2. 2
Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................5
Background........................................................................................................................................7
Profile of Organizational .....................................................................................................................9
Lead time reductions theories .....................................................................................................13
Literature Review ...........................................................................................................................22
Proposed Methodologies ...............................................................................................................26
Batching Machines ...................................................................................................................26
Machine Downtimes .................................................................................................................27
Research Methodology..................................................................................................................27
Method of analysis:........................................................................................................................29
Current state analysis ..................................................................................................................31
Data collection, Analysis and interpretation.......................................................................................32
Findings & Suggestions .....................................................................................................................35
Conclusions......................................................................................................................................38
References.....................................................................................................................................38
3. 3
Executive summary
Project work is carried out at Perfect Profile Center located at Gala No.14,15,16 Parmar
industrial complex, Chinchwad Pune 411019, Maharashtra India. Company is a small
scale company and is involved in manufacturing of Cutting Tools and profile form
cutters.
In today’s competitive business world, companies require small lead times, low costs
and high customer service levels to survive. Lead time is the time spent that elapses
between the placement of an order and the receipt of the order into inventory, lead time
may influence customer service and impact inventory costs.
In today’s context, customers want timely delivery of the product and if proper delivery is
given then higher customer satisfaction can be gained and results in retention of
customer and growth of business.
The study has been carried out to analyze causes for late delivery of the product to
customers. Based on the primary and secondary data by studying the delay in delivery
to the customer.
The causes for the delay in the delivery are observed by studying processing time for
manufacturing of the tools. The data is then analyzed with the help of line diagrams and
bar charts and valued suggestions are given to the company.
4. 4
Abstract
In today’s competitive business world, companies require small lead times, low
costs and high customer service levels to survive. Because of this, companies
have become more customers focused. The result is that companies have been
putting in significant effort to reduce their lead times.
The purpose of this master thesis was to reduce lead time at perfect profile centre
by focusing both on ordering and production times. The study was initiated by
investigating the customer needs, to give an indication of the length of the lead
times accepted by the customers. The information gathered was compared to the
lead times found during the chartings of the current flows of material and
information. The findings were used as a basis when analyzing the current state
and suggesting improvements for the future product flows. The information was
gathered at Unit 1 through interviews, sales statistics documentation and production
observations, along with literature studies, and value stream maps were used to
visualize the bottlenecks and sources of waste in the product flows.
It was found that the most appropriate mapping method for lead time
reduction was Value Stream Mapping (VSM). From the results achieved by VSM
it was obvious that the press machines were bottlenecks. In order to increase their
capacity, their change over time should be reduced. Another observation
derived from the VSM, was that a new order passing through the ordering
department is an unnecessary step. Some other recommended changes based on
applying TPS are:
Reduction of work in process inventory (WIP)
Reduction of waiting time between press and converter
Stop the process to build in quality (this sounds awkward)
Collect more information
Implementation of the 5S methodology
By implementing these changes, the future state map was created and the total lead
time was reduced from 8 days to 6 days. The production lead time reduced from 4.35
days to 4 days
5. 5
Introduction
The main focus of companies in the 20th century was the customers. It has become
more and more competitive to satisfy customers (Gaither 1994). For instance, to
perform in a global market, short lead times are essential to provide customer
satisfaction. Organizations that have focused on cycle time as a productivity
measure can reduce delivery time and improve quality, thereby creating more
satisfied customer. Cycle time or lead time is from the time a customer release an
order until the time they receive the finished product. (Gaither 1994)
Before 1980, customers tolerated long lead times which enabled producers to
minimize product cost by using economical batch sizes. Later, when customers began
to demand shorter lead times, they were able to get them from competitors. This is
when the problem arose and companies started to look for changes to be more
competitive. In an attempt to reduce lead time, businesses and organizations found
that in reality 90% of the existing activities are non-essential and could be eliminated.
As soon as manufacturers focused on processes, they found waste associated with
changeovers, quality defects, process control, factory layout, and machine down time.
So they tried to find ways to reduce or eliminate waste. By eliminating the non-value
adding activities from the processes and streamlining the information flow significant
optimization results can be realized
Many trends affect the metalworking industry, including customer demands for the best
quality, lowest cost and shortest delivery time. Design concepts for modular machine
tools can address these expectations through general-function modules that can be
combined to meet job requirements while reducing costs and lead times.
Modular machines benefit large production facilities with their ability to easily interlink
and form work cells, while smaller facilities profit from their flexibility, with all users
enjoying lower investment costs compared to custom, turnkey solutions. Available for
chucked components and shaft work pieces, modular machines can increase
production with their shared, basic designs.
The work area of a cutting tool modular machine tool
The goal behind cutting tool modular concept was to develop a platform that enables
engineers to form manufacturing cells easily while enhancing precision and productivity.
Most importantly, modular machines offer more flexibility with the integration of a range
of manufacturing technologies for an extensive product lineup, allowing quick and
efficient changeover to meet evolving production requirements. This flexibility enables
manufacturers to change the way they use modular machines over time.
The most obvious advantage is capitalizing on a shared operating and parts strategy.
Regardless of the technology, these machines use identical components, from
human/machine interfaces to drive controllers and motors, for their basic design. Not
only does this allow end users to simplify operation, but also procurement because they
6. 6
reduce their spare-part inventories. This component-commonality strategy can increase
profitability by reducing spare-part investment and warehousing costs.
Operators and mechanics benefit from the streamlined design as well. A modular
machine speeds changeovers and maintenance to increase throughput. Because the
base modules remain consistent, a modular design shortens the learning curve for new
employees, as well as experienced workers when new machines are put into
production.
Additionally, modular designs save floor space. Each machine has a compact design to
minimize its footprint. This also allows them to be positioned close together. For loading
and unloading work pieces, cutting tool modular models feature integrated, automated
pickup bands, or conveyor belts, at a uniform transfer height, simplifying the integration
of robots and transfer units, if required.
