CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Quality product and capable to cope with customers demands are important aspects that should be take an account especially for small and medium industry. Management systems are also contributes in order to planning, controlling and measuring parameters related to the performance of the sectors. Companies should realize that the performance is depending on how well the production line in term of output. Process layout, product layout and fixed-position layout are 3 basics types of layout. This project is interested on product layout. Product layout is defined as flow-shop layout where number of machine and work processes are arranged so that the products will pass through several workstation. Due to high demand the resources was rearranged from process layout to product layout. This required a sequence steps to make product. Industries often called as an assembly line. Assembly lines are general described as progressive assembly linked by some type of material handling. This can be found especially for industries that assembles product such as electronics part, food and etc. An example of product layout is cafeteria, where customer trays are moving through series of workstations. However bottlenecks are often occurred in assembly line. This will cause delay in term of time and decreasing in line efficiency. The aims of the study are improving the productivity and compute efficiency of an assembly line in small and medium industry. The objective are redesign the layout for purposing to improve line performance. The model will select and using time study techniques it will be analyzed. The line balancing method is use to solve the problem. 1.1.PROJECT SCOPES The project is conducted at TI CYCLES OF INDIA, Chennai. Makes optimized workers utilization. Compare existing and new layout. Produce the new layout by using the quality tools. Stopwatch is used to take the time for balancing of time. 1

1.2. PROJECT OBJECTIVES The objectives are expected in the end of the project: To improve productivity and efficiency of existing layout. To meet unpredictable demand. To minimize the total amount of unassigned or idle times at the work station. To eliminate bottlenecks, ensuring a smoother flow of production. To determine the optimal number of work stations and operations in each station. To maintain the morale of workers since the work content of the different workers will not be of great difference. To maximize the manpower utilization by minimizing the idle times of the operators. To minimize intermediate stock or work-in-progress (zero inventory or just-in-time concept). To reduce waste of production and delay.

1.3.PROBLEM DESCRIPTION 1. The line is connected by a conveyor belt which moves at a constant speed. Consecutive work pieces are equispaced on the line by launching each after a cycle time. 2. Every work piece is available at each station for a fixed time interval. During this interval, the work load (of the respective model) has to be performed by an operator while the work pieces ride downstream on the conveyor belt. If the work load is not finished within the cycle time, the operator can drift to the next consecutive station for a certain distance. If the drifting distance is reached without finishing the operations, work overload occurs. In this case, a utility worker is additionally employed to perform the remainder work so fast that the work can be completed as soon as possible. 3. The operators of different stations do not interfere with each other while simultaneously servicing a work piece (i.e. during drifting operations).

4. The operator returns to the upstream boundary of the station or the next work piece, whatever is reached first, in zero time after finishing the workload on the current unit, because the conveyor speed is much smaller than the walking speed of the operators. 5. Precedence graphs of all models can be accumulated into a single combined precedence graph, similar operations of different models may have different operation time; zero operation time indicate that an operation is not required for a model. 6. Operation times of every model are independent variables and are descript by TFN. 7. Cycle time, number of stations, drifting distance conveyor speed and the sequence of models to be assembled within the decision horizon are known. 1.4. PROJECT MOTIVATION Time management and excessive workers are common problems arose in assembly line. These are the major problems that encounter and yet need to be overcome as soon as possible. Assemblers are often encounters this problem and if this happen means it will be decreased the line efficiency and the targeted run rate. To preventing these problems, the line balancing method is used. This aim is to minimizing workloads and workers on the assembly line while meeting a required output. Small and medium industries are covered 90 percent of enterprises in the world. Due to competitiveness, meeting a required demand and provide continuous product are become important matters. In order to achieve this objective, assembly line should be design to make sure the flow is smoothly. Workers on assembly line are specialized person in particular area. Most of them have been exposed to various tasks and skilled have been developed. A new layout is proposed to make sure the assembly line achieved required run rate. The layout will include the number of workers, the workloads and the flow of the products. Normally any changes of the layout depend on type of product, environment and company policies. Layout will be design based on the regulation provided by company. Simulation becomes necessary tool in designing layout based on its capability to evaluate and improving current layout. Analysis on assembly is important in order to achieve targeted productivity. Assembly line should be design smoothly and simulation should be done to predict the line efficiency and productivity difference between new layout and current layout. 3

1.5. PROBLEM STATEMENTS 1. Reducing line efficiency. In assembly line partially assembled bicycle moves to one workstation to another to perform parts assembling. Once it gets stuck due to accumulation in certain workstation, it exceeds the cycle time in that station. Faster station is limited by slowest station. It decreases the rate of productivity. 2. Unbalance workloads Due to starving, the workers need to wait the products to come.

