A Simulation Study on the Application of Cellular Manufacturing System in the Automated Welding Line Producing Excavator-parts

Abstract

Mixed model production system means that various products are manufactured alternately in a line, and it has become a popular system in the era of multi-product small-quantity production. However, in the mixed model production system using flow line, the unbalance among stations is not inevitable because the workloads of stations cannot be the same. Thus, flow line system has been replaced to cellular manufacturing system for reducing the loss of waiting due to the unbalance of stations. In this paper, we introduce the simulation case study of an automated welding line which produces the parts of excavator. The factory has considered replacing the mixed model flow line to the cellular manufacturing system based on FMC concept. The increase of production quantity is estimated about 26.7%, and the lead time is reduced more than 55%. Furthermore sensitivity analyses are conducted considering the changes of product-mix.