Machine tool builders also see advantages to providing modular concepts. Not only do
they benefit from the smaller component inventories that come with a common parts
strategy, but a modular approach means less development time while still having the
ability to integrate machine functions. Systems are broken down into small units, with
the awareness that these units will be common to different applications, yet brought
together as needed for the final design.
All products must evolve, and a modular design shortens the development and redesign
cycle to that end. This is because a machine tool builder can reuse most of the old
modules for its latest-generation machine and change only the ones that need
improvement.
As the market continues to demand increased performance despite decreasing budgets
and an emphasis on a quick return on investment, the attractive price-performance ratio
of modular machines will increase their market penetration. This shows that a simple
concept can deliver the best solution.
7. 7
Background
Cutting Tool Technology
Tool Life
Tool Materials
Tool Geometry
Cutting Fluids
Three Modes of Tool Failure
Fracture failure
◦ Cutting force becomes excessive and/or dynamic, leading to brittle
fracture
Temperature failure
◦ Cutting temperature is too high for the tool material
Gradual wear
◦ Gradual wearing of the cutting tool
Preferred Mode of Tool Failure: Gradual Wear
Fracture and temperature failures are premature failures
Gradual wear is preferred because it leads to the longest possible use of the tool
Gradual wear occurs at two locations on a tool:
◦ Crater wear – occurs on top rake face
◦ Flank wear – occurs on flank (side of tool)
Tool Life Criteria in Production
1. Complete failure of cutting edge
2. Visual inspection of flank wear (or crater wear) by the machine operator
3. Fingernail test across cutting edge
4. Changes in sound emitted from operation
5. Chips become ribbony, stringy, and difficult to dispose of
6. Degradation of surface finish
7. Increased power
8. Workpiece count
9. Cumulative cutting time
Tool Materials
Tool failure modes identify the important properties that a tool material should
possess:
◦ Toughness - to avoid fracture failure
◦ Hot hardness - ability to retain hardness at high temperatures
◦ Wear resistance - hardness is the most important property to resist
abrasive wear
Twist Drill Operation
8. 8
Rotation and feeding of drill bit result in relative motion between cutting edges
and workpiece to form the chips
◦ Cutting speed varies along cutting edges as a function of distance from
axis of rotation
◦ Relative velocity at drill point is zero, so no cutting takes place
◦ A large thrust force is required to drive the drill forward into hole
Twist Drill Operation – Problems
Chip removal
◦ Flutes must provide sufficient clearance to allow chips to be extracted
from bottom of hole
Friction makes matters worse
◦ Rubbing between outside diameter of drill bit and newly formed hole
◦ Delivery of cutting fluid to drill point to reduce friction and heat is difficult
because chips are flowing in the opposite direction
In this section of the thesis, the problem definition and introduction to perfect profile
centre is presented.
In today’s competitive business world, companies should have small lead times,
low costs and high customer service levels to survive. Recently low cost countries
have huge share in market and they are growing to great extent.
To achieve high service levels, companies should make the flow of information,
material and resources as efficient as possible. Therefore it is important to know
how a company performs its business and communicates with its suppliers and
customers. Having a good relationship with ones supplier and customer is a key
success factor in today’s business world.
This study was based on the work accomplished for perfect profile centre. The
main products of this company are labels and etiquettes. At perfect profile centre,
the lead time for each repeated order was approximately 8 days, and for new orders
the lead time was 10 days. Perfect profile centre’s goals were to reduce this lead
time to less than a week with a corresponding reduction in cost thereby
improving of performance of company.
Value stream mapping was selected because it was a good methodology to visualize
a company’s performance. By creating current state map, value adding and non-
value adding activities were determined. Areas of improvement could be
distinguished and proper actions for waste elimination could be taken. To achieve
a future state map, different lean principles could be implemented.
9. 9
Scope of the study:
The project is based on the secondary data available at the company and the primary
data collected at the company by observing delayed deliveries.
The study of delayed deliveries at Perfect Profile Centre.
The study was limited to CNC machines only.
This study will help the company to get solution to control late delivery of the
orders.
Objectives of study:
To study the process of manufacturing cutting tools.
To study gap between expected delivery time and actual delivery time.
To find out reasons behind late delivery of orders.
Profile ofOrganizational
Company:
Perfect profile centre is a small scale industry, a proprietary firm established in 1995
and is manufacturer of solid carbide cutting tools and profile form cutters. Company
supplies cutting tools to various automobile companies as well as to other small scale
industries.
Products:
The manufacturer of standard as well as special purpose cutting tools as per the
customer demand for milling, turning, drilling, boring etc applications.
Drills
Reamers
End mills
Ball nose cutters
Brazed cutters
Profile cutters
The design, manufacture and supply of custom cutting tools tailored to specific
customer requirements.
Major Customers:
Tata Motors
10. 1
Mahindra Motors
Cummins India PVT LTD
Hindustan Pencils
Sandvik Asia
Equipments:
Perfect Profile Centre has setup of conventional as well as CNC machines with help
of which manufacturing of cutting tools are done.
In conventional machines manually operated machines are available such as tool
and cutter, Optical Profile Grinding, milling, cylindrical grinding machines. For brazed
cutters brazing unit is available with the help of which, carbide tip is fixed on the
steel shank of the tool.
In CNC three 5-axis CNC machines are available out of which two machines are
used for roughing purpose and one is used for finishing. With the help of CNC
machines, cutting tools can be manufactured within tolerance which is acceptable to
the customer.
