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DBAP011 Business Analytics

Quality Diagnosis at the Kelpies Furniture Scotland

DUE DATE Thursday 31st October 2024, 11am

1. Introduction

The Kelpies Furniture Scotland (KFS) is a family business specializing in the design and manufacture of contemporary furniture. Starting in 2007 in a small workshop near Stirling with only 5 staff, the company has grown to around 200 employees and expanded to a second and larger facility Fife due to lower rental cost of the building. Both locations run the same production process depending on the models of furniture ordered from customers. The company’s CEO has the vision for the company to have one central location for all operational activities including production to be at Stirling by year 2025. This means that the number of workstations of each process can be increased from currently 2 to 6 workstations. This also means a bigger warehouse that can produce and store the furniture. However, the CEO and the management team were unsure if this expansion is possible although the priority is to uncover the current issues of staff wellbeing including absenteeism, quality concerns of the furniture ordered and capacity of demand.

The management has asked a group of “Business Analyst” and “People Analyst” to work together to explore the condition of the business and issues related to absenteeism, quality concerns and demand. The following sections provide information to start the investigation.

2. Product characteristic and demand

The special-made to order are popular among the regular customers in UK, Europe, and emerging market in Asia region. The current on demand furniture have 4 models either the frame. were made from wood or metal materials.

All models have a strong market attraction with the modern design utilising innovative materials that cares on sustainable environment with high quality standard. All designs have a copyrights and patents registered in UK and Europe. 2023, KFS has won the Made in Scotland Awards for category “Manufacturer of the Year” in recognition for the most outstanding business in the manufacturing supply chain manufacturer in Scotland, which demonstrates innovation and a commitment to excellence, sales growth and increased profitability between November 2021 and December 2022.

Since winning the award, the company has made progress with positive increase in sales and high awareness of the brand and publicity including in social media.

The most popular and expensive furniture is Model 1 which using sustainable cushion filled with recycled materials including wool and feathers, and detail upholstery work sewn by hand before sending it off to finishing station. The lowest cost of producing the furniture is Model 4 as the model does not require any use of wood materials and creative work at the upholstery’s station. Other options of the models as presented in Table 1.

Model	Material - Wood	Material -Metal	Cushion & Upholstery	Metal Work
1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2	Yes	Yes	Yes	-
3	Yes	-	Yes	-
4	-	Yes	-	Yes

Table 1: Available models and specifications

The Process flow of production line

The Production process

The process begins when order received from customer on model type and specification of materials (wood or metal).

At KFS, the company has a diverse range of manpower, each with specialized skills and responsibilities. Majority of staff are employed in the production line. Key responsible of production staff at KFS:

Upholsterers are responsible for covering and padding furniture frames with materials like fabric, leather, foam, and batting. They sew, staple, and glue upholstery materials to achieve the desired look and comfort.

Assemblers put together various furniture components, including frames, legs, and hardware, to create the final product.

Finishers apply stains, paints, and protective coatings to the furniture to enhance its appearance and durability.

Quality control inspectors examine finished furniture to ensure it meets design and quality standards. They identify defects, imperfections, or misalignments and may perform. minor adjustments or repairs.

Designers and engineers are responsible for creating furniture designs and prototypes. They use computer-aided design (CAD) software to develop detailed plans and specifications. Majority of designers are also Production Managers oversee the manufacturing process, coordinate workflow, and manage production schedules. This also involves in monitoring the initial treatment of the materials are appropriately and accurately applied according to standard policy and safety. Their role is supported by Supervisors, who provide direct supervision to production workers ensuring tasks are completed efficiently and safely.

Currently both locations have similar working pattern with morning and afternoon shifts from Monday to Friday. Part of growth strategic plans, the CEO has asked the HR Director to look at the possibility of introducing new working hours for effective production on every week throughout the year except during festive periods such as Christmas, New Year and Easter. The new ‘People Analyst Manager’ is task to diagnose if the new shifts pattern will work while maintaining the work-life balance ethos in KFS. The three new proposed shifts are shown in Table 2.

	Current	New Shifts Option	Plus Possible New Shifts Option
Operating Day	Monday - Friday	Monday - Friday	Saturday and Sunday
Operating Time	Morning shift: 7am – 2pm	Morning shift: 7am – 3pm	Morning shift: 7am – 3pm
	Afternoon shift: 2pm -9pm	Afternoon shift: 3pm -11pm	Afternoon shift: 3pm -11pm
		Night shifts: 11pm – 7am	Night shifts: 11pm – 7am

Table 2: Current and proposed new work pattern.

3. Production, quality, and space concerns

Inspections are carried out to check for any defects, imperfections, or misalignments. Quality control measures are important to ensure the furniture meets design and safety standards.

The data provided by the production manager (see KFS data.xlsx) describing the production of 1021 furniture order between year 2021 and 2022. As advised by the quality control inspectors, the quality score of furniture produced should reach 70 and over to avoid rework regardless of model or type of materials used. Any small defaults can be rectified or fix during the quality control check or finishing section. The latest mean quality score is 81 but there is much variability in contributing to the score. All major defaults will be labelled ‘Reject’ and send back to “Rework”, which this will cause disruption to the production process and dispatch time as the same process will be repeated. It’s acceptable for 5% rate for rework but recent data recorded more than double. This is worrying data from the quality perspective. The data also revealed that percentage of customer complaints from 5 different type as displayed in Table 2.

Code	Complaint Type	Action
1	No Complaint	-
2	Minor Complaint	No action required
3	Significant High Complaint	Minor fixing at finishing station
4	Serious Complaint	Significant but not major fixing at finishing station
5	Very Serious Complaint	Major rework and repeat production process

Table 3: Category of complaints

It’s also noted that the space problems are becoming an issue when the demand is growing. The storage units are limited and currently sharing storage spaces between Fife and Stirling. This has increased operational cost. Furthermore, the lease at Fife premises is coming to run out in 2025. Each station has a capacity of 2 workstations except for quality check and packaging which only have one.

