Line balancing synchronization in powder coating workstation: A metal industry case study

In powder coating industry, product over-cured and poor surface finishing are both utmost issues faced by the manufacturer. One of the reasons is due to the poor synchronization between powder coating conveyor speed, number of operators in loading and unloading bay, and variety of products to be powder coated. This study is conducted in a metal industry company located at Johor with powder coating facility. Raw data were collected through documentation and observation such as complete operation activities of the powder coating process, the actual layout of the powder coating workstation. The raw data were then converted into simulation scenario using Arena software to determine the configuration between conveyor speed, number of operator, and consideration of three variants of product (small, medium, big) in order to achieve best synchronization. Next, the obtained findings were validated with the actual industry data. A balanced synchronized matrix is developed in the end of this study which could contribute to enable better understanding of line balancing in powder coating process. Perhaps the findings could be utilized to assist the practitioner in operation planning and productivity improvement