Question

6) What are the major process steps in the assembly of a subway sandwich?

This question is asked in DeGarmo's Materials and Processes in Manufacturing textbook but is not answered in the textbook answers for Chegg. Do these steps use actual manufacturing terms.?

Answer 1

Major process steps in the assembly of a subway sandwich

Subway wants their customers to get exact sandwich which they ordered.

• For that they prefer single piece flow approach.So they have assembly line for sandwich area from taking your order to paying for your order.Parts of the sandwich will be assembled by several chefs/employees in that assembly line.Each one shall performs a specified sequence of assembly.
• Assembly line consists of signs and pictures along with assembly processes and everything needed to make a particular sandwich is displayed on this line through clear viewing panels.So, we can say that they are using Visual factory Concept of manufacturing.During higher volume of sandwich orders they utilizes teamwork and 5S.Where 5S includes - sort,set in order,shine,standardise,sustain.
• The different raw materials for the production are stored at different point of use in the assembly line and are placed in proper order as per the need and ensures the mistake proofing of prepartion sequence.
• The ingredients needed in large amount will be kept in multiple large size bins and the less consumed one will be in smaller bins further away.
• Now the production starts one by one and the layer generally goes in an order- bottom slice of thebread,mustard,mayonise,cheese,meat,onion,pepperonchinis,tomato,cucumber,lettuce,top slice of the bread with the same condiments.
• Uses FIFO system, first in first out. That is, the chef will first use the remaining ingredient that is left for the next sandwitch he is going to prepare.So, they are not spoiling their inventory and the customer is getting freshest product.   

Thus we can say that the steps they are following uses manufacturing terms.