Subject :
The subject of my graduation project was the design and implementation of a materials feeding system for the HVAC 1&2 assembly lines.
This Feeding System covers the activities between the central inventory and the production line, such as materials Picking, Repacking and Preparation for assembly operations in order to simplify, organize and then optimize these activities.
The first objective of the project is to set in place work standards and a solid informational base for managing materials at this internal side of the production line. This will help improve the shopfloor level of management at a remarkable rate, and then detect any potential points for optimization.
The feeding system is based on :
- JIT Replenishment (Kanban),
- Lean Manufacturing (Standard Work - Material Handling - Visual Elements),
- PFEP (Plan For Every Part) Which is an informational base for the management of feeding activities and physical flow.
PFEP is a Lean Manufacturing Tool special for managing the informational flow of procurement operations, i have created an internal version adapted for materials management activities.
It is meant to be dynamic enough to provide us with any information about the level of materials at every stage of the production line anytime needed.
Brief Summary,
The design is based on simulating the production line consumption of raw materials. The results represent the frequency of replenishment by material/number of boxes or in other words a brief materials consumption breakdown, which is a key element for establishing a schedule of materials flow by shift for all the feeding activities.
The informational base has a major role in how to maintain the necessary order and the volume of informations needed to level control the central inventory => Share more accurate informations to the procurement responsible.
As a significant key indicator of materials flow performance, i decided to use :
The difference between Planned and Real Raw Materials consumptions:
- Planned Consumption based on the Production Plan + Quality Assumptions.
- Operational Consumption based on the last Inventory Status backflushed by : Production Results + Quality Reports.
- Actual Consumption based on the Inventory's next Status
The main work structure of the project was based first on a detailed analysis of the current situation based on KAIZEN work analysis methods to reveal the major issues and improvement opportunities.
Communication with the logistics department was established to make an agreement about the main design, the resources needed and to finalize the implementation conditions besides other different requirements and plan our priorities.
Milestones of the Project :
- Project Definition : Done
- Current State Analysis : Done
- Feeding System Design : Done
- Simulation
- Standard Work Elements
- Market and Preparation Area design
- Implementation : Ongoing / Freezed
- Requirements Verification
- Process Integration
- Operators Training
- Adjustment and improvement plan : Not Done Yet
Direct Potential Results :
- Space Optimization.
- Informational Base, Make the very Basic Elements for the Informational System's integration available.
- Shopfloor level improvement : Work Definitions - Material flow Management - Visual Elements
- Potential Optimization of human resources
