Abstract:
Productivity is a measure of the effective use of resources.It is the relationship between result and the time it takes to achieve the results. Leather processing is a high labour intensity process of converting hides and skins to leather which is a source of employment. However, leather production in Kenya has not reached full potentialas a result of low productivity by individual tanneries. This paper evaluated productivity level Key Performance Indicators(KPIs’), sought knowledge by analysing the OEE, throughput analysis, cycle time analysis and labour productivity analysis. The study was done through observation,assesment of company records and documents and interviews. The tannery OEE was 8.97% where the ideal value is 85%, actual throughput in a month was averaging below 250,000 ft2-1 against a design throughput capacity of 400,000ft2-1. Production cycle time for a single batch was 19 days compared to standard average of 15 days and the labour productivity was calculated at 41.72ft2/man/day against some hypothetical parameters for a model tannery of 270 ft2/man/day. From the analysis there is evidence of ineffectiveness in the performance and unavailability of the production resources. Suitable remediesproposed for the tanning plant are introduction of TPM activities and Lean manufacturing concept.
