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Looking from 2 years performance, the productivity of US, Europe, Germany, as well as Malaysia has improved in the first quarter of year 2008. Manufacturing productivity
growth in United States was slower in the first quarter of 2008 than reported on May 7 as output was revised down by more than hours. Output and hours in manufacturing, which
includes about 12 percent of U.S. business-sector employment, tend to vary more from quarter to quarter than data for the aggregate business and nonfarm business sectors U.S
Department of Labor, 2007. The Malaysian economy is expected to expand faster in 2008, with real gross domestic product GDP growth projected at between 6 and
6.5. Inflation is projected to remain low, as output growth is below potential level. Furthermore, global inflation is also seen cushioned by a weaker US dollar, higher
productivity growth and proactive measures taken by major economies to curb inflationary pressures. The manufacturing sector, a long-time engine of growth, is
projected to expand 3.8, compared with 3.1 in 2007 Malaysia Economic Update, 2007.
Today, most U.S business and industries are, by necessity, restructuring themselves by downsizing, in order to operate more effectively in an increasingly competitive world.
With more intensity than ever before, they are addressing cost reduction and quality improvement through productivity improvement. Actions were taken as an early step to
prevent economic crisis caused by manufacturing sectors as most countries has listed manufacturing as the main contribution to the economic status.
1.2 Problem statement
Labor, productivity, efficiency and time management are among the key performance in the industry. Due to the rising cost in capital, labor and materials, the importance of
labor has become a priority in the industry. Many companies now are starting to adopt Lean culture where the drive is to eliminate waste everywhere in the organization.
Companies that are systematic and continuous in their effort to eliminate waste will
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enhance their competitiveness in the market due to the increased in efficiency and improved productivity. There are some issues based on observations that lead to this
report writing. It is found that some tasks performed by operators are unnecessary and repetitive. The unnecessary tasks effect the cycle time and daily production rate of the
department. Moreover, some operators experienced muscle fatigue due to long-hour standing position. Elimination of unnecessary movements or activities will automatically
improve the productivity of the company. The cycle time and average time output rate is important to be used as a counter measure.
1.3 Objectives of study
The motion and time study needed to be conducted precisely and accurately to get the ideal labor utilization and at the same time, contribute to the increase of productivity.
The purpose to research and produce a report about the times study and work measurement is to:
i. Observe the sequence of tasks performed by operators
ii. Perform work study on operators activities
iii. Determine the current utilization of the operator
iv. Propose the ideal man to machine ratio
1.4 Scope
This research focuses on the labor utilization at EOL End of Line of QFN Quad Flat No-Lead Department in Texas Instruments Malaysia Sdn Bhd. In EOL of QFN
Department, there are 5 main processes involved and this research is done at the last phase which is the inspection process. Since inspection process is divided into manual
and automatic inspection, this study is done at the automatic inspection area, using STI machines. Labor utilization and productivity is the main concern and the supportive
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outcome of this research will explain the ideal man to machine ratio as well. However, on the other hand, this research will not cover the labor utilization and man to machine
ratio at mold, deflash, laser and saw process.
1.5 Importance of study