Process:
For different tools different steps are followed:
1) Drill/End mill/Reamer/Ball nose Cutters:
i. Cutting the rod of required length.
ii. Brazing false centre
iii. Cylindrical grinding to obtain required diameter
iv. Parting(To remove fall Center)
v. Facing(To clean unclean face after parting)
vi. Fluting
vii. OD reliving
viii. Point angle
2) Brazed Cutters:
i. Cutting the rod of required length
ii. Turning
iii. Milling
iv. Hardening
v. Tip Brazing
vi. Tip Grinding
11. 1
Theoretical frame of reference
There were several different approaches when discussing lead time reduction.
The one approach that was selected for this master thesis was implementing
lean principles to eliminate wastes. Therefore it is important to understand the
lean philosophy, lean principles, the definition of waste, and different kinds of
waste. To properly and thoroughly discover those areas with waste, all
processes must first be mapped. There also were many different types of
process mappings with each possessing its own level of suitability for particular
situation.
The following theoretical frame of reference is comprised of theories on both lean
manufacturing and process mapping. In the next section the history of lean
manufacturing a r e discussed. After an introduction to lean manufacturing,
different types of process mapping are discussed along with their strengths and
weaknesses.
In the beginning of 1980, the western automotive industry began to realize
that the Japanese way of manufacturing vehicles far exceeded the methods that
were used in the European and American industries. Japanese companies
achieved higher productivity and better quality using less resource. A major
research project was therefore initiated at the end of 1980 by Womack, Jones and
Roos, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research showed a
significant gap in productivity and quality between the Japanese vehicle
assembler and the rest of the vehicle assemblers in the world. The term “lean
production” was then developed to describe the Japanese production
philosophy.
Lean production was not confined to the activities that took place in the
manufacturing function of a company, rather it related to activities ranging from
product development, procurement and manufacturing to distribution. Together
these areas defined the lean enterprise. The ultimate goal of implementing lean
production in an organization was to have the customer in focus when improving
productivity, enhancing quality, shortening lead times, reducing costs, etc.
Product delivery strategies
There are four major product delivery strategies for a manufacturing company;
engineer-to-order, make-to-order, assemble-to-order and make-to-stock The four
mentioned product delivery strategies have different performance levels regarding
fulfilling these demands and the required amounts of tied-up capital in the processes.
The point in time where the customer order is used for customize a product is called
the customer ordering point. Before this point the material structure; the Bill of
12. 1
material, is generally purchased and refined based on forecast. After the customer
ordering point all value adding work is customer driven.
Engineer-to-order: to develop and manufacture a new customized product generally
requires very long lead times for companies. If a customer accepts long order-to-
delivery lead times and demands a very specialized product for fulfilling his needs;
engineer-to-order is the right delivery strategy. Engineer-to-order has the earliest
customer ordering point and requires the least amounts of tied-up capital of the four
strategies since no raw material has either been purchased or refined before
receiving a customer order.
Make-to-order: if a customer demands a specialized product but doesn’t accept the
company’s lead time needed for product development; the company has to develop
several products ready for manufacturing when receiving a customer order. This
strategy gives shorter lead times than engineer-to-order due to a later customer
ordering point. This provides less product flexibility and requires higher amounts of tied-
up capital, since raw material must be available for manufacturing when receiving a
customer order.
Assemble-to-order: in order to further decrease order-to-delivery lead times, but still
offering nearly as large product flexibility, a modular system can be created. Then
basic components, that are same for all product variety, are manufactured in
advance based on forecast and can be assembled in different combinations giving
product flexibility. The trade-off with this strategy is the amount of tied-up capital
that is higher when having manufactured components available in stock for final
assembly at the customer ordering point.
Make-to-stock: If the customers’ order-to-delivery lead time demand is shorter than the
manufacturing company’s final assembly and delivery lead times together; make-to-
stock is the only effective product delivery strategy. The finished goods products are
manufactured based on forecast, which limits the product flexibility, when just having a
predetermined types and volumes of products available in stock for customer orders.
The delivery lead time for make-to-stock is the shortest of the four strategies but the
amount of tied-up capital is the highest.
The more value adding work that is put on a product to process it in advance; the
shorter lead time to customer, but the higher amounts of tied-up capital and the lower
product flexibility is achieved. Based on these four strategies; several combinations of
mixed strategies can be created for a product flow. For example when having both
high and low runners; make-to-stock is often used for the predictable high runners
in order to even out the production workload and thereby save capacity for the
unpredictable customer demand for low runners through make-to-order.
13. 1
Lead time reductions theories
According to Kuhlang, lead time is defined as “that period of time (hours, minutes etc.)
required by any process to transform the inputs (materials, customers, money,
information) into outputs (goods, services).” The lead times for production are affected
by factors like capacity, loading, batching and scheduling. In turn, the lead times affect
factors like cost and control.
A product flow with shorter lead times has a higher output and increases the value
added to the product within a certain time. Alternatively, the same value can be
added to the product in shorter time. The aim for the processes is to perform the value
added work within the shortest possible time. Sources for reducing the lead times in a
product flow are for example process times, transportation time and idle time.
Long lead times entails increasing the costs due to larger buffers, increased uncertainty
about requirements, larger safety stocks and broken delivery promises), whereas
short lead times are beneficial for both the supplier and the customer. In several
literature sources on operations management, it is stated that customer demand
increases with lower delivery times as well as with lower prices. Consequently, lead
times are inversely related to market shares. Reducing the manufacturing lead times
allows for the company to react faster to customer demand and by that postpone the
production start. A lower share of the products thereby needs to be produced towards
forecasts and the risks for stock out or over production are reduced.
