Looking for leaner procedures, 'make-to-order' sub-contractors take interest in a modular system to delegate management tasks to the shop-floor and encourage collective responsibility.
In these days of extreme competition and downward price pressure, few sub-contractors can afford to employ all the overheads needed to carry out the increasing number of daily tasks required by materials and product management. Since Prospec Systems first developed PSL Datatrack in its modular form, the main thrust of design has been a determination to give the user the ability to delegate tasks to the shop-floor with a view to encouraging collective responsibility for management operations. This has made it possible to utilise the entire shop-floor staff to function as part of the routine management system by delegating modules and operations to the people who actually perform the physical task.

Even complex requirements such as material allocations, issues and traceability are now being performed at operator level thereby making an invaluable contribution to management performance and costs.

The shop-floor contribution to quality has not been forgotten either.

Using the Gauge Management module has enabled detailed tracking of every gauge, fixture or tool requiring calibration together with every gauge or instrument used on a work piece.

Tooling modules are also available to monitor overall tool use within the system to ensure that setters have complete sets of tools before they attempt to run a machine, eliminating the annoying and expensive wait for a missing tool while the machine stands idle.

Tool replenishment is on a requirement basis to enable JIT (just in time) purchase of tools in order to preserve cash flow and keep tooling stocks adequate but lean.

This eliminates over-purchasing of tools to 'be on the safe side' and especially lets the setters control the management of the tools and stocks by requisition without the need to refer purchases to administration.

Overall, the more management tasks that can be delegated to the people who carry out the physical requirement, the leaner the management and the leaner the production.

As Jason Nicholson - joint managing director of subcontract machining operation Unicut Precision asserted: 'The contribution by shop-floor personnel will continue to become more and more important in the cost and effectiveness of management and PSL Datatrack has been invaluable in allowing it to happen.'