SYNCHRONIZING ASSEMBLY LINE OPERATIONS IN ...

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 10, Issue 2, February 2019, pp. 397-406, Article ID: IJMET_10_02_042

Available online at https://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJMET?Volume=10&Issue=2

ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

SYNCHRONIZING ASSEMBLY LINE

OPERATIONS IN COTTON GINNING

INDUSTRIES TOWARDS REDUCED CYCLE

TIME

Dr. Ashok G. Matani

Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department,

Government College of Engineering, Amravati, Maharashtra, India

Mohd. Sohail Ansari

2nd Year M.Tech. Production, Government College of Engineering,

Amravati, Maharashtra, India

Dr. S. K. Doifode

HOD, Chemistry Department, Government College of Engineering,

Amravati, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Problem-solving and ongoing procedure enhancements are key elements to

obtaining quality improvement in business operations. Many process and machine

improvement strategies have been suggested and implemented in organizations, where

define, measure, analysis, improve and control is mostly applied. Here we aimed at

improving the machine productivity of assembly line in a cotton ginning assembly line

in an Industry. The tool which is used to improve the productivity of assembly line are

time study and method study. Based on this, the study provides data of time required

for each assembly processes, sequence of each operations and flow of the product in

assembly line.

The present study has been done at an industry, a leading manufacturer of cotton

ginning machine. The aim of the study is to identify the various problems on the

assembly line which causes unnecessary delay in the operations. The problem is found

in the assembly line and is solved by work study techniques and it is found that cycle

time of bottle neck operation was reduced by 33.05% per trolley

Keywords: machine improvement strategies.

Cite this Article: Ashok G. Matani, Mohd. Sohail Ansari and S.K. Doifode,

Synchronizing Assembly Line Operations in Cotton Ginning Industries Towards

Reduced Cycle Time, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and

Technology, 10(2), 2019, pp. 397-406.

https://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJMET?Volume=10&Issue=2

http://www.gcoea.ac.in/

http://www.gcoea.ac.in/

Synchronizing Assembly Line Operations in Cotton Ginning Industries Towards Reduced Cycle Time


1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Productivity Improvement

Productivity improvement means reduction in wastage of resources like men, time, material,

capital etc. It is the human efforts to produce more profit in terms of less wastage of material,

less time consumption in assembly of manufacturing with less inputs of resources provided so

that the benefits will become maximum for the organization.

Productivity improvement is the key to do the right thing better & improve it

continuously. Therefore, it is important to adopt adequate or efficient productivity

improvement technique to maximize the machine output with a less consumption of

resources.

1.2. Work study

Work study investigates the work done in a company/organization and it aim to find the best

and most efficient way of using all the resources which are available i.e. material, man,

machine, money etc. Work study techniques involve

a) Method study and

b) Time study techniques.

1.2.1. Method Study

Method study targets at finding the best way of doing the work. Method study involves

systematic investigation (Which involves recording and critical investigation) of the current

method of doing the job so that easy, fast, which causes less fatigue to the worker, safe,

economical way of doing the work can be developed and installed at low cost. This is

basically achieved by eliminating the unnecessary motions which are involved in a procedure

of doing the work and the same can also be achieved by changing the sequence of operations

or process itself.

1.2.2. Time study

Time study is a technique of work measurement used to establish time for a qualified worker

to carry out specified task under specified conditions and at defined level of performance.

2. CASE STUDY

The study has been done at an industry, a leading manufacturer of Cotton Ginning Machine.

The aim of the study is to identify the various problems on the assembly line which causes

unnecessary delay in the operations. The problem is found in the assembly line having six

work stations where it is found that there are various operations creating bottle neck on the

assembly line. It is desirable that 40 Cotton Ginning machine to be assembled on the

assembly line but it is observed that 75% of cotton ginning machine are assembled a day.

Thus the concern of this paper is to present the ideas which can be used by the industry to

reduce its cycle time of the operations in its assembly line to enhance the efficiency of the

system.

3. OBJECTIVE

• To identify the operations causing bottle neck in the assembly line.

• By using the method study technique, identify the problem work stations in the

assembly line.

Ashok G. Matani, Mohd. Sohail Ansari and S.K. Doifode


• Develop a method to solve the problem which is causing unnecessary delay in the

assembly line.

• Conduct time study in the assembly line after implementation of the new method for

trial period of 10 days.

• Suggest new method to the concern personnel in the organisation.

4. STUDIES AT INDUSTRY

• First step is to determine the operation sequence in each work stations on the assembly

line.

• Observe and identify the cycle time for each operations on all work stations.

• It is found that sub assembly of the seed channel of the cotton ginning machine took

around 13.92 minutes and the time should be around 10.5 minutes for a trolley in a

work station.

• The problem associated with present method is that the sub assembly of seed channel

fitting or tightening of bolts and nuts on workstation 2 are done manually by spanners

and cannot be tightened by the torque wrench due to the design constraint. Thus it is

observed that due to this manual operation, the overall work station time of the

workstation 2 is around 13.92 minutes which is far greater than the other work stations

and also the work station time of station 1 is the least around 3.4 minutes shown in the

graph below.

• Now it is observed that by loose fitting of seed channels at the workstation 1 and

manually tightening of the nut and bolts are done in the workstation 2 can decrease

workstation time of station 2 to 9.32 minutes and simultaneously increases the

workstation time of station 1 to 7.93 minutes i.e. total decrease in time of 4.6 minutes

from station 2 and increase in the same on station 1.

• By implementing the new method, line efficiency of the assembly line increases.

