Systematic Efficiency Improvement by Optimizing Plant Layout using Witness Simulation Software

Abstract

Today’s customers demand high quality, customized goods and services, quickest delivery. This has made the design and management of systems more challenging. Simulation models are used to find various aspects of manufacturing systems. Cummins organisation is involved in remanufacturing of whole engine parts in which the process begins with complete disassembly of every part and again rebuilding the same. The company need plant layout improvements to meet there customer demands as it is observed that there is improper material flow, bottleneck operations, improper utilisation of manpower and unplanned inventory at each station. Hence, there is huge scope of development. An attempt is made in this work to use Witness software and redesign the assembly line layout of cam follower. The primary objective of performing simulations is to explore the possibility of increase in production rate, identify the bottleneck operation and the effective utilisation manpower. Through VSM, effective cycle time is computed which is further given as an input to the Witness software. The simulation results of assembly line model shows that, there are no hindrance in machine statistics reports showing smooth run of machines. Also, simulation helped in reducing manpower. Earlier 26 man power were utilised per day by traditional approach. Through simulation output, it is possible to reduce the manpower to 20 per day with the same production demand. The total productivity is increased by 12% and the overall equipment effectiveness is increased from 60% to 65%. The cost per employee per week of company is saved up to $1700 by implementing the simulation results. Practising these methods has improved the line, and as a result customers are satisfied over the deployment of changes in the product. Finally it can be concluded that, the virtual simulations emerges as a dominant technique to enhance the customer satisfaction and reduce the rejection rate