Value Stream Mapping Assignment

ABC Inc. is in the business of manufacturing knives. The company works 2 shifts of 8 hours each for 5 days in a week. Each shift has a 30 min lunch break and two 15 min breaks. ABC Inc's sole customer is San Diego Knives.

The daily demand for knives is 20,000. ABC, Inc. delivers knives to San Diego Knives once a day. The MRP system at ABC, Inc. conveys this daily order to all stages including the supplier.

The supplier delivers 20,000 sheets of metal once in two weeks. Each sheet can make 10 knife blades.

? The first step is stamping to obtain the blades from the sheet. 10 blades are produced in 10 seconds. The changeover time is 2 hours.

? The next step is grinding where 10 blades are processed in 30 seconds with a changeover time of 30 minutes. There is an inventory of 20,000 blades between stamping and grinding.

? The next step in the sequence is cutting to obtain the serrations on the knife. This process takes 50 seconds for 10 blades. The changeover time is 15 minutes. There is an inventory of 5,000 blades between grinding and cutting.

? Now, the blades go through a surface treatment operation where 10 blades are process simultaneously in 60 seconds. The changeover
time is 20 minutes. There is an inventory of 5,000 blades between cutting and surface treatment.

? The blades are now assembled into the handles. This process takes 10 seconds for each knife. There is an inventory of 10,000 blades
between the surface treatment stage and the assembly.

? Once assembled, the knives are packed and shipped. The packing process takes 20 seconds for each knife. There is an inventory of 10,000 knives between the assembly and packing stages.

Every stage has a single operator. Determine the following:

1. Current-state Map

2. Future-state Map - explain the rationale for the proposed improvements.