Production line design and system analysis for new product introduction in electronics manufacturing

Abstract

In this research, a system level analysis was performed on a one piece flow layout design for a factory manufacturing AC motor control drives. The requirement was to create a layout for a new product while integrating existing manufacturing lines. Analytical methods and simulation techniques were used to validate the performance of the proposed line. The thesis outlines the manufacturing processes required to make the new product and presents an approach used to predict the new line's performance. A hybrid approach was employed wherein analytical methods were used to create a baseline plan of the production line. The baseline requirements were refined by modeling the line in a discrete event simulation to emulate existing factory constraints. The use of simulation enabled definition of lower level details like shift breaks times, machine breakdown trends and product batching policies. The simulation model was used to predict the impact of factory scenarios that were determined as necessary milestones in transforming the factory layout from existing layout to the proposed layout. The concept of changing the layout from process based to one piece flow was validated through a Kaizen event. The event resulted in floor space savings of 500 sq. ft. and a reduction in work in progress inventory of 2160 drives. The Kaizen event facilitated in familiarizing with the existing factory processes which was essential in creating the new factory layout.