Okay, goodmorning guys!

Pepresent ko ngayon yung Morton Salt Case

To start with, let’s have a quick overview muna

Okay, Morton Salt is a subsidiary of Morton International, a manufacturer of specialty
chemicals, air bags, and salt products. Kilala sila sa United States as provider ng iba’t ibang
klase ng salt like culinary salt, pool salt, table salts, water softening products, and ice
melters.

Kung napapansin nyo ung babae na nakadilaw sa slide, yan yung logo ng Morton Salt.
Pinapakita lang dyan na kahit na umuulan, nagpopour yung can ng salt na hawak ng babae.

Kung familiar kayo sa kasabihan na, “When it rains, it pours.”, yung Morton Salt ang
nagpasimula nun. Kaso ngayon naiba na yung meaning nya, diba kapag sinabing when it
rains, it pours, ibig sabihin kapag may nangyaring hindi maganda, other bad things usually
happen at the same time.
Pero nung 1900s, yung catchphrase na yan ng Morton Salt ay dinesign to emphasize the
quality of the salt - na magfoflow ito seamlessly from the spout or sa lip ng can, even in
damp weather.

Okay, to continue
The Morton salt-processing facility in Silver Springs, New York, between Buffalo and
Rochester, is one of six similar Morton salt-processing facilities in the United States.
The Silver Springs plant employs about 200 people, ranging from unskilled to skilled. It
produces salt products for water conditioning, grocery, industrial, and agricultural markets.
The grocery business consists of 26-oz. round cans of iodized salt. Although the grocery
business represents a relatively small portion of the total output (approximately 15%), it is
the most profitable.

Etong case na to ay nagfocus sa discussion on Operations Tour and Round Can

Production. Obviously, pinapakita dito yung processes ng Morton Salt sa production nila as
well as their drawbacks.

Quality checking of the cans is done primarily by visual inspection, including the verification
of assembly operations. Take note guys, hindi sila gumagamit ng kahit anong equipment sa
pagcheck ng quality ng mga products nila. Isa isa nila tinitingnan yung mga yun para makita
kung may flaws or dents ba sa mga cans na napoproduce nila. And mas reliable to compare
don sa ibang inspection techniques. Yun nga lang, mas less productive sila kasi mas
mabagal yung quality checking nila dahil walang technology na ginagamit.

The equipment on the production line is sensitive to damaged cans and causes jams which
means production delays. Eto pa isang nagiging problema, nagkakaroon ng delay sa
production kapag nagkakaroon ng problem sa equipment nila tulad ng scale build up, kung
saan may mga bumabara sa equipment. Sa mga factory kasi na ganyan, kapag nasira yung
machine, tigil ang trabaho. Tutuloy nalang kapag okay na ulit. Diba hassle.
So, meron tayong 6 questions na sinagot natin diba.
Eto yung number 1

Briefly describe salt production, from brine production to finished round cans.

So here are the steps in salt production for Morton

Magstart sa water supply. Mag iinject sila ng water into salt caverns below the surface
usually 2,400 feet below the surface tapos hayaan lang na madissolve yung salt deposits sa
tubig.

Tapos ipa-pump to the surface yung brine, or yung nadissolve na salt deposits sa tubig.
Next, ibo-boil yung brine using pans kung saan mageevaporate yung liquid para matira yung
salt crystals and yung residual moisture.
Tapos gagamitan ng dryer para mawala naman yung residual moisture.
After non, pwede na siya i-store sa mga silos hanggang sa kailanganin na ito for production
or ready na sya for shipping sa mga industrial customers.

Kung nakikita nyo yung conveyors dyan, dinadala nyan ung salt sa apat na production
areas: Cans, pellets, bags, and block.
Since nagfocus yung case sa round can production, paano nga ba nila ginagawa yung
round can nila?

So here are the Steps in salt production for Morton:

● Produce the cans by forming a cylinder (two sheets of chipboard are glued together)
● Roll the cylinder into a continuous tube.
● Cut the tubes into can-size pieces.
● Assemble and glue the separate pieces constituting the can.
● Fill the cans with salt.
● Load the filled cans onto pallets and store them in inventory.

Question No. 2
Briefly describe quality assurance efforts in round can production.

First, Salt is checked for purity using chemical analysis. Yung level ng iodine at anti-caking
compound na nilalagay nila sa salt ay vineverify using chemical analysis. Usually kaya
naglalagay ng mga anti-caking agents eh para hindi mahirapan sa packaging kasi
nagkakaroon ng lumps.
Next, Crystal size is made sure to be accurate by forcing the salt through a scraping screen.
Kung nakita nyo kanina sa picture. Yung conveyor na papunta sa production ng can, may
screen don. Para kasi ma-achieve yung crystal size na salt, gumagamit sila ng scraping
screens kumbaga para masala ba.

Next, Small pieces of metal are removed by magnets at different stages of the process.
May mga instances kasi na may nahahalong maliliit na metals sa salt galing dun sa screen.
However, natatanggal naman nila yun using magnets.

