Production line case study

Contents

Product
Annual Demand
Daily Demand1
Weekly demand2
Level 0
Level 1
Level 2

Hub 1
2,100
8.4
42

Sleeve (1)
2,100
8.4
42

Mount (4)
8,400
33.6
168

Bracket (2)
16,800
67.2
336

Bolt (2)
16,800
67.2
336
Hub 2
1700
6.8
34

Sleeve (1)
1,700
6.8
34

Mount (5)
8,500
34
170

Bracket (2)
17,000
68
340

Bolt (2)
17,000
68
340
Hub 3
2,000
8
40

Sleeve (1)
2,000
8
40

Mount (4)
8,000
32
160

Bracket (2)
16,000
64
320

Bolt (2)
16,000
64
320
Hub 4
1,500
6
30

Sleeve (1)
1,500
6
30

Mount (6)
9,000
36
180

Bracket (2)
18,000
72
360

Bolt (2)
18,000
72
360
Table : BOM including Demand per Product

Introduction
This report offers alternatives to improve the cellular manufacturing process at Spartan. The main focus of the improvements is on lead time reduction. Spartan has recently introduced cell manufacturing to improve the lead time for a family of 4 products. Although the results initially looked promising, after several weeks the performance started to decline. At the present time the lead time performance is 8 weeks. This is considered unacceptable by Spartan Management. The final target is to reach a lead time of at most 5 days, but for the short term (which is the focus for this report) the target is 15 days or less.
Structure of the Report
The current chapter introduces the products and the manufacturing processes at Spartan. The next chapter, Manufacturing Cell Modeling explains in detail how the current process is simulated. The chapter Improvement Alternatives outlines the problems and improvement options that are considered for Spartan. The last chapter offers conclusions and recommendations for Spartan Management.
Product and Process Information
The manufacturing cell under investigation produces Hubs. Currently the cell makes 4 different hubs. Each of these hubs consists of a