CHAPTER - 2
OVERVIEW OF TI CYCLES OF INDIA
TI Cycles of India, one of the leading bicycle manufacturers in India, is a part of USD$3.8 billion Murugappa group. The company which started in 1949 has been at the forefront of innovations and a pioneer in the market of cycles. TI Cycles are the makers of countrys most famous brands like Hercules and BSA. Hercules is the flag ship brand of the TI Cycles portfolio. This brand of ours is still as young as ever - signifying strength and passion. BSA is another Flagship Brand of TI Cycles. BSA stands for Birmingham Small Arms. This brand signifies the joys of cycling, fun and excitement. With a network of 2500 plus dealers and backed by a strategic outsourcing policy, the company has a nationwide presence. It has 3 fully functioning plants across India at Chennai, Nasik and Noida and 7 regional offices situated across the country. Certified with ISO 9001, OSHAS 18001 and ISO 14001, TI Cycles is one of the most quality and customer centric organizations in the country. The vision of the company is To be the most preferred brand in fitness, recreation & personal mobility solutions. TI Cycles is an exporter to many regions across the global.

2.1. CURRENT STATUS Production : In front cycle, Fitness, cycles, Bicycles, Electric scooter totally 72 products Employees Labours Yearly production : : : 500 2000 4000 in a particular gear cycle assembly 100 Crore China & Japan Europe, South East Asia and Africa

Every month turnover: Import from Export from : :

CHAPTER - 3
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is to explore and gathered all informations in order to understand clearly this project. The structure of this chapter is shown in Figure.
MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINE

SIMPLE ASSEMBLY LINE LAYOUT

TYPES OF ASSEMBLY LINE

WORK STATION

LINE BALANCING

WORK MEASUREMENT

EFFICIENCY

PRODUCTIVITY

Fig.3.1. Literature Structure These sections are mainly concern about related knowledge about Line Balancing. And the current layout of assembly line in the TI Cycles of India. In the middle part of the Literature Reviews, detailed explanation regarding types of assembly line, workstation, material handling system and line balancing.

3.1. MANUALLY ASSEMBLY LINE

Manually assembly line is refers to production line that have several workstations arranged in sequence order where task was performed by workers.

Fig 3.1.1. Configuration of production line

As the product moves along the line the products are assembled. Every workstation has different task, since the product was moving we can see an addition as the part passing through every workstation and the end the complete product was made. Electrical appliance, audio equipments, furniture and etc are usually made on manual assembly line. There using manual assembly line due to several reasons:

i) High or medium demanding ii) Similar products. iii) Total work to assemble can be divided iv) Cost Estimation (possible to automate the operations).

The movements of products along manual assembly line can be accomplish by two ways manually and mechanized system. Noted that even different method but all units facing same sequence of stations.

3.1.1. THE ADVANTAGES OF MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINE The advantages of manual assembly line are i) Specialization of Labor Known as division of labor this principle mentioned that when a large job is divided into small portion and assigned to one worker this develop an expertise on that particular area ii) Interchangeable Parts Components with sufficiently close tolerances that any part of certain type can be selected for assembly with its matting components, without interchangeable parts, assembly will require filling and fitting. iii) Work Principle Products should travel in minimum distances between the stations. iv) Line Pacing. Workers should complete the task within a certain cycle time, paces the line to maintain a required rate. Pacing usually found by means of mechanized conveyor.

