Integrated approach for product and process optimization in manufacturing industries

Abstract

In manufacturing sector, optimization helps in identifying, analyzing and improving the manufacturing processes and product quality. Due to high competition, there is always a rising task for the manufacturing industries to become more competent, flexible and accountable. From the literature review, it is identified that the quality management techniques, Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools and lean techniques are used separately for process or product improvement in various industries, but the integration of all these is relatively new topic of research. The present research aims to develop a generic model for improving the quality of product and the manufacturing process in various industries. The proposed model involves two phases: analysis and improvement phases. In the analysis phase, various MCDM techniques like Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM), Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (Fuzzy TOPSIS) and Quality management techniques like Cause and Effect Analysis (CEA), Fuzzy Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (FQFD) are integrated to identify and analyse the factors affecting the quality of the products. Various factors affecting the quality of the products along with their root causes are identified using cause and effect diagram. FDM is then used to identify the critical failure modes. FAHP is used to assign weights to the three parameters of FMEA analysis. Fuzzy TOPSIS based FMEA has been incorporated to prioritize the factors that contribute to the defects in the products. FQFD is then used to assess the design requirements and to prioritize the lean techniques to be implemented for process / product improvement. In the second phase, the prioritized lean tools are implemented and improvements obtained are sustained. newline