A Simulation Based Study on Increasing Production Capacity in a Crankshaft Line Considering Limited Budget and Space

Abstract

In this paper, we discussed a problem for improving the throughput of a crankshaft manufacturing line in an automotive factory in which the budget for purchasing new machines and installing additional buffers is limited. We also considered the constraint of available space for both of machine and buffer. Although this problem seems like a kind of buffer allocation problem, it is different from buffer allocation problem because additional machines are also considered. Thus, it is not easy to calculate the throughput by mathematical model, and therefore simulation model was developed using ARENA ® for estimating throughput. To determine the investment plan, a modified Arrow Assignment Rule under some constraints was suggested and it was applied to the real case.

A Simulation Study on Improving Throughput in a Crankshaft Line Considering Minimizing Investment Cost under Throughput Target

“…2. We used a same example in Wang et al [12]. The factory has a plan to increase the production capacity with the smallest budget to meet the increasing demand, and thus, it is necessary to find the bottleneck for growing up throughput.…”

“…We also considered the failures of machines. Tool change times and defect rates (see Wang et al [12] for detail data). B1 20 10 B2 17 13 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B18 B19 B20 2 17 20 23 15 17 17 20 34 20 17 20 20 1 23 39 16 17 0 0 10 7 15 13 0 10 0 10 13 10 10 0 7 0 14 13 Table III shows the solution procedure.…”

“…Wang et al [12] discussed a problem for improving the throughput of a crankshaft manufacturing line in an A Simulation Study on Improving Throughput in a Crankshaft Line Considering Minimizing Investment Cost under Throughput Target Guan Wang, Dae Ryoung Lee, Yang Woo Shin, and Dug Hee Moon automotive factory in which the budget for purchasing new machines and installing additional buffers is limited. They also considered the constraint of available space for both of machine and buffer.…”

“…They also considered the constraint of available space for both of machine and buffer. This paper is an extension of Wang et al [12] in a way that the objective function is to minimize investment cost and there is a throughput target is determined. We suggests a method to solve the machine selecting and buffer allocation problem at the same time to meet the increasing target of throughput using the minimized investment cost under the constrain of limited investment budget.…”

A hierarchical evaluation index system for FMS reliability considering coupling relations between system elements

“…Das et al proposed a multi-objective integrated model of minimum system cost and maximum equipment reliability, and carried out the sensitivity analysis of reliability parameters [12]. Wang et al focused on the problem of insufficient capacity of production line in a car company, and presented the technique of system technology improvement under constraints of limited cost and spaces, and finally predicted indexes including capacity, idleness ratio and blocking rate after technology improvement through simulation [13]. Hou optimized the maintenance policies of production line through combining the failure data, maintenance data, expert opinions and reliability theory [14].…”