4. Management Review

On the last monthly meeting, the directors of the company have raised some concerns and are considering making some changes to improve the productivity, quality and demand. Their comments recorded from the meeting are including:

Production Director – We should consider using new production methods which would speed up our processes.  We have performed 50 trials for each of finishing (in 3.8 hours with a s.d. of 1.10 hours; fixing at 3.4 hours with a s.d. of 1.04 hours, joinery at 3.45 hours with a s.d. of 0.7 and assembly at 4.3 hours with a standard deviation of 1.2 hours). We want to know which of these would be an improvement on the current methods for these process, and would employ them if so.  Also it is not clear what the outcome is of the recent training scheme. It  seems to have improved the quality score and the job satisfaction.  But we would like clarity. I supposed we should look at other approaches as well other than new machine and training if we want to increase 30% of our forecasted demand.”

HR Director – “Our People Strategy is incorporating our ethos in promoting work-life balance. The idea of new shifts pattern may jeopardise what we are currently doing. Perhaps we should investigate issues of absenteeism including lateness and unauthorised leaves if we want to improve the productivity. We are keen to find out on how HR Analytics can support us to explore and diagnose the issues. We can communicate the result to the CEO and board of directors. This should help us in addressing the issues and formulate the appropriate People Strategy.”

Finance Director – “Buying new machine maybe good investment but it’s still very expensive.  So I would like to see clear evidence of improvements, and the possibilities of new shift pattern as well.”

Marketing Director – “The latest marketing campaign proofing worked with our new customers, and they love Model 1. But our customer relationship’s email inboxes also full of complaints. We should consider focusing more on the best sales of models and drop Model 4 from the production and hopefully we can reduce number of complaints. We are wondering if one of the facilities has more complaints than the other.

5. Options

The latest productivity report highlighted on possible measures for quality improvement.

· A recent customer survey provides some feedback and highlight the volume of complaints. The implication to discontinue of Model 3 and 4 from the production line could increase 40% of sales Model 1 and 2, and will reduce amount of complaints.

· It’s estimated that the 24-hours shifts will increase 22% more of production output but this option is challenging to staff who have caring responsibilities.

The Assignment Tasks  

Examine the data provided in the file KFS data.xlxs and summarise the various variables concerning the management in a report.

Your Task Part 1:

1. Examine the data provided.  This is a workbook with three pages, describing production, personnel and training.  

2. Produce interesting descriptive summary statistics describing what has been happening in the company (addressing each page and the observations given by the management team).  

3. Describe what kinds of statistical tests you would employ to explore the concerns of the four senior managers (Marketing Director, Finance Director, Production Director, HR Director).  Apply both of these types tests at least once to show how they can be used to answer management concerns.

4. You must show in your report the complete application of at least two tests:

· a parametric z-test

· a non-parametric Chi-squared test

All of the managers have decided that it would be useful to adopt a dynamic simulation tool to allow them to do multiple experiments with the factory layout and resources.  They have decided to use Simul8 and have been given a 26-page document “An Introduction to Simul8”.  The company is aware that you have experience of Simul8 and so they have asked you to make a brief report to them, based on your experience and the content of this report on the following matters

Your Task: Part 2

You have also been asked to use your own initiative to discover how one other company has usefully used Simul8 for business purposes.

1. Explain how simul8 has been used by at least one other company in the world, and what it was used for.

2. Describe the key concepts of simul8, including the core building blocks (entry, activity, etc. ) of simul8, and describe how to build a basic simul8 model.

3. Explain how data from the descriptive analysis of Kelpies Demand and Production data could be used in the start point (entry work point) and the Activity Area (Work Centre) of a simul8 model.

Submission Requirements

Write, and submit a report containing:

• Executive summary: briefly stating the key objectives, methods, results and recommendations

• Produce a contents page, with list of figures

• Produce descriptive summary statistics describing what has been happening in the company (addressing the observations given by the management team).  

• Describe what kinds of statistical tests you would employ to explore the concerns of the five senior managers (Marketing Director, Purchasing Manager, Production Manager, HR Director and CEO). Include at least 1 z-test and one Chi-squared test.

• Describe how simul8 has been used by at least one other company in the world, and what it was used for.

• Describe the key concepts of simul8, including the basic building blocks simul8, and how to build a basic simul8 model.

• Explain how data from the descriptive analysis of Braeheart e-bikes could be used in the start point (entry work point) and the Activity Area (Work Centre) of a simul8 model.

• Provide your recommendations: interpreting the results of the analysis and the consequent suggestions for management action

Submit your report.  There is no need for you to submit a simul8 model, but if you want to include one as a companion to the tasks in part 2, you can.

You will be marked on the following criteria:

CRITERIA	WEIGHTINGS
Understanding the Assignment tasks 1 and 2	10%
Creating a Descriptive analysis of company activity	20%
Technical application 1 – use of z-test	10%
Technical application 2 – use of Chi-squared test	10%
Description of how Simul8 has been used by one other company.	10%
Description of the Building Blocks of a simul8 model.	20%
Describe how data from the descriptive analysis could be used in the start point (entry work point) and the Activity Area (Work Centre) of a simul8 model.	10%
Conclusions and Recommendations	10%

 Notes:  

This assignment is an individual task.  There is no group work involved in this task, and there should be no joint working on the task, and there should be no plagiarism from any other work in your submission.

This assignment is worth 100% of the module marks.

Report format, 2000 words.