The lead times, along with the price, have a large impact on the supplier’s possibilities
to secure customer orders. The extent to which the supplier is able to deliver the goods
within the lead times quoted, may be decisive for where the customers place their
orders. Reliable lead times are utterly important for the customers, allowing them to
forecast their demand and make plans they can depend upon. These preconditions are
difficult to live up to with make to order production. The planning and control of the
make to order production are often complicated due to high variations in product range
and process times. The complexity is further increased by unforeseen factors affecting
the production like breakdowns, employee sick leave and delayed supply of raw
material. Additionally, the customers place orders irregularly, causing an uneven
demand on the production capacity. The consequence of these factors is that the lead
times for make to order production often are long and unreliable.
Strategy of Lead Time Reduction
There are different approaches and strategies regarding lead time. In the production
management, theoretical evidence describes and gives importance on.
Look for WIP. The more WIP the longer will the lead time be.
Keep Things moving: if the product moves in a continuous flow against finished
product both WIP and flow time will decrease.
14. 1
Synchronize production: Whit synchronized production the WIP will reduce and due
to this the lead time will decrease.
Smooth the work flow: An even work load affect the lead time whit an increase in both
variance and long flow times.
Eliminate variability: Variability can be caused of a number of causes e.g.: lack of
consistency, downtime and rework.
The typical approaches had taken in the last century to focus on the manufacturing
processes. The researcher in past also gave their endeavor to improve the value added
processes regarding lead time reduction. After the successful implementation of lean
philosophy especially in Toyota, intention has been growing on reducing the non value
added activities time. Moreover the overall impact of reducing processing time has very
little influence over the lead time will be minimal. Many industries and found 90-95
percentage of none value added activities in lead time.
Elimination of waste
Lean production was about creating value for the customers with a minimum
amount of waste and with a maximum degree of quality. Waste was defined as
any activity that consumes resources and creates no value, i.e. lean thinking.
Identification and elimination of waste makes it easier to focus on value adding
activities and to become more cost efficient.
The sources of waste included:
1. Overproduction
2. Defects
3. Unnecessary inventory
4. Unnecessary processing
5. Unnecessary transportation between work sites
6. Waiting
7. Unnecessary motion in the workplace
These seven sources of waste will now be explained in detail together with tools to
detect and reduce them.
15. 1
Overproduction waste
The most significant source of waste is over production. This means producing
more, sooner or faster than what is required by the next process.
Overproduction causes all kinds of waste, not just excess inventory and money
tied up in inventory. It results in shortage, because processes are busy masking
the wrong items. Traditionally supervisors were judged by the quantity of
production. The thought was that resource utilization was to be maximized. This
led to overproduction waste. According to lean philosophy Machines and humans
should only be busy when they have useful tasks to accomplish. Lean
production accentuates on production according to customers’ demand,
otherwise products would have to be stored and the risk of becoming obsolete
increases.
Overproduction is more common when products are made according to forecasts
instead of customer’s order. Therefore it is reasonable to produce according to
customer’s orders. Since customers demand for delivery is often shorter than
the production lead time, forecasting is inevitable in most cases. As a result,
the customer order point should be moved upstream in the production flow.
16. 1
Defect waste
The lack of quality is another source of waste. When a product or a part is found
to be defective, it should be rebuilt. This means the consumption of more
resources, higher costs also provides for a negative impact on the customers
perception. It is important to find the root of the quality problem and remove the
problem from its source.
The bigger the batch size, the more time it will take to detect a defect. This can
cause the entire batch to be scraped. In one piece flows, defects are detected
immediately and the operator causing it can get instant feedback from their
downstream customer.
Unnecessary inventory
Keeping parts and products in inventory does not create any extra value for them.
When this occurs, it only hides the problem and prevents a solution.
Additionally, keeping
inventory means higher tied up capital. However, it is not advisable to eliminate
inventory mindlessly. Instead, the reason for the existence of the inventory must
first be found (Karlsson and Åhlström, 1996).
Two types of inventories are existed: work in process (WIP) and parts storage.
WIP are the parts stored between each process and parts storage are the raw
material which were brought from the main ware house to the production area to
be processed.
Lean manufacturing always emphasizes on reducing inventory. This can be done
either by reduction of buffer inventory or the reduction of batch sizes, or both.
Buffer inventory is reduced by eliminating unwanted variations. The positive points
for reducing inventory are listed below:
Reducing tied up capital
Shortening through-put time
Lessening risk of obsolete material
Smoothing production flow
Lowering space rental costs
Decreasing the time needed to detect quality problems
17. 1
The list above indicates that reducing inventory is related to other sources of wastes
such as the waste of time, defective products and unnecessary transportation. It also
indicates that reducing inventory helps in reducing other areas of wastes.
Unnecessary processing
An Incorrectly designed process could also be a source of waste. Activities in an
organizational process can be divided into 3 categories: value adding, non-value
adding but necessary, and non-value adding and unnecessary. Lean production
emphasizes reducing this non-value adding and unnecessary process. Changing
design of parts, limiting functionally unnecessary tolerances and rethinking process
plans can often eliminate and simplify process activities in the manufacturing
process (Askin & Goldberg 2002).
A tool for determining non-value adding activities is process mapping. All steps
in a process are indicated by graphical symbols with different activities linked by
arrows. A detailed map of a process often reveals unnecessary stages and
sequences, and can be used to improve the process design (Brassard & Ritter
1994).
Unnecessary transportation between work sites
Transportation waste includes all types of unnecessary transportation of material,
work in process and components, which do not add value to the products.
Most unnecessary transportation is due to the inappropriate layout of a
factory. As such, it is difficult finding methods to optimize the layout of a
factory. One method to address this is the traditional view in accordance with
the mass production perspective. This means that machine and equipment are
often grouped on a functional basis. This layout maximizes transportation
efficiency between functional areas. This is in keeping with a lean manufacturing
layout that is based on product families and dedicates equipment to each
product family. This is necessary to achieve a flow with minimal transportation.
