Edgar F.

Huse
A group of 10 workers were responsible for assembling hotplates (instruments for heating
solutions to a given temperature) for hospital and medical laboratory use. A number of different
models of hotplates were being manufactured. Some had a vibrating device so that the solution
could be mixed while being heated. Others heated only test tubes. Still others could heat
solutions in a variety of different containers.
With the appropriate small tools, each worker assembled part of a hotplate. The partially
completed hotplate was placed on a moving belt, to be carried from one assembly station to the
next. When the hotplate was completed, an inspector would check it over to ensure that it was
working properly. Then the last worker would place it in a specially prepared cardboard box for
shipping.
The assembly line had been carefully balanced by industrial engineers, who had used a time
and motion study to break the job down into subassembly tasks, each requiring about three
minutes to accomplish. The amount of time calculated for each subassembly had also been
“balanced” so that the task performed by each worker was supposed to take almost exactly the
same amount of time. The workers were paid a straight hourly rate.
However, there were some problems. Morale seemed to be low, and the inspector was finding a
relatively high percentage of badly assembled hotplates. Controllable rejects—those “caused”
by the operator rather than by faulty materials—were running about 23 percent.
After discussing the situation, management decided to try something new. The workers were
called together and asked if they would like to build the hotplates individually. The workers
decided they would like to try this approach, provided they could go back to the old program if
the new one did not work well. After several days of training, each worker began to assemble
the entire hotplate.
The change was made at about the middle of the year. Productivity climbed quickly. By the end
of the year, it had leveled off at about 84 percent higher than during the first half of the year,
although no other changes had been made in the department or its personnel. Controllable
rejects had dropped from 23 percent to 1 percent during the same period. Absenteeism had
dropped from 8 percent to less than 1 percent. The workers had responded positively to the
change, and their morale was higher. As one person put it, “Now, it is my hotplate.” Eventually,
the reject rate dropped so low that all routine final inspection was done by the assembly workers
themselves. The full-time inspector was transferred to another job in the organization
SWOT ANALYSIS
INTERNAL ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

 Effective distribution of labor  Lack of training of the workers

 High productivity of workers  Late execution of the effective
 Great Variety of skills of workers assembly line method
 Fast production of products

STRENGTHS

 Effective distribution of labor

Since the company execute an effective distribution of labor in which workers build the
hotplates individually, it increases the production of the hotplates, increases their moral, and
it will eventually leads to the increase of the overall sales and production of the company.

 High productivity of workers

High productivity is also high production of the overall process. It decreases additional
operating costs when it comes to additional human labor costs.

 Great Variety of skills of workers

With the individual distribution of labors, it creates variety of skills of workers that can help
the company in improving the quality of products and services.

 Fast production of products

The enough number of workers and individual distribution of labors in making hotplates, it
increases the production and it saves time in the overall process.

WEAKNESSES

 Lack of training of the workers

 The lack of training of the employees are likely result to poor job performance and increased
levels of work-related stress. Less knowledge and training lead to a lower level of
performance, resulting in less profit. This type of work often leads to errors, quality issues,
time lost repeating activities.

 Late execution of the effective assembly line method

Before the execution of new assembly line method, morale seemed to be low, and the high
defective assembled hotplates resulted to a less profit during that time. Late execution of the
effective assembly line method, the company to lost time, and profits.

EXTERNAL ANALYSIS

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

 Change in technology and market  Product and services quality standard

strategies  Financial/cash flow problems
 Redesigning the workflow  Controllable rejects of the products
 Additional training and development
of the workers
 Have proper monitoring and adding
supervision in the production area

OPPORTUNITIES

 Change in technology and market strategies

Well, individual work of the workers is not enough to achieve effective production, another
opportunity for the company is to change into new technology that can create new products
and services, thereby creating entire new markets for a business. Moreover, improvements
in technological products and processes can increase productivity and reduce costs.

 Redesigning the workflow

In redesigning the workflow, it can development the company’s efficiency. The

management can maximize efficiencies by enhancing health care quality and safety,
removing chaos from the current workflow, and improving care coordination.

 Additional training and development of the workers

Additional training or like a refresher training for Employee can develop and help them to
become better at their jobs and overcome performance gaps that are based on lack of
knowledge or skills. Refresher training keeps the employees up to date with the information
crucial to their roles, helping them with memory retention. It will helps to increase the
 productivity and improvement in work performance among the workers, that will greatly
benefit the company in the long run.

 Have proper monitoring and adding supervision in the production area

Since the full-time inspector of the hotplates was transferred to another job in the
organization, the company may bring back and execute the proper monitoring and
supervision, as it will ensures that the standard is met and workers acquire competencies
and standards.

THREATS

 Product and services quality standard

One of the threats is the quality of the product and services as there’s no one inspector at
all, the tendency of that is It may leads to an increase of flaws and defects. So It is crucial to
have quality control operations on the production regardless of how big the manufacturing
company is.

 Controllable rejects of the hotplates

With these, it can cost money to the company and it may affect the high adverse publicity, it
can cause to a reputational damage, and loss of revenue. Also, Controllable rejects of the
hotplates can lead to an expensive and time-consuming recovery process to rebuild sales,
market share, and trust in a brand.