ideally one-piece flow if possible), propose a new solution without overproduction. The number of operators at each stage cannot change and the processing time for Heat Treatment is predominantly because of processing itself - curing. This means that even if you could change the number of operators at Heat Treatment, the cycle time would remain approximately the same. Also, when balancing the line consider that every process step should have an additional 15 min of inspection time regardless of combining workstations. a. Sketch the new value stream showing the various stages of production including receiving and shipping. Also, show a bar graph illustrating the cycle times and takt time. b. Discuss whether you will need in-process supermarkets. C. Does the new value stream have capacity issues? If so, what lean principles/activities can you perform to minimize the impact of changeover? h. Calculate the production ratio based on the Heijunka system for leveling production based on your selected value stream. i. How will you sequence production over the 1 shift period. Demonstrate using a Heijunka box sketch for 1 cycle.