GROUP NO.

DONNER COMPANY
Case Writeup
Que: A
Information Flows within the Donner Factory- Tracing of order as it moves
from the originating customer to completion: -
Factory Order &
Material
Customer
Estimation of Labor Preparation of bid Specifications by
decision to
& Material Costs by by Plummer & YES Altmeyer for
accept the
Plummer & Altmeyer Altmeyer normal & by
bid or not
Schnabs for rush
order
NO

PROCESS ENDS
Procurement by
Purchasing Agent -
Artwork Scheduling by
Inspect & Shear 4 days for normal,
Generation Flaherty
1-2 days for rush
order

Drill -
Punch Tooling
Manual Manual Drilling Metallization
Holes
or CNC?

CNC Drill

Electroplate Develop Laminate & Expose Panel Preparation

Strip DFPR Etch & Tin Strip Soldermask Solder Dip

CNC Router

Profile-
Punch Press
Inspect, Test, Pack Punch Press
or CNC
Router?
 GROUP NO. 3

Plummer and Altmeyer estimate labor and material costs and then submit the
bid. If bid is accepted by customer, Altmeyer writes out material specification
and factory order for normal order while Schnabs do the same for rush order.
Purchasing agent after receiving the order procures raw materials. Flaherty
then schedules the order. Further flow of information in the process is shown
above.

Que: B
Analysis of Capacity:
i. Choice for use of alternative technologies by Donner:
Donner has to make choice of alternative technologies in two of its processes –
Drilling and Profiling.
Drilling: Donner has two types of technologies for drilling approximately 500
holes per circuit. It can be done either manually on one of the 7 modified drill
presses or on the computer numerically controlled (CNC) high-speed drill.
Since, run time of CNC Drill is much less than Manual drill, for large order sizes
CNC drill should be used.

Comparing time of completion of drill process manually or automatically to

minimum order size for automatic CNC.
Let the no. of circuits be x in a order
Time taken to drill holes manually = 15+ 0.080*500*x = 15 + 40x
Time taken to drill holes using CNC = 240 + 0.004*500*x = 240 + 2x
Comparing both times,
15 + 40x = 240 + 2x
X = 5.92 = 6

Thus, if order size is 6 or more, CNC drill should be used otherwise manual drill
should be used for drilling.

Profiling: Donner can do profiling either by using punch press or CNC Router.
Since, run time of CNC Router is much less than Punch Press, for large order
sizes CNC Router should be used.

Comparing time taken to complete profiling using punch press and CNC
Router.
Let the no. of circuits be x in an order
 GROUP NO. 3

Time taken to profile using punch press = 50 + 1*x

Time taken to profile using CNC router = 150 + 0.5*x
Comparing both times,
50 + x = 150 + 0.5x
X = 200
Thus, if order size is 200 or more, CNC router should be used otherwise punch
press should be used for profiling.

ii. Standard Labor Time:

Using analysis of b (i),
 For order size of less than 6 boards manual drill to be used otherwise,
CNC drill.
 For order size of less than 200 boards, Punch Press to be used
otherwise, CNC Router.
Standard Labor Time:
 For an order of 1 board = 396.55 minutes
o Manual drilling
o Profiling using Punch Press
 For an order of 8 boards = 615.05 minutes
o CNC drilling
o Profiling using Punch Press
 For an order of 200 boards = 1840.25 minutes
o CNC drilling
o Profiling using CNC Router/ Punch Press- Both process takes equal
time
NOTE: Calculations for standard labor time are explained in Exhibit 1 in
annexures.

Que: C
Problems faced by Donner and their root causes are as follows:
 Procurement Time: For every order, a fresh search is done for
procurement of materials.
o Solution: Contracts should be made with suppliers to cut
procurement costs and time. Also, Donner can use information
 GROUP NO. 3

technology to track real time orders receipt by Donner and then

deliver the raw materials for every order.
 Differences in order size: Order size ranges from 1 board per order to
more than 1000 boards per order.
o Solution: It is given that usually small orders (8 circuit boards or
less) posed no scheduling problems. Thus, large orders can be
broken into small orders which can simplify step wise order
processing and also, rush orders can be scheduled in between to
ensure their delivery on time.
 Differences in circuit designs. Also, Work delayed in process pending
customer’s delivery of artwork modifications or a design change.
 Rush Orders: Usually 3 rush orders per week to be delivered in 4 days.
o Solution: Either they can be accommodated between large orders
or a separate line for rush orders can ensure timely delivery.
 Productivity: Orders requiring rework at one or two operations because
of failed inspection or return by customers. Movement time for boards
not adequately reflected in standards.
o Solution: Movement time should be included in calculation of
labor time to ensure correct estimation of manufacturing lead
time.
 Quality: 9 out of 10 returned boards because Donner missed or failed to
complete one or two of the required operations. These boards had to be
reprocessed and shipped within 1 or 2 days.
o Solution: For ensuring completing all required operations for
every order, a checklist of operations can be placed with the ticket
denoting the order number as it moved through processing. After
every operation, this checklist should be updated to ensure
completion of operation. Or for each station place put an ideal
sample against which product can be tested.
 Delivery: Donner has to quote 3 weeks delivery on orders of less than
1000 circuit boards while 5 weeks on larger orders. Also, actual
deliveries in have been delayed by average 9 days.
o Solution: Above mentioned solutions for reduction in
procurement time and breaking of large order into small orders
can help in delivering shipment on time.
 GROUP NO. 3

ANNEXURES
Standard Production 1 board 8 boards 200
Times (min.) boards
Operation Setup Run Time Time Time
Taken Taken Taken
PREPARATION
Artwork 29 0 29 29 29
Generation
Inspect & Shear 20 0.500a 20.5 20.5 32.5
Punch Tooling 10 0.500a 10.5 10.5 22.5
Holes

IMAGE TRANSFER
Drill
Manual 15 0.080b 55
CNC Drill 240 0.004b 256 640
Metallization 10 0.750a 10.75 10.75 28.75
Dry Film
Photoresist
1. Panel Prep 5 0.200a 5.2 5.2 10
2. Lam. & Exp 20 2.000a 22 22 70
3. Develop 20 0.200a 20.2 20.2 25
Electroplate 25 8.500a 33.5 33.5 237.5
Strip DFPR 5 0.200a 5.2 5.2 10
Etch & Tin Strip 10 0.200a 10.2 10.2 15

FABRICATION
Soldermask 45 1.500a 46.5 46.5 82.5
Solder Dip 30 0.500a 30.5 30.5 42.5
Profile
Punch Press 50 1.000d 51 58 250
CNC Router 150 0.500d 250
Inspect, Test, Pack 45 1.500d 46.5 57 345

Total Time (in min) 396.55 615.05 1840.25

Since, both punch press or CNC router take equal time for 200 boards anyone of them can
be used for order of 200 boards.
a. Per panel; typical panel consists of 8 circuit boards.
b. Per hole; typical circuit board has 500 drilled holes
d. Per circuit board