One tool that can be used for analyzing transportation waste is spaghetti
mapping. A spaghetti map indicates physical flow of material, products and
humans. Basically, all movements are drawn on a current layout map in order to
reveal unnecessary transportation. The map often looks like a pile of spaghetti
before the layout is improved. This is the reason it is called spaghetti mapping.
18. 1
Waiting
Waiting may be due to different reasons such as waiting for correct information,
products waiting to be processed, machines waiting for their operators and
machines waiting for material to arrive. One such common type of waste is
waiting associated within inventories. Research has showed that products
spend most of their time in warehouses.
Value Stream Mapping is a tool for identifying the product flow through the
factory. Processing time, throughput times, set-up times, inventory levels, etc.,
are mapped with standardized symbols. The map reveals the relationship
between waiting and processing times. It is not uncommon to find that the value
adding time is only a few percent of the total lead time.
Unnecessary motion in the work place
Motion consumes time and energy. It is essential to eliminate all motion that does
not add value, such as stretching for tools and moving materials within a station.
This objective should be guiding when designing workplaces, processes, operation
procedures, etc. Reducing waste as the result of unnecessary motion
encompasses everything from describing detailed hand motions in an assembly
process to the selection of machines and design of fixtures to reduce the time for
set-ups and material handling.
Solid carbide cutting tool Production System
Each part of the house is important, by itself, but when they work together, they
reinforce each other. One piece flow means that one unit at a time is processed at
the customers demand rate, which will enhance judoka. In mass production when a
machine goes down, the maintenance department will fix the problem. Inventory is then
19. 1
used to fill the production gap during these times. Thus, there will not be any urgency.
Whereas in lean production when a machine goes down other operations will soon
stop production, so there is always some urgency to fix the problem.
Theoretical frame work on process mapping
It is important to understand the definition and importance of a process. Ron
Anjard (1998) defined a process as “a series of activities (tasks, steps, events,
operations) that takes an input adds value to it and produces an output (products,
service, or information) for a customer. Customers are all those who receive
the process output.” In order to understand, document, analyze, develop and
improve process steps, a process map is vital. A process map is a visual aid for
depicting the work process. It shows how inputs, outputs and tasks are linked.
(Anjard 1998)
A process map can be drawn at various levels of detail. Some have
described it as “peeling the onion.” All process maps should be developed from
a top-down approach. One should begin mapping at the macro level of the
process. This level determines the scope of the system. Then the process should
be “peeled” down to the mini-level of the process. A single process may break
down into 5-15 mini-processes. (Anjard 1998)
According to Aguiar and Waston (1993), process mapping can improve the
customer focus of the process, assist in eliminating the non-value added
activities and reduce the process complexity.
Process mapping is usually consisted of the following steps:
1. Identification of products and services and their related processes. The
starting and finishing points of processes are identified at this step.
2. Data gathering and preparation.
How to conduct process mapping
Different steps in process mapping were introduced by Savory and Olson
(2001) as follows:
1. Defining the purpose for developing a process map
2. Establishing the team
3. Mapping the “As Is” process
20. 2
4. Establishing a measure for improvement
5. Proposing changes
6. Mapping the “Should Be” process
Step1: Defining the purpose for developing a process map
It is extremely important to know the goal and aim for creating the process
map. It identifies the depth and the level of process mapping.
Step 2: Establishing the team
The team should consist of representatives from different levels of the
organization. Some key suppliers and customers can also be engaged with
mapping.
Step 3: Mapping the “As Is” process
In this step the process is mapped exactly the same way as it occurs at the
present time. This is done by interviewing key personnel involved in that
particular process. It is necessary to understand that this map is never 100
percent correct by first trail, but it will provide some idea about opportunities for
improvement in the future.
Step4: Establishing a measure for improvement
Having the “As Is” map without any performance measurement is useless. Since the
goal is to improve the process, there should be some way to measure the
improvement. A direct link has to be established between the target for improvement
effort, the organization’s strategy and competitive position.
Step5: Proposing changes
After preparing an “As Is” map and establishing an improvement measure, the
improvement areas should be determined. Some of these improvement areas
are described by Savory and Olson (2001):
Eliminate duplicate activities
Combine related activities
Eliminate multiple reviews and approvals
Eliminate inspections
Simplify processes
21. 2
Perform activities in parallel
Outsource inefficient processes
Recognize worker teams
Step6: Mapping the “Should Be” process
The “Should Be” process map presents the ideal situation. It describes the
process after all non-value added processes are eliminated. It shows a new or
improved process that meets the goals established and eliminates deficiencies.
Different mapping tools
In this chapter different mapping tools and their descriptions are presented.
Among existing mapping tools, flowcharts, Supply-chain Operation Reference-
model (SCOR), Value Stream Mapping (VSM), and Time Based Process Mapping
(TBPM) are taken into consideration.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
VSM is a tool to understand the material and information flow as a product or
service makes its way through the value stream. VSM takes into account not only the
activity of producing the product, but also the management and information systems
that support the basic process. This is especially helpful when working to reduce cycle
time and to gain insight into the decision making flow, as well as the process flow. This
is actually a Lean.
The basic idea is to first map the process. Then above that, map the information flow
that enables the process to occur.
The value stream map takes into account different measures such as cycle time,
set up time, lead time, and value added time, size of batch, number of operators,
number of products, shipment volume, labor hours, rework of products and
cassations. Different steps exist within VSM. First, the current state map is
created to show the current production situation. Business and manufacturing
waste that occurs in this process can be easily identified. Once the current state map
has been created, it then becomes the baseline for improvement and for the
creation of a future state value stream map. After all, VSM is only a tool unless the
future state is achieved.
