Manufacturing Planning and Scheduling Techniques Assignment

Manufacturing Planning and Scheduling Techniques - Assignment Example The company also offers value creation solutions by improving productivity and reducing costs of operation through service solutions such as cutting, custom making, and kitting (Top Cable 1). The initial process of manufacturing a conductor is the process of wire-drawing. This process involves the reduction of the diameter of the copper wire slowly to its final diameter. Wire-drawing process increases conductivity and ductility of the communication cables and wires. The copper wires usually arrive at Top Cable from the foundry in huge coils each measuring 5 tonnes. This copper is known as â€Å"wire rod† in technical terms and measures 8 mm. The wire drawing method performed in these wires takes place in two methods: drawing and further reduction or annealing. Top Cable thereafter takes the wires through wiring stage where the engineers make conductors with differing cross-sections. Top Cable takes the copper wires to the next process of insulation. Insulation involves covering of the conductors to ensure that current leakages do not occur. Top Cable uses different insulation materials depending on the features of the communication cable it needs. The company considers heat resistance and insulation capacity to determine the insulation quality, and the quality of the resultant insulated cables. In some communication cables, Top Cable uses high heat resistant insulation materials to allow the wires from the previous stage to transmit a lot of power as compared to other wires that have low heat resistance. Top Cable adds the insulating material by an extrusion process that involves high temperature. This method ensures that no leakages of current occur. Various materials used in insulation include EPR, PVC, and XLPE. Once the insulation process ends, the manufacturing process subjects the insulated cables to voltage tests to make sure that the layers of insulatio n do not have any fault. Phase