Our Guest Post comes from Professor Howard Weiss who is the developer of the ExcelOM and POM software that we provide free with your text.
Superbowl LVI is quickly approaching so this is an opportune time to discuss the footballs that will be used. All NFL footballs are manufactured by the Wilson Sporting Goods Company at its factory in Ada, Ohio. Wilson is a Chinese-owned subsidiary that has been manufacturing footballs for over 60 years and currently makes 700,000 footballs per year. Wilson has continuously improved its manufacturing process over that time leading to the current five step manufacturing process followed, of course, by quality control.
While there is a straightforward sequence when manufacturing a football, Wilson does not use an assembly line. One advantage of its process layout is that it allows Wilson to pay its workers by piece.
Cutting: Each football consists of four equal ellipsoid parts that Wilson cuts from a large piece of leather using a cookie-cutter style mold. The Horween Leather Company has been supplying leather to Wilson, its largest customer, since 1941 for both footballs and basketballs. One of the four pieces is stamped with the appropriate Logo for the organization that will use the footballs. Each seamstress has a capacity of roughly 150 footballs per day.
Sewing: Wilson applies a backing and then sews the top two panels together and the bottom two panels together using sewing machines that seem to be the same as those used when Wilson first started manufacturing footballs for the NFL in 1941. After sewing, the seamstress punches the holes for the laces.
Turning: Wilson then softens the leather and turns the footballs rightside out with the help of a steel bar.
Lacing: Following turning, Wilson inserts a bladder into the football and then laces the football.
Molding: The last step is to mold the footballs into their shape and to inflate to 13 pounds per square inch. This is the standard PSI for NFL footballs (unless you are Tom Brady).
Quality Control: The quality control inspector checks that the seams are perfect and that the footballs are consistent and feel the same to every player
The footballs with their special Superbowl stamp are then ready for the big game.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Given the information above, how many seamstresses need to be employed to meet the annual production rate?
- What are other advantages, aside from paying by the piece, are there in using a process layout rather than a product layout?