Improving Flexibility by Implementing Multi Product Assembly Line in Screw Air Compressor Assembly Line

Abstract

The contemporaneous competitive global economy, it's a formidable requisite to meet the dynamic customer needs and demands which are often region specific. It is all about the ability to adapt rapidly to handle changing customer demands. Agile manufacturing helps in swiftly adjusting the existing manufacturing process to the dynamic customer needs both in terms of new features built into the product and technological change with a special focus on cost. Current study involves integrating two assembly lines that were manufacturing air compressors of different capacities into one single assembly line. The newly integrated line ought to be capable of handling product variants. Each variant has its own product features with possibilities for human error. Industry 4.0 -an enabler to develop an integrated quality embedded process will ensure the prevention of human error. In the aforementioned line integration process, lean tools such as Value stream mapping (VSM) an effective lean tool that helps to identify the value added and nonvalue-added activities; Eliminate -Combine -Rearrange -Simplify (ECRS) an approach that helps to optimize the process and Line balancing a production strategy to meet the optimal production rate were inculcated to eliminate the shortcomings. The study evaluated the current state and future state of the processes through VSM, thereby obtaining an insight about the ever-evolving market demand, TAKT time, cycle time and nine wastes involved in the processes that determined the scope for improvement. Introduction of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) application helped in manufacturing the multi-variants in a single line, acted as an advanced poke yoke system to reduce human error that also enlisted data to improve the processes. Kaizen implements were generated with a brainstorming session with members from Cross Functional Teams (CFT). After line integration and implementing kaizens and incorporating line balancing, it was observed that the line capacity enhanced by 9.25 %, with a cycle time reduction by 29.94%, besides improvement in the line-agility from 68 % to 100% and optimizing the need by two manpower.