3.2. SIMPLE ASSEMBLY LINE BALANCING

Fig.3.2.1. Simple assembly line layout Typically an assembly line consists of n number of work stations placed along the constantly moving conveyor belt. Value is added toward the desired product at each workstation. Raw material or semi-finished product enters at the one end and the desired product comes out from the other end of an assembly line. Time allocated at each workstation to complete its operations depends on the product demand, cycle time number of hr. available for work demand during that particular period. The decision problem of optimally partitioning the assembly work among the workstation with respect to some objective is known as Assembly Line Balancing Problem (ALBP). Minimizing the cycle time for a fixed number of workstations and minimizing the number of work stations required in order to 8

achieve that given output rate are the two main goals in Simple Assembly Line Balancing Problem (SALBP). Dynamic programming and branch and bound are typically the methods used to solve these problems. Physical measure like grip strength capacity, weight, bending required were considered while balancing an assembly line. 3.3. TYPES OF ASSEMBLY LINE An assembly line can be classed into three categories based on numbers of models assembled on the line and according to the line pace which are: I. II. III. Single - model line Mixed model line Batch model line

3.3.1. SINGLE MODEL LINE A single model line can be described as a line that assembles a single model. This line produces many units of one product with no variation.

Fig.3.2.2. Single Model Line The tasks performed at each station are same for all units. Products with high demand are intended to this line. 3.3.2. MIXED MODEL LINE Mixed model line is producing more than one model. They are made simultaneously on the same. Once one model is worked at one stations, the other product are made at the other stations.

Fig.3.2.3. Mixed Model Line Thus, every station is equipped to perform various tasks needed to produce any model that moves through it. Many consumers product are assembled on mixed model line. 3.3.3. BATCH MODEL LINE This line produces each model in batches. Usually workstations are set up to produce required quantity of the first model then the stations are reconstructed to produce other model.

Fig.3.2.4. Batch Model Line Products are often assembled in batches when medium demand its more economical to use one assembly line to produce several products in batches than build a separate line for each model. The research will be carried out in industry which applied a mixed model line. 3.3.4. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF A MIXED MODEL LINE Mixed model line is pioneered by Toyota and is actually figured out to produce several models without any changeover. Proper sequencing of the product assures the demand go smoothly on upstream suppliers. There are several Benefits using mixed model line which are: No lost production time switching between models. High inventories typical of batch production are avoided. Production rates of different models can be adjusted as product demand changes.

Even though mixed model line offered several advantages thus its have its own disadvantages. 10

The disadvantages that found out here are: Assigning tasks to workstations to equally the workload is complex. Determining the sequence models. Getting the right parts to each workstation for model currently at the station

3.3.5. WORKSTATION On manually assembly line workstation is designed along the work flow path so does one or more workers can perform the task. The work elements represent small portion of work that must be accomplished to assemble product. Workstations designed should conclude productivity, operator comfort, operator variety and safety. The number of operator may be different and one operator might monitor several workstations. Certain workstations are equipped with hand tools or powered tools to perform the task assigned in that station. The design is depending on how the workers perform the task. There are several processes to designs the workstations which are: i) Examining tasks, operators and tools ii) Allocating tasks between operators and machines iii) Selecting or designing tools and fixtures iv) Physical arrangements optimization. Commonly for assembly large products such as cars, trucks and major appliances the workers need to stand so that they can move about the station to perform tasks. Operator comfort is important. Comfortableness assures that operators perform better. Most of workstation rarely equipped operators as individuals. Assembling small parts required the workers to sit so that they feel much comfortable to reduce fatigue risks. This will help them to work on more conducive and more accurate while performing tasks. The workers start to assemble near upstream and product continuously moving through several workstations until task is completed.

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3.3.6. WORKSTATION DESIGN In general, the number of workstations, n is equal to the numbers of workers, w and manning level, M

A workstation has length dimensions Lsl, where I denotes station i. Total length assembly line, L is summation of each workstations length

If the length assembly line (m,ft), L and ls=length of station I (m,ft) are equal

If using conveyor we have to determine the feed rate, constant throughout the line fp and assume time cycle Tc, is

