Projects to do

Switching a line between flavours takes cleaning time, so small batches lose output while large batches build up stock nobody has ordered.

Snack packing lines have filling, sealing, coding and boxing stations, and the slowest one limits what leaves the gate each hour.

A small furniture workshop throws away offcuts and sawdust every week, though some of it could become products or income.

Tailoring units lose time to walking, waiting, re-stitching and spare stock, yet owners are usually too busy to notice.

Brands use words like made in India and handcrafted loosely, and buyers cannot tell which claims they can check.

When one shift leaves, important facts about machine settings, faults and stock are lost, and the next shift repeats old mistakes.

Workers who sit or stand in awkward positions all day develop pain and make more mistakes, and a small change in layout can help.

A small flour mill repairs machines only after they stop, which costs a day of sales every time a belt or bearing gives way.

Customer complaints about a product usually have roots in making, materials or packing, but companies read them only as service issues.

A small bakery sells several cookie types but does not know which ones earn money once ingredients, gas, labour and packing are counted.

A packing line may be running but still lose output through stops, slow running and rejects, which one measure called OEE brings together.

A small unit either runs out of an item in the middle of a job or orders too much, because nobody has a signal for when to reorder.

Adding a new product to a running line can cause errors, stoppages and rejects if materials, training and checks are not ready on day one.

An imported material may look cheaper per kilo, but freight, duty, waiting time, stock and quality problems can turn the comparison around.

A cluster of toy or textile artisans gets orders larger than it can fill by hand, yet fears that machines would erase what makes its work special.

A sweets maker's orders jump sharply before a festival, and without a plan the unit either runs short of hands or pays idle staff afterwards.

When a key raw material disappears for weeks, small units panic-buy, stop production or change recipes without thinking through the effects.

A family-run unit keeps stock, orders and wages in paper registers, so it cannot see what is selling, what is running out or who is owed money.

A kettle sells for much more than its materials, and few buyers know what separates the two numbers.

A small unit reorders by feel, which leads to stock-outs for some materials and cash tied up in others.

A food unit throws away peels, rejects and wash water every day, and each of these is both a cost and a burden on the environment.

A small parts unit that wants to supply a large carmaker must show it can make the same part the same way every time, and many small units cannot.

Annual reports describe how a manufacturer thinks about plants, suppliers and safety, but few students know how to read them for that.

Workers on a small assembly line see many small problems but have no simple way to suggest and test fixes.