VOL. 12, NO.

8, APRIL 2017 ISSN 1819-6608

ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2017 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

OPTIMIZATION OF WHEEL AXLE PLANT MANUFACTURING

ENVIRONMENT BY SIMULATION
R. Pugazhenthi1, R Saravanan2, M. Chandrasekaran1, R Franklin Issac3 and P. Vivek1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, VELS University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ellenki College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

E-Mail: pugal4@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The current world economic crisis every industry needs to improve the productivity with the minimum and
available recourses. This article is presents an optimization of simulation methodology for the production environment to
improve the productivity by reducing the process cycle time. Simulation models were allowing the users to easily
understand the system performance and assist in behaviour prediction, to support system diagnostics and design. The
manufacturing environment was modelled in Arena simulation software and the same can be simulated, the optimum
sequence was obtained by iterative optimization methods. The productivity of the manufacturing environment is obtained
by using the best operational sequence.

Keywords: optimization, arena, simulation, cycle time reduction, plant optimization.

1. INTRODUCTION Six Sigma is a powerful business improvement

Nowadays the manufacturing and service methodology for improving the efficiency and
industries strive to realize the worth of six sigma effectiveness, Antony et al., (2012) made attempts to
and design for six sigma with a wider acceptance, implement it in higher education institutions. Antony et
growth and investment for the same. (Ricardo al. (2007) discussed the feasibility of six sigma
Banuelas and Jiju Antony, 2004). The Byrne et al., implications for service industries, Rupa Mahanti, Jiju
(2007) reported that lean Six Sigma initiatives led to Antony, (2009) for software industries, Jiju Antony et al.,
product innovations, redesigned processes, and (2009) provided assessing the status of Six Sigma
streamlined supplier chain and increase revenue growth implementation in the Indian industry.
by 80%. Trevor Cadden and Stephen John Downes Darshak et al., (2009) furnished the impact of
(2013) suggested a business model which makes every Six Sigma in a developing economy analysis on benefits
effort to create a more holistic view of supplier drawn by Indian industries. Jagdeep Singh and
integration; extending the scope beyond the individual Harwinder Singh (2012) discussed important concepts,
firm centric factors. Jiju Antony (2008) conducted an surveys and case studies in continuous improvement
opinion survey and concluded that Six Sigma is methodology and highlighted future implications. The
uniformly applicable for large, medium and small authors noticed that the literature on this classification is
companies. In fact, the responses are results are more limited. Jiju Antony, (2008) highlighted the role and
rapidly and much more visible in smaller companies than responsibilities of academic institutions in developing six
in larger corporations. sigma by research. Jiju Antony, (2004) highlighted the
Hence Six Sigma not a global to the pros and cons of six sigma with academic perspective.
organization, it is specific too. Because the literature Neha Gupta, 2013 presented an overview on six sigma
evident that six sigma approach can be used for quality improvement program. Jiju Antony, (2011)
improving quality in injection molding process (Vikas distinguished that even though Six Sigma and lean
Dwivedi et al. 2014, Vikas Tayal and Jitendra Kumar, methodologies are focused on process and quality
2012, Rishi Pareek and Jaiprakash Bhamniya, 2013 and improvement, Lean has special features of formalization
Bharati et al. 2011 in small scale jobbing industries and codification of experience and judgement where as in
(Darshak and Desai, 2006 and 2008), in metal casting Six Sigma has not.
foundry industries (Vijayaram et al. (2006), Darshak A
and Desai (2012a and 2012b) and Gijo et al. 2014), in 2. PROBLEM DEFINITION
semiconductor foundry (Chao-Ton Su and Cha-Jen
Chou, 2008), in rolling mill by Kunal Ganguly, 2012. a) Business case (Financial impact)
In a manufacturing industry (Mehdiuz Zalan et al. 2013). The company has planned to produce 2021 SWL
In specific cases of solution for engine-overheating (Small Wheel Loader), 777 Dumper, 773 Dumper & 1035
problem by using six sigma approach (Antony et al. Water Splitter to meet the customer demands. At present
2005). Apart from manufacturing industries, the axle sub-assemblies and main assemblies are spread in
Shanmugaraja et al. 2011 and 2012 used to improve the 5th and 6th bays. So the material handling is improper.
quality and productivity using six sigma in project Transportation time for sub-assemblies and main
industries and furnished Literature snapshot on Six assemblies are very large. So they have planned to
Sigma project selection for future research. As lean rearrange the sequence of operation.

