(Jay Steineker, 1988)
Loadmaster Systems Inc. has been in business since 1979 without a thorough analysis of its crew organization. Because crew efficiency is very important to the business in terms of labor cost, bidding, and goodwill to the contractors, this project was undertaken. This study is designed to test the assumptions made by the crew foremen in deciding the configuration for a particular job.
Presently, the crew for the metal assembly is arranged based on the number of welding machines available. All possible welding machines are used and the carrier-to-setter ratio is approximately 2:1 with the number of setters assigned in multiples of two. The number of stitch screwers is one or two, depending on the size of the crew and building.
The board and insulation configuration is usually determined by the square feet across the building. The number of square feet is divided by 25 and rounded up to calculate the number of screw gunners. The setters usually are set at three; one to set the insulation, one to set the board, and one to cut the board and insulation when necessary. The rest of the crew is allocated as carriers.
The method of analysis is a computer model to simulate a completed job, to compare the crew configuration that was actually used to configurations simulated by the program. The simulation is constructed by using time-motion studies from other job sites and using those numbers in a SLAM II model. The building used as a reference is the Shiloh Business Center, Building A.
The study finds that the crew for the metal assembly was arranged in the most efficient manner. However, this did not hold true for the board and insulation section. The model found three formations significantly more productive than the one employed on the job. The model indicates that the board should be set as quickly as possible (set two rows of board at a time instead of one) with the screw gunners partially anchoring the boards as the assembly proceeds. After all the boards are set, the screw gunners are free to finish the boards. The simulation data demonstrates that this strategy can produce a 1/3 savings in time on this section of the assembly. The study recommends that the conclusions drawn from the results of the simulation be implemented in the field for further testing.