Effektivisering av Westaflex produktionsflöde
Typ
Examensarbete på grundnivå
Program
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Rasul, Mahdi
Kremer, Lewis
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The production industry is in a development phase where Industry 4.0 is around the corner, sustainable development is sought and Lean Production is an important foundation for a company that wants to achieve profitability. Industry 4.0 and Lean have two different philosophies that have important characteristics but different relationships. Sustainable development consists of three pillars: Economic, environmental and social aspects that must be taken into account. Recently, more and more companies have implemented Industry 4.0's ideology of a more automated environment with upgraded technology (Varela et al., 2019). For companies, it is important to follow the development process in order not to be outcompeted by the current acceleration of development. This includes all industries, as new technology plays a major role in the race. Understanding the processes of the industrial companies, the shortcomings that can exist or exist and the losses that come with it are also important factors in the race, which Lean takes into account. However, both philosophies are an investment that can be more or less profitable for companies depending on status, efficiency and demand. It then becomes important for companies to analyze the current process, budget, and cost savings. Cost savings in turn can be achieved through streamlining, and streamlining can be achieved by eliminating bottlenecks. This means that Swedish companies can become more profitable in the long term and promote growth.
Good air quality presupposes clean ventilation ducts and since 2012, rules on functional control of ventilation control have been modernized, which today means zero tolerance of pollutants in duct systems (ALTEA, 2012). Westaflex is a company in the ventilation industry, which specializes in duct solutions and ventilation manufacturing for vehicles, households and factories and has been producing efficient ventilation since 1975. The head office and factory are located in Gothenburg where production takes place. Westaflex currently has 35 employees with extremely knowledgeable staff where demand is very good in the short and long term.
The purpose of the project work is to streamline Westaflex's production flow by adapting the number of workers on one of their work surfaces called the "red table". Methods that have been used include the Avix-Method software for analyzing set-up times on the work surface and Avix-Ergo for consideration of ergonomic aspects. Visits in the workplace have been carried out to get a sense of the area and the collection of data. No previous studies have been carried out at the company, however knowledge from previous subjects at Chalmers has raised similar dilemmas and situations for companies in general that have wanted to streamline production processes. On the other hand, there is a lack of knowledge about Westaflex's production process and how the stations relate to each other. The aim of the project is to streamline Westaflex's production facility by analyzing one of their most stressed processes used for their pipe manufacturing and adapting the workload on that work surface through timekeeping, software, theoretical methods and calculations. The project will only take into account the pipe manufacturing process and present measures for efficiency.