Andy Dingley wrote:
It was somewhere outside Barstow=20

(Toronto actually - but what the heck...) :-)

when WillR
wrote:
=20
=20
IMHO - each job gets assigned overhead. That's always the way it was=3D=
20
looked at by the manufacturing shops (custom shops, programming shops=3D=
20
etc.) I worked in/dealt with....=20
=20
=20
IMHE, only the ones being taken over by ****wit MBAs who'd spend $100
to track a single screw.

I never said anything about MBA's -- you did. (Just in case any crazed=20
MBA's with guns are reading this.) Now I gotta clean my screen cause I=20
spit all over it... Notice I carefully avoided comment on useless=20
****wit MBA types. But wasn't thinking of tracking single screws --=20
except as noted by you. Simply referred to overhead... And you have=20
answered well so you don't need to re-comment unless you would like=20
to... (But loved your "way with words".)

But I think I understand your point - so that's OK -- tend to agree that =

trivial items should be tracked only on large jobs. The the only issue=20
becomes the "cut-off point" -- which is by nature quite debatable.

(And no -- no MBA here)

This works for Ford. A million screws is big money. But on the scale
of Ford you don't need to have overheads. Your volume is large and
predictable, so you can track plant utilisation accurately and thus
assign even things like rent and wear on the carpets. Overheads turn
into per-item costs.
Easy=20

Agreed. Easier to do at that level. Agreed.


In a jobbing shop though, you can't do this. A smallwaterjet shop
with one expensive machine finds it hard to do, because they can't
predict utilisation perfectly. For a typical woodworking shop, with
two guys and half-a-dozen machines, it's impossible. Will you be using
the saw or the moulder tomorrow ? Which project column should I book
the sharpening charges to ?
=20

Created system that do this data collection -- so just different=20
experience I guess.

You can't predict utilization better than 80% even in large shops (not=20
in any industries I saw anyway) -- you can only observe (what happened)=20
with close to 100% accuracy. This requires closed loop (adaptive)=20
systems - which should be discussed somewhere else.

Can't argue with your reasoning though if the shop isn't equipped to do=20
the data collection you are correct. IMO. (and since most probably don't.=
=2E.)

Understood. Appreciate the comments. Promise not to get an MBA.


--=20
Will R.
Jewel Boxes and Wood Art
http://woodwork.pmccl.com
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those=20
who have not got it.=94 George Bernard Shaw