TIME STUDY ANALYSIS OF BOTTLENECK OPERATION IN AL-DOST ASSEMBLY LINE

A Summer internship study done in

By,
ESAKIRAJ T
RA1652001010194
MBA-H
SRM University
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

• To justify the method change from Scope of the Study

manual to automation
• This study is about the cycle time
reduction with the help of method
change

• Deals with the way of achieving

optimum productivity

• Identifies the operator fatigue while

doing the job
 COMPANY PROFILE
Established 2011
• US MNC headquartered in Detroit
• CEO- David C. Dauch Start of Production May 2012
• AAM India includes Pune
Manufacturing Facility, Pune Business Total Land Area 2,88,000 sq. ft.

Office, R&D center and Chennai Plant Built-up Area 95349 sq. ft.
Manufacturing Facility
• Global leader in forged products for Product Range Front & Rear Axles for Light,

automotive axle and driveline Medium, Heavy duty trucks

components, transmission
Customers DICV, ALN, Isuzu
components, assembly ready for
critical applications, wheel hubs and Manpower 180
spindles
Certification TS16949:2009
 PRODUCT PROFILE

Front Axle Tandem Axle

Rear Axle Tag Axle

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design A mix of qualitative and quantitative
research
Area of Study ALN Assembly line
Sample under study Operating Engineers
Data collection method Informal Interview
Qualitative Data Nature of job, methods and expert
opinions
Quantitative Data Consumer’s demand, Takt time and
Cycle time
• Cycle times are recorded using Memomotion study
• Assembly processes are video graphed using digital camera to perform the time
and motion study
 ALN ASSEMBLY LINE
• Dedicated to assemble low duty rear
axles for Ashok Leyland and Isuzu
commercial vehicles

• Receives the banjo beam and child

parts from Pune Manufacturing
Facility
 Takt Time Calculation
Working Shifts per Day 1 Shifts

Hours per Shift 8 Hours

Break Time per Shift 20 Minutes

Startup Process 10 Minutes

Cleanup & Shutdown 15 Minutes

Customer Demand per Day 80 Units

Available Time per Shift 480 Minutes

Net Working Time per Shift 435 Minutes

Net Working Time per Shift 26,100 Seconds

Net Available Time per Day 26,100 Seconds

Takt Time = 326 Seconds per Axle

Takt Time = 5.4 Minutes per Axle

 IDENTIFICATION OF BOTTLENECK

• Takt time (326 seconds) has been taken as the baseline

• Individual process cycle times are plotted in a bar chart
• From the above bar chart, it is very easy to identify the bottleneck operation
• In ALN Assembly line, hub axial play setting process is the bottleneck
• So, this workstation needs a lot of improvement
MANUAL AXIAL PLAY SETTING
• Two wheel hubs will be pushed and pulled by
the Operating engineers from either side
• Dial gauge is used to measure the axial clearance
in microns
• In the previous assembly station, shims will be
preloaded approximately
• If the axial play exceeds the upper limit (130
microns), shims will be added to reduce the
axial play
• If the axial play is less than the lower limit (70
microns), shims will be removed to increase the
hub axial play
• Axial play or End float should be maintained
within the acceptance criterion based on
customer specification
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Longest Cycle Time

Productivity loss

Affects Product Quality

Operator Fatigue

Affects Employee morale

 AUTOMATION OF AXIAL PLAY SETTING

• Existing method in ALN assembly line

• Probe measurement technique

• Implemented to remove bottlenecks

• To set hub axial play precisely

 ELIMINATION OF BOTTLENECKS

• From the graph, it is clear that the bottleneck has been eliminated
• Cycle time of the bottleneck operation has been reduced
• There is no need for two operating engineers in axial play setting workstation
• Additional operating engineer can be deployed in other critical areas
CONCLUSION
• New business offers can be obtained
by supplying premium quality
products

• AAM is developing a new product for

Ashok Leyland (AL Dost+)

• By considering all the long term

benefits, the method change from
manual to automation can be justified