Development of lean kitting model for automotive industry

Abstract

The success of manufacturing industries in the present globalized and strong competitive market has forced the industries to change the ways of doing production processes and business. To have a better advantage over competing firms, manufacturing managers attempt to transform their organization by implementing some familiar and beneficial management techniques like Just In Time (JIT), Lean Manufacturing , Kitting Manufacturing , Agile Manufacturing , and Total Quality Management etc. In this study an attempt has been made to implement a new manufacturing philosophy known as Lean Kitting production. This work proposes a suitable assembly method for a Multi Product Single Conveyor Assembly line of a leading two wheeler manufacturer in India. Conventionally all the assembly processes use line side assembly system in which the raw materials for assembly are kept along the sideways of conveyor line. Based on the results of the above MCDM models, the next stage of this work is concerned with component kitting problem. This is concerned with the allocation of components among various assembly work stations while considering the factors namely operator distance travelled, floor space required per work station,work in process inventory, and opetator walking time. The results of this example show the major advantages of lean kitting like less distance travelled, less floor space, less work in process inventory, and less operator walking time as compared to the line side assembly. Two mathematical models (Type I and Type II) have beendeveloped to find optimal batch size by considering general Inventory cost equation. Type I model considers carrying cost and storage cost. Type II model considers carrying cost, storage cost and purchasing cost. The models result in the optimal batch size with a fixed changeover time. This demonstrates that the adoption of LK is best suited when a fixed changeover time environment exists. newline newline newline