Manufacturing in school

Brian Russell

Exam expectations

Issues associated with manufacturing using school facilities are regularly tested in the written paper. Questions deal with both designing for manufacturing as well how you would organise your own manufacturing. You should also be able to plan a space for manufacturing and suggest tasks for a group of students.

Production line

• The following slides show a group of students that had been set the challenge to manufacture Christmas gift tags with ribbons attached.

• Sets of five were to be packaged in a bag with folded card closure and Euroslot for retail display

• Transit cartons were needed and each one needed to contain ten sets of tags

• The customer order was for a total of 500 gift tags

Getting started

• Early in the activity the group needed to discuss how the production line will need to be organised to maximise the available space and labour.

• The overall number of individual components will need to be determined and the tasks allocated to individuals/teams of workers.

Production line• Note how the students have organised conveyors to move the manufactured parts to the next

stage of production• All parts will be moved in plastic trays

Production line• Here you can see the first stage of the production line with a student die-cutting gift

tags• Several tags are cut at once

Production line• Gift tags are threaded with ribbon• This is a slow task and several students were allocated to this operation

Production line

• Transit cartons have been creased using a jig then notches cut out to form glue tabs

Production line

• Batches of five are threaded with ribbon and stacked ready for packaging• At this stage a record is kept of the number of tags produced

Production line• Using a bag sealer small packs of gift tags are packaged• The boy on the right is cutting printed card to form a bag closure

Production line

Some of the issues to be considered are:• Organisation of tools and equipment• Organisation of labour• Communication systems• Movement of materials and goods• Quality Assurance• Quality Control

Production line

The manufacturer also needs to consider:• Maximisation of materials• Reduction of waste materials• Speed of operations• Manufacturing aids needed• Management of waste materials (recycling)• Health & safety

Key questions

• Will one person be in overall control to manage the group, oversee the whole operation and redistribute labour as the activity progresses? (Operations manager)

• Who will be responsible for quality assurance? (Quality dept) • How will the materials and goods be transported to the

required point ready for dispatch to the customer? (Logistics)• Would the use of additional manufacturing aids improve

quality/increase productivity? (Production manager)• How will waste materials be collected and disposed of safely

and effectively? (Waste management)

Key questions

• Would the use of additional manufacturing aids improve quality/increase productivity? (Production manager)

• How will waste materials be collected and disposed of safely and effectively? (Waste management)

• Are there any hazards during any stage of the production process? (Risk assessment)

Choosing the right processes

In school ask: • What facilities are available to me? • What materials are available to me?• What skills do I already have or do I need to learn

new ones?

In the end, the questions you ask will be very similar to the ones the production manager will be considering.