Production Technology IV

Module 3: Automated Production Lines

Sections
1. Fundamentals of Automated Production Lines
2. Applications of Automated Production Lines
3. Analysis of Transfer Lines

Fundamentals of Automated Production Lines

Automated Production Line – Defined
• Fixed-routing manufacturing system that consists of multiple workstations linked together by a material
handling system to transfer parts from one station to the next
• Slowest workstation sets the pace of the line
• High production of parts requiring multiple processing operations
• Fixed automation
• Applications:
o Transfer lines used for machining
o Robotic spot welding lines in automotive final assembly
o Sheet metal stamping
o Electroplating of metals
Where to Use Automated Production Lines
• High product demand
o Requires large production quantities
• Stable product design
o Difficult to change the sequence and content of processing operations once the line is built
• Long product life
o At least several years
• Multiple operations required on product
o The different operations are assigned to different workstations in the line
Benefits of Automated Production Lines
• Low direct labor content
• Low product cost
• High production rates
• Production lead time and work-in-process are minimized
• Factory floor space is minimized

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Work-part transfer
• Palletized transfer line – Uses pallet fixtures to hold and move work-parts between stations
• Free transfer line – Part geometry allows transfer without pallet fixtures

General configuration of an automated production line consisting of n automated workstations that perform
processing operations
System Configurations
• In-line – straight line arrangement of workstations
• Segmented in-line – two or more straight line segments, usually perpendicular to each other
• Rotary indexing machine (e.g. dial indexing machine)

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Work-part Transfer Mechanisms

• Linear transfer systems:
o Continuous motion – constant velocity, not common for automated systems
o Synchronous motion – intermittent (stopping and starting at intervals) motion, all parts move
simultaneously
o Asynchronous motion – intermittent motion, parts move independently
• Rotary indexing mechanisms:
o Geneva mechanism, Cam mechanism etc.

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Cam Mechanism to Drive Dial Indexing Table

• Rotary Indexing Table
• More Expensive
• More accurate and reliable
• Variety of dwell and velocity characteristics
o e.g. (YouTube: Rotary indexing tables, pneumatic presses - 2012)

Storage Buffers in Production Lines

• It is a location in the sequence of workstations where parts can be collected and temporarily stored before
proceeding to subsequent downstream stations.
• Can be manually operated or automated.
• Key parameter is storage capacity i.e. number of work-parts it is capable of holding.
Reasons for using storage buffers
• To reduce effect of station breakdowns.
• To provide a bank of parts to supply the line.
• To provide a place to put the output of the line.
• To allow curing time or other required delay.
• To smooth cycle time variations.
• To store parts between stages with different production rates.

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Control Functions in an APL

• Sequence control – To coordinate the sequence of actions of the transfer system and workstations.
• Safety monitoring – To avoid hazardous operation for workers and equipment e.g. monitoring of cutting
tools for breakages, interlocks etc.
• Quality control – To detect and possibly reject defective work units produced on the line.
• PLC’s – conventional controllers used in Automated Production Lines.

Applications of Automated Production Lines

• Transfer lines for machining
o Synchronous or asynchronous work-part transport
o Transport with or without pallet fixtures, depending on part geometry
o Various monitoring and control features available
• Rotary transfer machines for machining
o Variations include center column machine and trunnion machine
Transfer Lines
• Are lines in which workstations containing machining work-heads arranged in line configuration
• Parts are moved between stations by transfer mechanisms such as walking beams.
• Work-part transport can be synchronous or asynchronous
• Work-parts can be transported with or without pallet fixtures

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Analysis of Transfer Lines

Three problem areas must be considered:
1. Line balancing – To divide the total work load among workstations as evenly as possible
2. Processing technology – Theory and principles about the manufacturing or assembly processes used on the
line.
3. System reliability – two cases:
a. Transfer lines with no internal parts storage
b. Transfer lines with internal storage buffers
Transfer Lines (TL) – No Internal Part Storage
Basic terminology and Performance measures of TLs – Assumptions
• Work stations perform processing operations, such as machining not assembly.
• Processing times at each station are constant.
• Synchronous transfer of parts.
• No internal storage buffers.
Cycle time Analysis
• Ideal cycle time Tc is processing time of slowest station + transfer time
• I.e.
• where = processing time at station (mins)
• Is repositioning time or transfer time
• Max is used since the longest service time establishes production pace
Reasons for down time on APL
• Tool failure at workstations
• Tool adjustments
• Scheduled tool changes
• Electrical malfunctions. e.g. limit switch
• Insufficient space for finished parts
• Preventive maintenance
Average Production time (Tp)

• Where F = downtime frequency, line stops/ cycle

• Td = downtime per line stop

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Actual Average Production rate

where Rp is actual production rate in pc/min

where Rc is ideal production rate (pc/min)

Line efficiency (E)

where E = proportion of uptime on the production line

Proportion of downtime (D)

And

Cost per piece

where
Cpc = cost per piece (R/pc)
Cm = cost of starting material (R/pc)
Co = cost per minute to operate the line (R/min)
Tp = average production time per piece (min/pc)
Ct = cost of tooling per piece (R/pc)
Equation does not factor scrap rates, inspection costs and rework.

