Project of the Month
"Specification Batch Size 1 Plant"
Continuous plant concept from board storage, cutting, edge processing and sorting.
KEY NUMBER OF THE PROJECT
reduction of personnel requirements
by ~
40%
INITIAL SITUATION
- A manufacturer of ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture wants to replace its aging machinery.
- Production has been carried out mainly on individual machines with little automation (several free-standing panel saws and edge banding machines).
- Working methods are very personnel intensive.
- Recruitment of personnel is problematic due to the location in a region with low unemployment.
APPROACH
Due to the conditions described above, the company decided to invest in an interlinked, integrated production system. To design a functional and sustainable concept, the following approach was taken:
- Recording of the existing situation
- Analysis of the parts spectrum according to quantities and necessary machining operations
- Creation of a reference lot for the machine specification, including
o Future work sequences
o New lead time scheduling
o Determination of the latest reasonable start time for the different part families (backward scheduling)
Sorting criteria for the parts to be made available to the downstream processes.
- Creation of a requirement specification with the necessary requirements, such as, among others:
o Description of input materials
o Description of the components to be produced
o Definition of the necessary processes and machining requirements
o Definition of the required output
o Elaboration of the interfaces to the upstream and downstream processes
o Description of the secondary processes
o Clarification of the acceptance criteria
- Execution of project discussions with the machine manufacturers in question
- Evaluation of the machine concepts offered.
- Monitoring of the project up to the awarding of the contract
RESULTS
- Construction of a Batch Size 1 Line consisting of an automatic panel storage system, a cutting line, a decoupling buffer, an edge banding line, and a sorting storage system.
- Concept for the integration of the Batch Size 1 Line into the existing production situation has been developed
- Machine concepts are compared, evaluated, and a recommendation for action is prepared
- Negotiable plant concept ready for order placement
- Output approx. 1300 parts per shift
- Reduction of personnel requirements by approx. 40%