Weight of the filled cans is checked and a label is attached. Self-explanatory naman ito.
Obviously, bawat products ay may tamang timbang. Ganon din pagdating sa label,
chinecheck nila kung tama ba, or pantay ba. Ganon.

And lastly, Metal pour spout is checked whether it is correctly attached. Syempre eto yung
isa sa mga trademarks nila kaya chinecheck nilang mabuti kung tama ba ung pagkakalagay,
may singaw ba, yung mga ganon ba.

Question No. 3
What are some of the possible reasons why the company continues to use the old
processing equipment instead of buying new, more modern equipment?

There are three reasons why the company continues to use the old processing equipment
instead of buying new or more modern equipment. These are cost, productivity and
competitiveness.

Una, yung costs.

The cost of changing equipment is very high by considering the economy for example,
equipment, cash flow, maintenance, and cost sa paghire ng consultant.
Another thing is integration, integration ng cost, time and resources.
Pati na rin yung human factors, costs para sa training ng mga workers towards new
equipment, safety, and syempre job loss.

Actually kaya yung luma padin ang ginagamit nila dahil yung current maintenance cost para
sa equipment na ginagamit nila is still acceptable. Kasama na din dito yung cost for skilled
workers who repair parts and make new parts para sa equipment na yun.

Pangalawa, productivity.
Yung old processing equipment nila eh kaya naman supplyan yung current demand. Tapos
wala naman silang ibang product bukod sa salt, meaning walang nababago sa product
design, kaya no need to invest in new equipment.
Tapos meron pa silang sariling tool shop with skilled workers na kayang i-repair yung
equipment kapag nasisira or makapagprovide ng parts para sa equipment na yun.
Therefore, it is unnecessary to invest to much.
And lastly, competitiveness.
Since nasa monopoly market sila, meaning walang pressure from competitors para mapilitan
silang mag-invest or bumili ng new equipment.

Question No. 4
Where would you place salt production in the product-process spectrum?

Yung salt production pwede natin siya i-place sa continuous flow process kasi yung
continuous system, diba yung process nila eh nagrurun continuously for about six weeks at
a time, yung ung system para makapagproduce sila ng very high volume of non-discrete,
highly standardized output. Diba sabi kanina nakakapagproduce sila ng 45 tons of salt per
hour. Kaya ayun, sa continuous flow sya pagdating sa product-process spectrum.

Question No. 5
Determine the approximate number of tons of salt produced annually. (Note: One ton
= 2,000 pounds, and one pound = 16 ounces.)

So given naman na nakakapagproduce sila ng 3.8 million cans of salt annually.

Bale imumultiply lang natin yun sa volume ng salt per can which is 26 ounce salt per can.
Edi meron tayong 98.8 million ounces of salt per year

Ang nirerequire ng problem is number of tons. Bale gagamit lang tayo ng simple conversion.

Ounce to Pound
1 pound = 16 ounces
Divide lang natin yun 98.8 million ounces sa 16 para makuha natin yung value in pound
terms which is 6,175,000 pounds per year

And lastly, convert naman natin yung pound sa tons.

For every ton, meron tayong 2000 pounds. Ganon lang din, didivide natin yung total
numbers in pounds sa 2,000.
Tapos ayun na
3,087.5 tons of salt per year ang napoproduce ng Morton.

Question No. 6
What improvements can you suggest for the plant?

First,
Develop a plan to overhaul the existing equipment and to purchase new equipment as a joint
effort among finance, purchasing and manufacturing areas.
Dapat i-check nila thoroughly yung existing equipment nila, kung paano ba nila maiiwasan
yung paulit-ulit na pagkasira nun. Or magdecide na sila na mag-invest sa bagong
equipment. Yes magastos, pero in the long run, magbebenefit din naman sila dun kasi mas
marami at mas mabilis silang makakapagproduce compare sa paggamit nila ng existing
equipment nila.

Next, Synchronize production, distribution and capacity planning to make sure that there is
sufficient capacity in the silos to handle the incoming salt from brine production. Para ma-
ensure nila na kakayanin ng capacity ng mga silos yung volume ng salt na mapoproduce
nila, dapat magkaroon ng synchronization sa mga processes, for example, bago sila
magstore ng bagong batch ng salt sa mga silos, kailangan maidistribute muna yung mga
naunang batch. In that way, dirediretso din yung production nila.

Next, Install a sensor to replace "visual inspection". Yun nga, medyo mabagal kapag visual
inspection method ang ginagamit nila. Kapag nag-install sila ng sensor, mas mapapabilis
yung quality checking nila. Hindi naman masyadong mabigat sa budget yun dahil additional
lang naman yun hindi naman replacement.

And lastly, inspect the can first due to the fact that the equipment is sensitive to damaged
cans. Para maiwasan yung delay sa production, dapat i-check muna nila yung mga cans
bago padaanin sa equipment nila na sensitive to damaged cans. Pwede din sila mag-invest
sa ibang equipment na makakapag-check non para di na nila manually icheck yung mga
cans.