Can you give me ideas how to improve my work. I'm an engineer at a factory that builds LCD TV's?

Question

But now I'm in a position where I have to make improvements in the floor related to the product (as an Industrial Engineer) and also I need to part on the coordination of the construction of our new factory that will start on 2009. I really need to know how can you give me some ideas to get organized with all the activities that will start. THANKS A LOT!!!

Answer 1

According to the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean Manufacturing which is based on the TPS, the best answer to that is to listen to the people who work directly on the floor.  

Establish a system where suggestions for small and rapid improvements can be made, then introduced as a controlled experiment, the results observed, then either fully implemented or dropped based on the results.

TPS and Lean are based on the idea that the ideal state is to be rid of all hidden waste such as setup time, motion, inventory, travel, overproduction, and over-processing, among other things.

Another part of this is to think along the lines of Activities (structured and standardized), Connections and Flows.

Direct observation is one of the only ways to detect and eliminate waste, which is why input from those performing the actions is so vital to making a factory ever more efficient.

Now get in there and OBSERVE in order to eliminate that waste!

Answer 2

Engineering careers tend to graduate from details to larger planning jobs. I am ME. in later years I worked on plant layout, plant occupancy, plant expansions, office expansions. I have crossed over to EE and CE on many occasions.

Subscription to magazines that cover areas new to you may help entering those new areas, like Plant Engineering.

Answer 3

Perhaps you can come up with new unique ideas for the LCD Television.  An example of this would be putting in a built in DVD player/burner or even a built in Tivo/DVR type device.  You could also come up with ideas on what materials are used in making the televisions themselves.  In any case, good luck.