MGT 314.

5
Group 6
Title: Production Operations Management
Date of Submission: 14th August, 2014

Prepared for:
Khan Muhammad Saqiful Alam (Sqi)
Lecturer in Operations and Risk Management
Department of Management, School of Business
North South University

Prepared by:
NAME

ID

Susmita Bashir
Mirza Armana

111 0029 030

(Section: 08)

111 0838 530

Salma Akhtar

111 0406 030

Sonia Rahman

111 0644 030

Fabiha Salsabil Saleh

111 0417 030

Hamida kaus prianka

111 0517 030

Md. Ahsanuzzaman Nishu

103 0625 530

Tanzila reza

103 0872 030

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Executive Summary
Sara Bricks Ltd. is one of the pioneers to establish the automated brick manufacturing plant in
Bangladesh. The company adapted to the contemporary production process to be more
environmentally sustainable and cater the needs of the customers. The following report discusses
about the production operations management of the brick firm. We analyzed the production
process through some important tools: Polar Diagram, 4V Model, PLC Matching Strategy and
Process Maps. Here, we found out that the company takes a lengthy production time, lack of
flexibility, high amount of wastage, lower productivity and thus charges higher prices. So, we
suggested some improvements in the process map by eliminating some unnecessary steps to
make the production process simple and efficient. Then we also utilized some improvement
tools: fish bone diagram, benchmarking, SMED and total productivity management (TPM). The
cause and effect tool and SMED helped to reduce the delayed time in production process,
benchmarking helped to achieve the best standards in the industry. The result of overall
equipment effectiveness (OEE) shows that the machine effectiveness needs to be improved. We
recommended to set-up the new tunnel equipment system to bring productive changes in the
company. As a result the production time changed dramatically from 3 days to 1 day with an
increase in output by 30,000 units to 100,000 units per day. Hence, the company can achieve the
competitive advantage reengineering the production layout and gain more market share to be the
market leader.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Scope.3
1.2 Aim....3
1.3 Limitations 3
2.0 Background
2.1 company background....4
2.2 why we have chosen this company?...........................................4
3.0 Analysis
3.1 4vs ...5
3.2 Polar diagram ...5
3.3 Plc structure..6
3.4 Existing process map7
3.5 Improved process map..10
3.6 Overall operations improvement..13
3.0 Recommendation...16

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Introduction
Sara Bricks Ltd. is a automated brick company serving for the last 24 years in Kaliakoir,Savar,
Bangladesh. Bricks are one of the oldest known building materials which are widely used . The
first bricks were sun dried mud bricks and then came the Fired bricks which were found to be
more resistant to harsh weather conditions. This made the fired bricks a much more reliable input
for use in permanent buildings and thus Sara Bricks decided to produce the fired bricks in their
manufacturing plant. Fired brick were also useful for absorbing any heat generated throughout
the day and then releasing it at night. Sara Bricks Ltd. manufactures bricks with a mixture of clay
and sand which is mixed with water to create the correct consistency. Sometimes the bricks also
have added lime, ash or organic matter which speeds up the burning of the brick. The clay
mixture is then formed in molds to the desired specification ready to be dried and then burnt in
the kiln.
SCOPE: While working on the project we learned many practicle things about production
operations of a manufacturing company, which would help us in future work in our professional
life.
AIM : Our companys aim is to develop environmentally sustainable strategies to produce
relatively low-cost and automatically produced bricks of best quality to satisfy consumer needs.
LIMITATIONS
There may have many omissions and errors on our part but we have tried our level best to
prepare this report to the required standard. We visited the factory and interviewed the Chairman
of the company to gather the most appropriate and actual data. But still there were some
information we find it difficult to collect. We approximated some measures of the production
operation and used some hypothetical data based on the relevant websites. Hopefully our
mistakes and limitations will be considered since we are still learners.

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Background
Sara Bricks Ltd. is an automated brick field which started its journey in 1990. The factory of
Sara Bricks Ltd. is situated in Kaliakoir, Savar and the main office is in Kakrail, Dhaka. The
factory currently has 100-120 employees. Other than machinaries, the company also has
Payloader, Escavator, Chain Dodger, Small Trucktor and some Trucks. The company has total
assets of 30 Crore.
When the company started its operation, it was 100% manually operated. So, the production rate
was very low. As the competition rose, the need for increase in production arouse. So, the
company invested BDT 2 crore for modernization around the year 2000. It brought massive
changes in the production process.When the company was manual, it produced 10-15 lakhs
bricks per month. But when it became automated, the production number jumped to 20-25 lakhs
bricks monthly. With the production, the revenue also increased. We can see that with the use of
operational management, the company was able to bring dramatic changes in the industry.
The reason behind choosing this company is the company is owned by one of our group mates
father. So there will be ease of access to information. Also, the factory is fully run by
contemporary machineries. So we can observe physically the practical use of operational
management, which is the core idea of this project. And most importantly, if the project is
helpful enough for the company, the company can take suggestions from us and become more
successful. We have observed some unnecessary steps in the process of production. So, we have
suggested the company to rectify their flaws and come up with more organized and advanced
production system.