22. 2
The purpose of VSM is to identify, demonstrate and remove waste in processes. Waste
is defined as any activity that creates no value for the customer. VSM can be a starting
point to help management engineers, production associates and suppliers to
recognize waste and identify its causes. As a result, VSM is a tool for communication,
but it can also be used as a strategic planning tool and as a change management
tool. In this regard, mapping out the activities in the manufacturing process with cycle
times, down times, in- process inventory, material moves, information flows, helps to
visualize the current state of the process activities and helps the development of the
future desired state.
Literature Review
There has always been some level of competition within the realm of manufacturing.
Technological advances in communication and transportation have made this
competition a global one that continues to put increasingly greater pressure on
businesses to produce products (or deliver services,) of better quality and with faster
lead times, all while providing the best customer service. A number of tools and
techniques exist to help these businesses in this endeavor. Among the tools being
utilized by companies today are the principles of lean manufacturing and simulation
software.
The purpose of this project is to simulate the entire production system for an injection
molded and chrome plated, automotive component to determine if the amount of work in
progress and finished goods inventory can be minimized in order to reduce the cost of
inventory in the overall system.
Simulation
The world of manufacturing is full of situations in which change is desirable for one
reason or another, but the cost to trial the change is not justifiable. Simulation can be a
very useful tool in this scenario, allowing an observer to measure and predict how
changes to the individual components of system will affect the functionality of the overall
system. A simulation is a type of computer program that uses a mathematical
description of the real system called a model. This model is created for the sole purpose
of conducting numerical experiments to aid in the understanding of the behavior of the
system being modeled, for a specific set of conditions. Computer simulation is often
chosen for its ability to handle very complex systems and analysis. Yet the actual use of
simulation is a very natural activity, comparable to that of role playing.
The reality and complexity of a scenario can be understood by acting out roles with
artificial objects (models.) The electronic equivalent to this role playing is computer
simulation. Simulation Uses / Applications Computer simulation is often chosen for use
when one or more of the following situations is true: the model is quite complex with
multiple variables and interacting components, there are nonlinear relationships
between the underlying variables, random variants exist in the model, and / or there is a
desire to show what is happening in the model using a 3D computer animation.
23. 2
Simulation has already been or could be used for such a vast array of applications it is
somewhat difficult to classify all of them. A broad, representative list of categories would
include computer systems, manufacturing, business, government, ecology and
environment, society and behavior, and biosciences. Each of these categories in tom
could have a wide variety of applications within it that simulation is useful for. In reality,
it would be difficult to find an application that simulation could not be used for. In cases
where simulation is not desirable for a given application it is generally due to the cost
and timing of both acquiring software and training to use it, as well as for conducting
and analyzing the results, not because it did not fit the application.
Simulation Models
"A model is a simplified representation of a system at some particular point in time or
space intended to promote understanding of the real system." (Bellinger, 2004). It is not
possible to create a model that perfectly depicts every aspect of reality, though we can
get close enough to learn from it. . There are specific steps that should be followed
when conducting a simulation in order to ensure that the outcome achieved correlates
with the type of problem that the experimenter desired to solve.
Methodology
The aim of this project is to reduce lead time by implementing lean principles;
therefore the output of this project should be applicable in improving the current
situation. To be able to accomplish this, first theories were studied, and then
those theories were implemented into a case study using perfect profile centre, in
Pune. Data were collected from different sources and in different ways. Most
information was gathered by interviewing different employees. At the beginning,
some brief information was collected from the production manager concerning
different departments and their activities. Next, the staff of each department
was interviewed which provided general knowledge about each section’s roles.
To create the VSM some orders were followed directly from the order point to
shipping. This was done by interviewing operators, walking the shop floor and
collecting information, to include the gathering of information from computers. In
the beginning, maps were drawn with pencil on paper and later transcribed to
electronic format. Times for each process step were measured using a stopwatch
and calculations were performed when necessary.
The theoretical framework consisted of two different parts:
1. Lean principles and cutting tool production system
2. Different methods of process mapping
24. 2
After putting theories into practice, for the perfect profile centre case study, some
results were driven and analyzed. Recommendations concerning different ways to
reduce lead times and various production improvements were derived from the
future state map, and were presented to the company.
To create the VSM for perfect profile centre, a map was created according the
instructions in the book, Learning to See. Almost all of the different steps were
covered. Some assumptions were made during creation of the first map. This
was mainly done for the sake of simplicity. One such case concerned the fact that
there were not enough statistics and information on waiting times, idle times and
other timings. Different orders were followed from the ordering point to the
production point and afterwards to the shipping point. No trend was found
between different time divisions. Therefore one of the orders was randomly
selected and used for creating the necessary maps.
To acquire some knowledge about change-over actions, different change-over steps
were observed three times. The operators were interviewed about different methods
to reduce changeover time. Some data collection was made from interview,
observation, literature studies and by following orders.
The next chapter discusses the VSM created for perfect profile centre and the different
steps within it. Different waste areas were identified and some solutions were
recommended to reduce lead times, which resulted in the creation of a future state
map. The future state map shows the process as it should be in the future after
implementing some specific changes. The most important step, though, is to make the
future state map work in practice and see the corresponding results.
Evaluation of methods and data
The methods used for data collection and information gathering were mainly based
on interviews. The accuracy of these interviews depended mainly on the precision
and depth of the interviewee and interviewer. In this case most of the data were
also saved in an electronic format which has ensured the accuracy and security of
the data. One difficulty with gathering information at perfect profile centre was that
order data were not retained for future analysis. In most cases the order
information that was saved consisted of: ordering date, work duration, change-over
duration and delivery date. Waiting time, idle time and other pertinent order
information were not kept. Also, there were no statistics concerning different
orders. All conclusions made in this thesis are based on several orders that were
tracked and traced.
