Optimization and analyses of workstations which are either over-cycle or under-utilised

Abstract

Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa has introduced a new product to the market. The production line of this product is still new and has stations which are not fully optimized. Daily demand is not even made when running the line overtime. Certain stations are not running inside the 2 minute cycle time, causing bottlenecks or line stopping on a regular basis. This proposal indicates the problem and the planning of how it will be dealt with. The project was covered throughout the whole year and was presented to management at Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa as a suggestion but it isn’t intended to be implemented. By using Queuing Theory to determine buffer capacities and Yamazumi charts for line balancing, the congestion found on the production line was solved. This was verified by a simple simulation (via Excel and Simio). The buffer sizes need to be increase and operators’ elements need to be re-allocated.