Process analyzing and improvement at De Graaf Exhaust Systems

Abstract

De Graaf Exhaust Systems is a factory stationed in Hermanstad Pretoria. They produce exhausts for other De Graaf Exhaust Systems outlets as well as other businesses both in South Africa and overseas. The process at De Graaf Exhaust Systems is not working to its full capacity and thus losing profit. The process and flow of the products will be analyzed and improved with the necessary engineering principles. After analysis the process’s throughput and efficiency will increase hand in hand with the increase of products and thus the profit will increase. But this will only be possible if the capability of the system is known and which processes are diminishing the throughput of the system. The simulation model that will be based on the process will clearly show the bottlenecks and the capability of the system. The layout or flow of the process can then be changed to enhance the throughput of the system. Extra workers can also be employed to help man the machines. With the current process raw sheets of metal enter the process and go through a number of processes to obtain the final product. The scope of the investigation will be on the production of the exhaust bases and not on any other workstations. In this particular section there is a significant amount of possibility for improvement and change.