Work station breakdown analysis

• Line downtime is due to failure of individual workstations
• Upper bound approach – workstation malfunction has no effect on the part at that station.
• Part remains on the line for processing at remaining work stations.
o E.g. tool changes due to worn cutters, tool adjustments

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Upper-bound approach
• It provides an upper limit on the frequency of line stops
• Expected frequency of line stops per cycle, F

• Where pi = probability or frequency of station breakdown per cycle, causing a stop.

• n = number of workstations on the line
• Assuming all pi are equal to simplify computations results in F = np
Lower-bound approaches
• Station malfunction results in damage to the part
• Part must then be removed from line
• Thus, not available for processing at remaining stations
o e.g. when drill or tap breaks in the part during processing
Approach gives estimate of lower limit on expected frequency of line stops per cycle.
• Probability that a part will jam at station i is

• Where
• Probability that a part will pass thru n stations without a line stop is:

• Frequency of line stops per cycle is

• If all probabilities of pi are equal, pi = p, then

• Given that F = frequency of line stops and a part is removed for every line stop, then the proportion of parts
removed from the line is F.
• Accordingly, the proportion of parts produced is (1- F) i.e. yield of production line.
• The production rate equation becomes

• Where Rap = average actual production rate of acceptable parts from the line.
• Tp = average cycle rate of transfer machine.

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What the Equations Tell Us – Lines with No Storage Buffers

• As the number of workstations increases
o Line efficiency and production rate are adversely affected
• As reliability of individual workstations decreases
o Line efficiency and production rate are adversely affected
Transfer Lines with Internal Storage Buffers
• If there is no buffer, when 1 station breaks down, all stations are affected due to starvation or blockage:
o Starvation: Line has been prevented from performing its cycle due to no part being available
o Blockage: Prevented from completing its cycle due to it not being able to pass on its part
• Effects of down time can be reduced by the introduction of part storage buffers
• Storage buffers divides the line into stages i.e. 1 buffer – two stages (one before / one after)
• For n stages there are (n-1) storage buffers excluding the start & finish
Two extreme cases can exist
1. No storage buffers
2. Infinity storage buffers.
• If we assume that idle cycle time is the same for all stages considered.
• For case (1), line efficiency for zero capacity storage buffer.

Infinite storage buffers

• Means that no stage will ever be blocked or starved because of a breakdown at some other stage
• Is ideal and cannot be realized in practice
• Production of all other stages will be limited by the bottleneck stage
• Thus, efficiency of entire line is defined by efficiency of bottleneck stage
• Given that cycle time Tc is the same for all stages, the efficiency of any stage k is given by

• Overall efficiency of line whose storage buffers all have infinite capacity is:

• By including one or more buffers on the line, we expect to improve line efficiency above E0, but we cannot
expect to achieve E because buffer zones of infinite capacity are not possible i.e.

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Analysis of a 2-stage transfer line

• It is divided by a storage buffer of capacity b, expressed in terms of number of work-parts that it can store
• The buffer receives the output of stage 1 and forwards it to stage 2, temporarily storing any parts not
immediately needed by stage 2 up to its capacity b
• Ideal cycle time is the same for both stages
• Assume mean downtime for each stage is the same =Td
• Let F1 and F2 = the breakdown rates of stage 1 and stage 2, (cannot be necessarily equal)
• If efficiency of stage 1 > stage 2, inventory builds up in the storage buffer until its capacity b is reached
• Later stage 1 will be blocked when it out-produced stage 2
• If efficiency of stage 2 > stage 1, inventory in the buffer is depleted thus starving stage 2
• Thus, the efficiencies in the two stages tend to equalize over time
• Overall line efficiency of the two stages is

where Eb = overall line efficiency for a 2-stage line with buffer capacity b,
• E0 = line efficiency for the same line with no internal storage
• represents improvement in efficiency that results from having a storage buffer with b > 0.
When b = 0, then

• D’1 can be thought of as the proportion of total time that stage 1 is down and is defined as follows;

h(b) is the proportion of the downtime (when stage 1 is down) that stage 2 could be up and operating within
the limits of storage buffer capacity b.
• Relationships for h(b) can be expressed for two theoretical downtime distributions as derived by Buzacott.
• Define r to be ratio of breakdown frequencies as:

• Two cases: Constant downtime and Geometric downtime distribution

• Assume Constant downtime- each downtime is assumed to be of constant duration Td. Given buffer capacity
b, define B and L as follows:

where B is the largest integer satisfying the relation

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• And L represents leftover units, the amount by which b exceeds

• There are 2 cases:

1. r =1:

2. r not equal to 1:

• E2 corrects for the assumption in calculation of h(b) that both stages are never down at the same time, since
this can happen

• Without E2 the line efficiency is overestimated.

What the Equations Tell Us – Lines with Buffers
• If E0 and E are nearly equal, then little advantage is gained by adding a storage buffer.
• If E is much greater than E0 then adding a storage buffer may improve line performance significantly.
• Storage buffers should be located so that production rates of the stages are about equal.
• During operation, if any buffers are always empty or always full, the line is out of balance, and the buffer is
serving little purpose.
• The maximum possible efficiency is achieved by:
o Setting the number of stages = number of stations
o Using large buffer capacities.
• The “law of diminishing returns” operates in multi-stage automated lines:
o As the number of storage buffers is increased, line efficiency improves at an ever-decreasing rate.
o As storage buffer capacity is increased, line efficiency improves at an ever-decreasing rate.

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