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4V Model Analysis
Volume
Low

High
Variety

High

Low
Variation

High

Low
Visibility

High

Low

Polar Diagram
Cost
Effectiveness

Quality
Quality

Existing Diagram
Improved Diagram

Speed

Flexibility
FFlexibility

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Companys

Dependability
Dependabli
PLC
Overview
Dependability

Sara Bricks Ltd. is now in the Growth stage of the PLC as it is in the market for a long time. In
this stage, the dominant operations performance objectives are dependability and quality. There
are a number of loyal customers and their positive word of mouth helps to increase the sales by
getting new customers. The company also have stable number of competitors since its inception.
They are in the second level and already in good position of quality and dependability axis.
The only things that Sara Bricks Ltd. should focus in this stage to achieve the mission are speed,
flexibility and cost effectiveness to be likely qualifiers.
Speed: The number of units produced per day is moderate and there are also wastages out of that
quantity. So the speed of manufacturing outputs should be increased to increase the productivity
level.
Flexibility: Sara Bricks Ltd. should offer more flexibility that will be able to successfully
compete in the present market. Flexibility is the main concern for sophisticated consumers. As
the product becomes outdated, the company may make changes to pace up with changing
consumer preferences. This can be a main obstacle in growing sales.
Price: The price of the company is not low as it should be according to the PLC model. To keep
the price comparatively low they may not be able to offer the highest quality. Moreover, when
there will be more variety the price may increase. So, Sara Bricks Ltd. should try to maintain the
price level rather than being costly.
Therefore, increasing the speed, flexibility and maintaining the cost will help Sara Bricks Ltd to
achieve the mission of becoming one of the leading bricks manufacturing company in the local
industry.

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Process1: Supply chain & Processing of Raw Materials

Searching
multiple suppliers

Negotiate
Contract with
suppliers of soil

N
Timely
deliver?

Discard

Good
quality
check

Y
*Pay

loader
machine and
box feeder

Crushing and
mixing soil

Cutting and
shaping

Extruder
chamber

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*Pay loader is the combined machine which processes the soil and transform into shapes of
bricks

Process 2: Drying & Burning Process

Trolleys
Transporting
WIP to Dryer

Whether
Chamber is
air proof or
not?

Gas supplied
to Dryer

No

Fix it
Yes
Dry at
250C for
3days

Burn in
Stove

Labor shift WIP to

Burn unit

*Check for
Grades of
Supervision
Finished goods

Supervision
Picket

Work in
progress or
WIP (ready
to burn)

Supervision
1st
Grade

Supervision
2nd Grade

Warehouse
Inventory
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*There are 3 outcomes of a decision node because the finished goods are categorized into three
grades by close supervision.

Process 3: Dealings with the Customers

Customer

Marketing and
Promotions

B2B

Segmentation

Individual

Marketing
Agents

Demonstration

Factory
/Office visit

Brochures, Exhibitions,
Visiting cards

No
Discard

Negotiation

Yes
Order Placing

No
Transportation

Yes
Supervision

Delivery

Sub-contract with
transporting agencies*

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*Sub-contract with Transporting Agencies: Contracting other transporting companies to

provide the bricks under the supervision of our employees.

Improved Process Map 1: Supply Chain & Processing of Raw Materials

*Contracting single
supplier of soil

Timely Delivery

Pay loader
machine and box
feeder

Crushing and
mixing soil

Cutting and
shaping

Extruder
chamber

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*Multiple Suppliers

Shift to Single Supplier which assures better Quality soil& saves

Time.
Critical Point

SMED Approach (move External activities to before the shutdown)

Improved Process Map 2: Drying & Burning Process

*Trolleys
Transporting WIP
from Hoffman kiln to
Tunnel system

Gas supplied
to Tunnel

Dry and burn

in Tunnel for
1 day

Finished
Goods

Warehouse
Inventory

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* Here, we will set-up the new Tunnel system which is an efficient machine that combines the drying
and burning process. It is an air proof system that will reduce the manufacturing time from 3 days to
only 1 day. The bricks will move through a conveyer belt during the manufacturing process producing
the specific grade of bricks at a time which will require less handling by labors. Thus it lowers the
costs. Moreover, there is strict quality control and inventory level can be kept at minimum due to its
reduced production time to 1 day, saving inventory costs.