Figure 1 Assembly Line Layout of the industry



Tables 1 for the cycle time and Work Stations Time with sequence of operations before

implementation of the new method.

WORK STATION 1

Sr. No. Operation Sequence Time consumed in Part assembly (Seconds)

1 Side Frame 94.8 88.3 82.9

2 Cross bar fitting 22 19.8 23.6

3 Rail fitting 81 92 87.5

Total workstation time 195.8 200.1 194

WORK STATION 2


1 Seed channel 1 fitting 273 266.4 282.3

2 Seed channel 2 fitting 562.2 481.2 533.6

Total workstation time 835.2 747.6 815.9

WORK STATION 3


1 Back knife fitting 81.6 95.4 88.6

2 Knife holder fitting 87 131.4 112.8

3 Fix knife fitting 9.22 10.2 9.58

4 Seed Guard Jumbo fitting 85.8 72 81.7

Total workstation time 263.2 309 292.68

WORK STATION 4


1 Ratchet fitting 16 21 18.5

2 Side plate fitting 81.6 78.5 86.9

3 Beater assembly fitting 387.6 241 321.3


WORK STATION 5


1 Weight lever fitting 136.8 198 169.5

2 Gear box fitting 270 388.8 340.6




WORK STATION 6


1 Gear box plate cover fitting 364.8 379.8 353.8

Tables 2 for the cycle time and Work Stations Time with sequence of operations after implementation

of the new method.

WORK STATION 1


1 Side Frame 94.8 88.3 82.9

2 Cross bar fitting 22 19.8 23.6

3 Rail fitting 81 92 87.5

4 Seed channel loose fitting 276 282 276

Total workstation time 471.8 482.1 470

WORK STATION 2


1 Seed channel 1 tightening 135 128.4 144.3

2 Seed channel 2 tightening 424.5 346.2 395.6


Figure 2

W/S 1 W/S 2 W/S 3 W/S 4 W/S 5 W/S 6

w/s time (reading 1) 195.8 835.2 263.62 485.2 406.8 364.8

w/s time (reading 2) 200.1 747.6 309 340.5 586.8 379.8

w/s time (reading 3) 194 815.9 292.68 426.7 510.1 353.8

19

5.8

83

5.2

26

3.6

2

48

5.2

40

6.8

36

4.8

20

0.1

74

7.6

30

9 34

0.5

58

6.8

37

9.8

19

4

81

5.9

29

2.6

8

42

6.7 5

10

.1

35

3.8

TIM

E (I

N S

ECO

ND

S)

WORK STATIONS (W/S)

Three readings of al l s ix work stations in assembly

l ine before implemenation of new method

w/s time (reading 1) w/s time (reading 2) w/s time (reading 3)



Figure 3

Cycle time of each operations in the work stations and work station time are given above

in the table. Thus by using the above table we can calculate line efficiency of the assembly

line.

• Number of work stations = 6

• Capacity of assembly line = 40 units per shift per day

• Total shift time = 480 minutes

• Unproductive time or worker allowances = 60 minutes

• Actual production time = Total shift time - Unproductive time or worker allowances

= 480-60

= 420 minutes.

• For full capacity, time required by one workstation for one trolley

= Actual production time

Capacity of plant

= 420

40

= 10.5 minutes

• Therefore, line efficiency before implementation of new method

= 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 × 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

= 420

6 ×13.92 = 50.28 %

w/s 1 w/s 2 w/s 3 w/s 4 w/s 5 w/s 6

w/s 1 (reading 1) 471.8 559.2 263.62 485.2 406.8 364.8

w/s 2 (reading 2) 482.1 474.6 309 340.5 586.8 379.8

w/s 3 (reading 3) 470 539.9 292.68 426.7 510.1 353.8

47

1.8

55

9.2

26

3.6

2

48

5.2

40

6.8

36

4.8

48

2.1

47

4.6

30

9 34

0.5

58

6.8

37

9.8

47

0

53

9.9

29

2.6

8

42

6.7

51

0.1

35

3.8

TIM

E (I

N S

ECO

ND

S)

WORKSTATIONS

Three readings of al l s ix work stat ions in assembly l ine after implemenation of new method

w/s 1 (reading 1) w/s 2 (reading 2) w/s 3 (reading 3)



• Line efficiency after implementation of new method

= 420

6 × 9.78 = 71.57 %

Thus by implementing line new method, line efficiency increases from 50.28% to 71.57%.

Figure 4

Figure 5

195.8 200.1 194

471.8 482.1 470

0

100

200

300

400

500

600


tim

e (i

n s

eco

nd

s)

workstation 1 readings

comparision of the workstation 1 before and after implementation

of new method

w/s time before improvement w/s time after improvement

835.2

747.6815.9

559.2

474.6539.9

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900


tim

e (i

n s

eco

nd

s)

workstation 2 readings

comparision of the workstation 2 before and after implementation of new

method

w/s time before improvement w/s time after improvement



Figure 6

Figure 7

It can be seen and compared from the above two graphs that the workstation time of

workstation 1 is increased and workstation time of w/s 2 is decreased by changing the

operation in the process sheet and thus reducing w/s time of the workstation 2.



5. CONCLUSIONS

The results can be concluded that the time required to complete the sub assembly of seed

channel in the work station -2 is reduced to 9.32 minutes from 13.92 minutes.

Percentage decrease in time by above study is

= 13.92−9.32

13.92 × 100

= 33.05 %

Thus the productivity of the assembly line of the cotton ginning machine is improved and

the line efficiency are increased by the application of work study and change in operation in

the process sheet.

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