25. 2
The methods used in this study were mainly process mapping and VSM. These
methods were accurate methods used by many other researches. They are basically
strong methods but still the accuracy depends on the precision of the collected data
and the capabilities of the person collecting the data. The recommendation and
conclusion portion of this thesis is primarily based on the related principles found in
the cutting tool. These principles have been used by cutting tool for years with
brilliant results. There has been a tendency for small and medium size companies to
use these principles, and good results were achieved in small and medium size
companies. The reason for this is due to the principles being sufficiently general
and thus applicable to different situations.
A description of each department and its role is presented in the following sections.
Production Department
Each order was produced by an assigned press machine. Depending on the
customer’s request, orders may have gone through a converter to reduce the rolls’
diameter or orders have been fan folded by special machines. The waiting time
before pressing varies between one and six days, depending on the number
and type of orders of previous orders. This was one of the limitations in
mapping the process. There was no information or rules concerning wait times
before pressing. Sometimes wait times can become so long that the material
planner decides to move the order to another press machine, which had less
work load at that time.
Each machine had one operator who controls every step. That assigned operator
should not leave the machine when it is running. The work day consisted of one
shift lasting for
Since only two converters existed, it may take from one hour to two days for rolls
of labels to be converted. The waiting time before the converter varies significantly,
also.
Sometimes it takes a few minutes and sometimes rolls have to wait for one day
to be converted.
The final labels may have remained in the warehouse for a few days or shipped
immediately after production. Orders in which the supplier had assigned a specific
delivery date may have stayed in the warehouse until the desired delivery date.
Others were shipped sooner, if they were ready.
26. 2
Identification of the problem
This is where one must decide what the true problem is that needs solving or at very
least what the symptoms of the problem look like... A very important part of this problem
identification step is to clearly define what the goals of the study are so that everyone
involved knows exactly what question is to be answered.
Development of the actual simulation model begins when the definition of the system is
complete. . This order has to be followed because the system definition is now used as
the framework for completing the model build.
Proposed Methodologies
This chapter describes how the project was conducted, and on what theoretical
framework it is based. The research strategy is worked out to provide for a methodical
approach to the research and to point out its direction. The different stages for
performing the study are described and motivated.
In this chapter three methodologies are presented to minimize the cycle time at Perfect
profile centre environment. The chapter is divided into three sections:
In the first section the development of a heuristic algorithm based on a new dispatching
rule is presented. This section details on the development of an algorithm, which is
subsequently analyzed using simulation software. The second section details the
development of a mathematical based program to model the wafer fabrication system.
An integer programming model is developed and analyzed. Various modifications are
suggested for improved performance. The third and last section presents an approach
to minimize the maximum cycle time using a conjunctive disjunctive graph based
approach.
Batching Machines
Some machines are capable of processing more than one lot at a time. These
machines are referred to as batching machines. The batching machines have a
specified minimum batch size, as well as, a specified maximum batch size, which
they can process at one time. Each time a batching machine selects lots from its
queue to be batched, it checks if the minimum batch size has been attained. If
the minimum batch size has not been attained, then it will wait for more lots to
enter its queue.
27. 2
Machine Downtimes
The machines are subject to failures and calibrations. Both these events are defined
as downtime for a machine.
Research Methodology
Research is defined as a systematic, gathering, recording, and analysis of data
about problem relating to any particular field. It determines strength reliability and
accuracy of the project.
The research involved both qualitative as well as quantitative dimensions of work.
The quantitative approach involved collection of large chunks of data. The quality
approach was to analyze the data, take the necessary information and to find out
conclusion.
Selection of research topic based on:
Magnitude of the problem and its impact.
Urgency of the need for a solution.
Feasibility of the approach.
Chances of success.
Research design:
Research design pertains to the great research approach or strategy adopted for a
particular project. A research project has to be the conducted scientifically making sure
that the data is collected adequately and economically.
Types of research design
1. Exploratory research design: This research design is offered when researcher has a
vague idea about the problem the researcher has to explore the subject.
2. Experimental research design: It is used to provide a strong basic for the existence of
causal relationship between two or more variable.
3. Descriptive research design: It seeks to determine the answers to who, what, where
and how questions. It is based on some previous understanding of matter.
4. Diagnostic research design: It determines the frequency with which something occurs
or its association with something else.
28. 2
Research design used in this project:
Source of data collection:
Primary data:
The data necessary for the study has been gathered from following sources.
Day to day interaction with operator
Day to day interaction with manager
Day to day study of list of work orders.
Secondary data:
Secondary data means data which is already available with the organization. The
researcher has to look into sources for data from where he can obtain data. The
secondary data may either be published or unpublished.
Standard data of time study.
Delivery registers of the company.
29. 2
Method of analysis:
Manufacturing process:
For Drill/End mill/Reamer/Ball nose Cutters:
Rod cuttingto
required length
Making 140̊ angle
at both faces
Cylindrical
grinding
Facing
Fluting
OD reliving
Point angle
30. 3
For Brazed Cutters:
Cutting the rod
to required length
Turning
Milling
Hardening
Tip brazing
OD grinding
Tip grinding
31. 3
Drills, End mills, Reamers, Ball nose cutters are manufactured from solid carbide rods
and brazed cutters are manufactured from EN24 material and then carbide tips are
brazed on the cutter body with the help of brazing flux and flame of mixture of oxygen
and acetylene gas.
After completion of the process, tools which are manufactured from solid carbide are
sent for coating process, and oil is applied to brazed cutters in order to prevent it from
corrosion.
Current state analysis
The lead times for the current state of the production flows were compared to
the lead times required by the customers. The comparison showed if the required
lead times would be possible to meet with the make to order production of the
different products. The future state proposals are not developed to meet the
customer needs requiring lead times which not can be met with make to order
production.
