Operational improvement and mixed model value stream development for gauge production line

Abstract

Gauge production line in Company X has an average daily demand of 13 gauges now. And the demand expects to rocket to 26 gauges per day in 2011. However, the current daily throughput is 10 gauges. The current state value stream map was constructed to understand current production and find out the waste. To eliminate operational waste, operator work load was balanced and corresponding standard work procedure for operators and production monitoring technique were developed. The daily production throughput increased by 30% from 10 gauges to 13 gauges. To achieve the daily throughput of 26 gauges, the capacity of current line was analyzed and necessary improvements for flow were identified. Operator workload was rebalanced to meet the demand. Kanban system was suggested for production control. And to reduce the lead time, the production line was also recommended to schedule for mixed production. Finally, the future state value stream map was constructed. The total lead time for electronics parts and mechanical parts from receiving to shipping was reduced from 100 days to 51 days and 57 days to 31 days respectively. And the processing time was reduced from 4.1 hours to 2.5 hours for each gauge.