Open AccessAPPLYING SMED/QCO TOOL TO IMPROVE THE PRODUCTIVITY AT SCREWING STATION OF HFR ASSEMBLY – A STUDY AT ROBERT BOSCH (I) LIMITED
Author(s) -
Nystha Baishya,
Satish Rao
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of mechanical and industrial engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2231-6477
DOI - 10.47893/ijmie.2014.1163
Subject(s) - value stream mapping , flexibility (engineering) , diesel fuel , automotive engineering , downstream (manufacturing) , lean manufacturing , manufacturing engineering , productivity , product (mathematics) , engineering , production (economics) , operations management , statistics , geometry , mathematics , economics , macroeconomics
Nowadays the industrial product market is increasingly demanding more customized and quality products, forcing the manufacturers to cut down the price, in order to survive in the highly competitive product market. Working on this, Robert Bosch INdia (RBIN) Limited, Bangalore Plant (BanP) designs and produces Diesel systems which make vehicles more cleaner and economical. Bosch has to manufacture products as per the demands of every customer, economically, to maintain being the world’s leading manufacturer of diesel injection systems. Fuel Injection Equipment in diesel engine is the “Heart of the Engine” and plays a major role in its performance, emissions and reliability. Hot Forged Rail (HFR) finds its application in common rail fuel injection system, which stores the fuel at high pressure (1600bar). And at the same time, the pressure oscillation, which is generated due to the high pressure pump delivery and the injection of fuel are damped by the rail volume. Its design varies according to customer requirement and engine design. Therefore, BanP has to produce different types of rails to compete the diesel market in India. In order to be customer centric and productive, BOSCH follows Bosch Production Systems (BPS), the elements of BPS in Lean manufacturing are Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Value Stream Design (VSD) and Value Stream Planning (VSP). The Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) is one important lean manufacturing tool to reduce waste and improve production flexibility, allowing lot size reduction and manufacturing flow improvements. Quick Change over (QCO) is a set of activities (preparation, changing and adjustment) which are being carried out in between the production of two varieties to reduce changeover time and to reach the optimum production running. The proposed SMED approach was tested for screwing machines changeovers and the implementation had enabled reduction in setup time, through company’s internal resources without the need for significant investment. The objective of the present study is to implement the SMED/QCO tool approach in RBIN, BanP, HFR production line at screwing station to reduce the changeover time by 90% and improve availability by >42%, thereby eliminating the possibility of investing on new production line to meet customer demand.