35. 3
Findings & Suggestions
This chapter will provide the recommendations concerning waiting time and finally
about reducing the lead times. However, the project work will only provide the plan of
continuous improvement but it might be better to experiment the new
recommendation and compare it with previous state of production. One important fact
has considered before given new proposal. Perfect profile centre has requested to
give new proposal within their existing resources. The Company did not want to
invest capital, machineries, any major change in their current system etc right now.
Hence, the solutions offer according to those considerations. Each priority of root
cause will given the description of problem and pursues the probable best solution for
improvement of lead-time.
Transfer Batch or lot size Policy
The production method in Perfect profile centre has been running based on batch
production. The production control unit release customer order as batch in production
floor. The batch size are varies according to customer order. The increased batch size
eventually increases the waiting time. The characteristics of Perfect profile centre have
like job production where a significant flexibility is present due to customization and
model varieties.
In addition, sewing unit has no identical layout. There is no cell or balanced line or
group workstation. The employee work individually when they start an order to sew
2
1
2
1 1
2 2
5
3
2
1
3
1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2
1 1
3 3 3
1
2 2
1 1
2
1
4
3 3 3
1
2
4
11
13
8
6
3
5
2
3 3 3
4
2 2 2
6
4
3 3 3
5
3 3 3 3
2
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Expecte
d Time
Actual
Time
36. 3
upholstery. The model of upholstery varies consequently the amount of process
varies. The employee then makes all processing by walking and moving to different
machines. As a result they take extra time to handling material and setup machine.
Reduction of change over time
From the analysis section, it was apparent that the pressing machines were
the most significant bottleneck. The production was impeded before the press by
two to three days. There was a significant amount of work backlogged in front of
each press machine. To reduce this wait time, the solution should focus on
reducing the press change-over time. To accomplish this, two personnel would be
required to work on each machine during the change-over process instead of one
person. One person could do the preparation for the next order and the other
could clean and wash the cylinders and stereo coverings from previous order
and take them back to their storage locations, simultaneously. Since six different
press machines exist at perfect profile centre, one operator could work between
the machines and help the other machine operators during their setup process.
This would mean that there would be no additional requirement to recruit and hire
another operator.
If two operators work on each machine during the setup process, the press
would no longer be a bottleneck and the work queue in front of the press
machines would be reduced, significantly. This would mean a much less wait
time and a quicker response to meet the customers’ needs.
Implementing 5S methodology
To conduct a rapid change over, all fixtures and component varieties should be
kept near to the operator so the operator does not require additional time to
locate the needed components or fixtures, thus minimizing waste. The 5S
methodology is an appropriate methodology to apply here to assist in organizing
the work place. Essentially, the idea behind the 5S methodology was: by
assigning everything a location, time is not wasted by looking for things. The 5S
methodology, according to Peterson, was (Peterson 1998):
Separating: this means to separate the useful tools, materials, etc, from
nonessential items and keep only the essentials. The nonessential tools should
be kept in separate area or discarded.
Sorting: means arranging tools and equipment in an order that promotes
work flow. Tools and equipment should be kept where they are needed and
the process should be arranged in an order that eliminates extra motion.
37. 3
Shine: indicates the need to keep everything clean and neat. Cleaning must
be part of the operators’ activity after each and every shift. Everything
must be restored to its original places.
Standardizing: this means operating in a consistent and standardized
manner. This will help everyone to know his or her responsibilities.
Sustaining: once all of the above 4S’s mentioned above are have been
accomplished, it is necessary to stick to them and not allowing decline back
to the old ways of doing things.
At perfect profile centre there are some rules and regulations regarding cleanliness.
Although, if perfect profile centre implements the 5S methodology and
rearranges all components and equipment appropriately to reduce change-over
time, the entire production process will be more efficient and less time
consuming.
Reduction of work in process (WIP) and wait time between the press and
converter
After the press process, label rolls had to wait approximately an hour to one day
before being converted. The basic philosophy was that the next order to be
converted was the one with the closest delivery date. At that point the labels
were ready to be packed and shipped. The converting by itself was not a time
consuming task but the wait time between the press and converter could be
significant. This produced a rather large WIP in front of the converter. Another
problem was that both the press and the converter produced some waste, such
that the total waste was usually quite significant proportionally when considering
small orders.
In order to reduce the WIP inventory and the wait time between two processes, a
special kind of converter could be used. It is attachable to the press machine,
so that the two processes are combined into one process. The key point in lean
production was to reduce the number of processes thereby reducing the wait time
and WIP. The attachable converter has a setup time of about an hour. One of
these attachable converters is already being used by perfect profile centre, but to
increase the efficiency and reduce the lead time, two more were required. Since
these converters had a long set up time, it would be more reasonable and
appropriate to use them for high volume orders. For low volume orders, the
old converter would be best used. The amount of waste in the new process would
be less than the total amount of waste produced by each process. The merging
of the two processes would create a one piece flow. In this way excess inventory
38. 3
and excess movement would be removed.
Conclusions
We found that the proposed model can improve Perfect profile centre
manufacturing by 9% and working capital by around 41%. Based on our findings
we are making the following recommendations.
1. Select all products which have a stable and a normally distributed demand, and
consider them for the pull based proposed model.
2. Benchmark transportation times between various transporters and with agreed
times to reduce the transportation time.
3. Ensure continuous monitoring of supplier lead times and lead times should not
be allowed to exceed the agreed times.
4. Ensure continuous monitoring of internal lead.
With the proposed pull system, the batch sizes of some raw materials would
change and would reduce. This means that the new batch sizes would have to be
renegotiated with the suppliers. The company can also think of pooling in orders
from its other European factory for common raw materials.
This would prevent the supplier from reducing its batch size of production but still
can easily transport in smaller batches to individual factory. With these
recommendations, it will be easier for the company to reduce its overall cycle time.
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