Work System Design

( Class case study discussion)

Texas Instruments – Time Products Division

Team Members:
Saiyam Dhiman - 1801087
Parag Kolhe – 1801066
Pawale Sambhaji - 1801067
Pol Mahesh Baburao - 1801071
Priyanka Sachan - 1801076
Renuka Bharti - 1801080
Texas Instruments – Time Products Division
• The case outlines the components of Texas Instruments' low-cost
digital watch.
• The sole focus is on getting the assembly line running smoothly and
efficiently in order to meet production cost and delivery
requirements.
 Key Highlights of the case:
• An assembly line was ready in Dallas, space for final assembly & packaging was in
Lubbock (300 miles away)
• Chips, substrates were assembled & molded in Sherman, Texas and was sent to Dallas
assembly line.
• Some of the components came from Taiwan and some outside vendors.
• New assembly facilities in Lubbock.
• Hourly output rate on a two shift basis of watches was calculated from the data obtained
from marketing. Capacity required for peak duration was determined and also the time
for each operation.
• Two identical assembly conveyors (120 ft), each to produce low cost metal and plastic
watches.
• Multiple assignment of the worker was subject to length of time required on those jobs.
• 100 watches at a given time; this was more than the number of workers at any moment.
• A complete watch came off the line every 21 seconds
• Troubleshooting was done on line, most failures were of predictable nature.
Findings…
• What is the problem?
Is the line production justified over batch production?
Yes.
The sales volume are expected to grow over 15 times in next 5 years. The
cycle time is very less to meet steep demand volumes. Both metal and plastic
variants can be manufactured on the line so loss in flexibility is just the
matter of changeover.
With current cycle time of 21.5 sec, with 24x7 working days and 80%
efficiency, we can manufacture 1.17 mil watches on each assembly line.
However total market demand in 1983 is expected to be 102 mil units. This
also justifies that line production is the right choice.
 Areas of improvement…
1. Logistics cost reduction: Though margin is almost 50% which is $6.12 per unit,
firm will have great logistics cost as all the raw material shipped to assembly
line at Lubbock from Dallas, 300 miles away. Substrate and IC assembly travels
from Sherman to Dallas to Lubbock. This material flow can be shortened to
reduce logistics cost.
2. Reduction in flow time: There are 5 testing stages with quality control. These
can be reduced to 2 (one at the beginning and one at end).
3. Elimination of unnecessary activities: A lot of cleaning activities are involved
which can be eliminated by having cleaning at suppliers end saving time on the
assembly line.
4. Optimisation of manpower utilisation: For the operations taking longer than
the standard cycle time, more manpower is allocated. This manpower is often
under utilized.
Thank You 