Improved Process Map 3: Dealings with the Customers

Customer

Marketing and
Promotions

B2B

Segmentation

Individual

Marketing
Agents

Demonstration

Factory
/Office visit

Brochures, Exhibitions,
Visiting cards

No
Negotiation

Discard

Yes
Transport

*Own

Order Placing
Transportation

No Transport
Delivery
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* Here we recommended that it is wise to eliminate the sub-contract with other transportation
agencies but to introduce its own fleet of vehicles for providing transportation facilities which
will reduce the extra supervision in handling the finished products saving more time.

OVERALL OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT

Fish Bone Diagram

Equipment

Category
Identification

Manual
Handling
Process

Fixing machine
breakdowns
Air Leakage

Lengthy Drying
Process

Couldnt fetch
right grade of soil
Multiple
suppliers of
soil

Material

People

Process

Pollution

Waste
Management
Depletion of
natural resources

Environment

Wastage of
resources
Delayed
Production
Process
Supervision

Lack of
cooperation

Management
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Benchmarking (external)
In Bangladesh, the brick manufacturing companies do not use the Tunnel equipment system as
they have cheap labors whereas most firms in China follow the Tunnel system for production
and they have generated an optimum capacity of 100,000pcs/day. China (Mainland)
Specifications mentioned that the tunnel kiln system is equipped with high efficiency burner and
fuels can be fired completely making the production process safer and more convenient. So, this
new Tunnel Equipment System can be considered as an external benchmark with the
maximum capacity of 100,000 units per day. Previously Sara Bricks Ltd. used to follow the
Kiln system for its production process. However, if it follows the Tunnel system for production,
the bricks will be dried and burned and come out as a finished product within only 1 day
compared to 3 days of traditional Kiln system. It will help to reduce the problems of air leakage,
wastage of time, lower labor productivity. Thus, the overall operational efficiency of the firm
will increase and the current capacity of 70,000 bricks will be maximized to 100,000 units. So,
the company can attain or achieve the desired level of output which will be highly satisfactory
according to the industry standard. Eventually the firm will have enough supply to adequately
meet the needs of the customers following the tunnel system.

SMED Approach:
Instead of contracting with multiple suppliers the firm can develop a good relationship with a
single supplier to save time. The firm can negotiate with the supplier and check the quality of the
soil before starting the process. If the suppliers opinion contradicts with the firm it can change
the supplier then. So, the company will able to arrange the right soil earlier than taking the soil to
the Pay loader machine and Box feeder. The firm will move these External activities before the
shutdown to run the process quickly. This will also reduce downtime due to setups and
changeovers.

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OEE Calculations:
Operational Data:
Operating Time= 8 hours
Planned Production Time= 10 hours
Total Parts Produced= 60,000 per day
Ideal Rate= 10,000 per hour or 80,000 per day
Good Parts Produced= 54,000 per day
Wastage = 10%
Pieces Planned= 70,000 per day
Availability= Operating Time/ Planned Production Time
= 8/ 10
= 0.8
Total Parts Produced
Ideal Rate X Operating Time

Performance=

60,000
=

10,000 X 8

0.75

Good Pieces
Quality = Pieces Planned
54,000
=

70,000

0.77

OEE = Availability X Performance X Quality

= 0.8 x 0.75 X O.77

From the calculation we can see that due to

the low performance, the company has low
OEE. To improve its productivity, the
company should check on the total pieces
produced.
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= 0.46 = 46%

Recommendation
Sara Bricks Ltd. takes longer production time which delays the entire process. So, to fulfill the
consumer demand they should decrease it by lowering setup time and they should also decrease
their wastage of resources with good quality control. As a result company productivity will
increase and price will decrease.They should use single suppliers for raw materials rather than
multiple suppliers. The venture should increase the speed of the production and be more cost
effective. In future they should also try to be more flexible having more variety.They should use
their own transport for delivery of bricks for consistent customer satisfaction.The company
should use some automated equipments rather than manually working with people. Their
management needs to be improved by appointing skilled people especially in the quality control
department.The process of collecting raw materials needs to be improved. The new tunnel
system is recommended so that the overall productivity of the firm increases. The OEE is only
46% and the performance rate is 75% only. These parameters need to be improved and managed
efficiently. Thats why the company should use tunnel equipment system, which will change the
entire production system and produce bricks with less deviation in quality and time.

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