Loading...
Date of Submission
Spring 4-22-2020
Project Type
Senior Design
Major
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Department
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Adeel Khalid
Abstract
Our team worked with the Siemens warehouse located in Suwanee, Georgia. There are many different areas in this warehouse, so we chose to focus our attention in the maintenance and assessment departments. After observing the daily operations that occur between these two departments, we realized that there was not a communication medium set up between the two departments in order for the employees to communicate virtually. In order to communicate, the employees had to walk back and forth between the two departments and communicate any information face to face. We realized that this is an outdated system, and there must have been a better way to make this process run more smoothly. We conducted a time study in order to get data regarding how much time is taken by employees walking between the two departments. We took this data and put it into Arena Simulation Software and concluded that 42 hours per person per year were wasted on walking between the two departments in order to communicate. This is a lot of time wasted on a non-value-added activity. After doing some research, we were able to come up with eight possible solutions that the Siemens warehouse could implement in order to ease communication between the assessment and maintenance departments. The eight possible solutions included: ● Warehouse Management System ● Barcode Scanner ● Microsoft Excel shared spreadsheet ● Microsoft Access Program ● Communication Board ● Intercom ● Walkie Talkies ● SQL In order to narrow down our list to one solution that we could create and implement in the warehouse, we conducted several different analyses to find the solution that would fit best. Some analyses we performed included an Impact Effort Analysis, Five Whys, and Root Cause Analysis. We also included the costs associated with each solution. After analyzing each solution and conducting research, we concluded that the best solution for the Siemens warehouse would be a Microsoft Access Program. We were able to create a Microsoft Access program that is unique and accommodates the issues that are faced between the two departments regarding communication. The Siemens warehouse we worked with already has tablets that the employees use that includes Microsoft access, so this solution was not difficult or expensive to implement. However, if those were not the circumstances, it would cost $200 per hour for a Microsoft Access program to be created and implemented in the warehouse. After creating the program, we ran another simulation while having the Microsoft access program in place. By implementing the program, we were able to reduce the time wasted from the non-value added activity of walking between departments by 57.14%. With this time saved, the employees in the assessment and maintenance departments could focus their attention on more important activities that take place in the warehouse.
Improving Communication between the Assessment and Maintenance Departments (1).pptx (2948 kB)
FDR Poster.pdf (470 kB)