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ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2017 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

b) Specification of new axle assembly sequence Value added time in order to decrease the Non Value
 Length of the axle plant = 65m Added Time by the proper handling of the materials in
 Breath of the axle plant = 8.3 m the new plant; this will increase the turnover up to 20,000
 Provided with 12 pneumatic hoses USD.
 The rail track constructed for making the
movement of materials easy. STEP 1: Determine the current standard
 Availability of cranes up to 5 tons 5 No’s. The tools and tasks involved in this step are:
Safety Learning / ergonomics Assessment Process, Value
c) Problem statement Stream Map the area, Work Measurement, Calculate the
The Company has 10 bays in it. The 7th bay Takt Time. The stop watch time study type work
is the production area for the Sub assembly & Main measurement technique was used for determining the
Assembly. As per the marketing department data in next current standard. The time studies for four models were
12 months the production volume of the factory is going conducted and area wise details were tabulated in
to increase. In that transmission area plays a major Table-1(a) to Table-1 (e). The personal allowance was
role, so they have planned to increase the production of 5% for males and 7% of female worker of the total
the axles. This area so called axle assembly plant. The working time. The fatigue allowance was 1% of the
major problem over here is the improper Handling of total time. Contingency Allowances was considered less
materials. A large amount of floor space area is wasted for than 3% of the total time and special allowance 1% of the
the storage, total time is considered as a special allowance. The task
wise allowances were established with the help of
company experts and same was used to measure the
current time consumption.
d) Goal statement
The main objective is to find the necessary

Table-1(a). Work measurement details at 777 front axle area.

Table-1(b). Work Measurement details at 777 rear axle area.

Table-1(c). Work measurement details at 2021 loader (front & rear).

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ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2017 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

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Table-1(d). Work measurement details at 773 front & rear axle.

Table-1(e). Work measurement details at 1035 front & rear.

e) Takt time Customer Demand is Customer demand per period of

One of the most important numbers, driving all time (for example, per shift). In the case study
decisions around work load balance, scheduling and organization, averagely 21 working days per month,
capital expenditure is Takt time. It is the time required there are two shifts per day with each have 9.5 hours.
between completion of successive units of end product There is break and scheduled down time of half an hour
and it keeps the beat for customer demand. The takt per shift, hence the actual available the hours per
time can be found by the formula (1) annum will be 4536 working hours (272160 minutes).
The model wise customer demand and takt Time is
Takt time = Net available time / Customer demand (1) furnished in Table-2 for the demand in the year of 2016
which estimated based on the rate of consumption of
Where Net Available Time is the available time previous years up to December 31st, 2015.
per period of time (for example, per shift)
excluding breaks and scheduled down time and the

Table-2. Model wise customer demand in 2016 and Takt time.

f) Optimizing number of work stations The details of workload status in each work stations
Number of workstations can be reduced by were identified in terms of standard time and
introducing the track and by the new fixture in the axle categorized as Standard Time Before Improvement
assembly plant. TAKT TIME / CYCLE TIME (TTCT) (STBI). The operational requirement can be obtained
BAR CHART was used to visually display how long an using the relationship (2)
operation takes relative to the Takt Time, to visually
show the workload balance between operations, to serve Number of operators = Standard time of all the operations
as an analysis tool and identify improvement / Takt Time
opportunities and to document improvements made (2)
during the RIW. The vertical bar representing the 3. SIMULATION
Cycle Time of one (for each) operation for one operator, Simulation is the best choice to analyze
the horizontal line representing the Takt Time. For and evaluate complex system and simulation is often
balance the work load one must calculate the number of preferred as a performance evaluation tool (Saravanan
operators required Add the Cycle Times for all operations and Raju, 2010). Simulation is a flexible tool for
them divide it by the Takt Time. Usually calculating modelling complex system. Simulation helps in gradient
the number of operators is used ONLY to determine if computation to identify the solution or choice easily.
and where the employer can redeploy resources. If not, Simulation is also used for comparing configurations;
it is used as a tool to determine how to eliminate people. validate models, various policies and many other

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ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2017 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

qualitative features for obtaining solution to many what Table-2(b). Load balancing for 777 rear axle.
if ?questions. The basic models of improved assembly
lines such as 773 Front Axle, 773 Rear Axle, 2021 Front
& Rear Axle, 777 Front Axle, 777 Rear Axle and
1035 Rear Axle were created by using Arena, then
refined by adding real world information such as process
times, resource requirements, staff levels etc., The
created models were simulated, verified with real time
output and validated well. The simulated the proposed
assembly line models and generated the outputs (refer
Table for standard Time before Improvement and STAI
is a short form of Standard time after Improvement. The
Details of STBI, TKAT and STAI are graphically
depicted workstation wise in Figure-1 to Figure-5. The
table also reveal that:

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The improvements were measured by time
study. The standard time is a measure of performance.
The performances were compared with Takt time. The
Before and after implementation of Integrated approach
were tabulated from Table-2(a) to Table-2(e). Where
STBI stands for standard Time before Improvement and
STAI is a short form of Standard time after
Improvement. The Details of STBI, TKAT and STAI are
graphically depicted workstation wise in Figure-1 to
Figure-5. the table also reveals that

Table-2(a). Load balancing at 777 front axle.

Figure-2. Load balancing for 777 rear axle.

Table-2(c). Load balancing for 2021 front & rear axle.

Figure-1. Load balancing at 777 front axle.

Figure-3. Load balancing for 2021 front & rear axle.

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ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2017 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Table-2(d). Load balancing for 773 front & rear axle. Table-3. Simulated results of improved performance.

5. CONCLUSIONS
This work is focused to optimize the
manufacturing environment by simulation method. The
manufacturing plant designed and simulated with the help
of Arena simulation environment. The flow sequence was
modified with the help of simulation model which is
going to increase the turnover by 20,000 USD in 2016,
with the utilization of available resources.

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