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CHAPTER 4
METHODOLOGY
4.1. INTRODUCTION An assembly line is a sequence of workstations connected together by a material handling system. It is used to assemble components into a final product. The assembly process consists of a sequence of tasks or work elements. A task consists of some elemental operations which are tied together because of the use of a common tool or fixture. Accordingly, tasks cannot be sub-divided and must be completed at their assigned workstations. The tasks in an assembly process typically must be ordered and have priority requirements to be enforced. The assembly line balancing problem is the issue of assigning tasks to work stations. Because tasks may require widely different times, the assign of task times to work stations are rarely equal. This leads to idle time at workstations. 4.2. METHODOLOGY FLOW CHART 1. TAKT Time: Takt time is simply the time available to produce components in a year divided by the customer demand giving you a drum beat of customer demand 2. This is the best way for capturing the data. Waste and NVA can be identified more easily and can allow the team to spot things that they previously didnt realize occurred. Videoing a process is more difficult than you think. You must concentrate on capturing the process (not the man). Sometimes the operator may be unavoidable in these cases it may be prudent not to capture his mug shot. 3. The post its can be stuck onto the brown paper to create little towers of process times. The TAKT line is also drawn on at this stage 4. The target manpower is calculated by adding up the total work content of the job and dividing it by the TAKT. This will give you something to aim for as it will tell you how the process could (in terms of the manpower required) run without any efficiency losses in a perfectly balanced state. 5. This tells you that without making any improvements in the process, the customer demand can be met and a efficiency of 83% can be achieved 6. This is the method that can be used without video equipment. It is based on estimates but is very visual and imbalances can be noticed very easily. 13

Fig.4.2.1. Methodology Flow Chart

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7. As the video is being reviewed it is important to get the operators to identify what elements of work are Value added, Non-value added, and Waste. Value added example when a drill is actually cutting metal (not moving into the work piece) Non-value added example inspection, putting a part in a jig, Then the 7 wastes are: Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Over-processing, defects 8. Line balancing is about identifying and eliminating waste from the process and balancing out the remaining work in the most efficient way. Big improvements can be made without even looking at the cycle time of the machine or process. Once the wastes in the system have been minimized then more benefit will be yielded from attacking the VA work. If this doesnt happen the effects will be hidden, lost or have minimal effect.

4.2.1. PRE-REQUISITES TO LINE BALANCING There are two pre-requisites to line balancing I. TAKT Time Takt time is simply the time available to produce components in a yeardivided by the customer demand giving you a drum beat of customer demand.

II. Standardise Standardise what we mean by this is Standardising the operations so that we have a base line on how the job should be completed. This enables better management of the process and problems or variation from the process can be determined more effectively. This is vitally important as one-piece-flow demands that you are able to resolve issues quickly. Otherwise stop the customer ultimately.

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Fig.4.2.2. Standard work layout Standard formats are popular tools for detailing the way that process should be run or managed. Here is an example of a Standard work layout document which would be used to detail: 1. How the cell should be layed out (position of machines/ people / Stock locations 2. How the material should flow through the area. 3. Highlighting Health and safety information. This document should be signed off by the team leaders of the area and the local area manager. It should be visibly displayed in the area for all to see along with other standard documents or on a visual management board.

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4.3. LINE BALANCING Line balancing is commonly technique to solve problems occurred in assembly line. Line balancing is a technique to minimize imbalance between workers and workloads in order to achieve required run rate. This can be done by equalizing the amount of work in each station and assign the smallest number of workers in the particular workstation. Here the job is divided into small portion called job element .The aim is to maintain production at an equal rate.Line balancing operates under two conditions: 1. Precedence Constraint Precedence constraints define precedence relations among couples of operations. A precedence constraint is represented by an arrow between two operations. Two operations A and B are connected by a precedence constraint A -> B if operation B can only be started when A is finished, or later. Operation A is then said to precede B, or be its predecessor. Equivalently, B succeeds A, or is its successor. While precedence constraints define some order of succession among operations, it is important to note that they are different from a sequence of operations. A sequence completely defines the succession of operations, while precedence constraints only do so partially. For instance, consider the following precedence constraints defined for three operations A, B and C:

A -> B (A precedes B) A -> C (A precedes C)

Fig. 4.3.1. Example for Precedence constraints

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These two precedence constraints partially define the order of the three operations. Indeed, there are two sequences compliant with them, with time flowing from the left to the right:

A, B, C A, C, B Since there is no precedence defined between B and C. In addition, there may be several operations taking place in parallel, in particular on a workstation with several operators. In those cases, the number of possible sequences is even higher; although two operations connected by a precedence constraint still must take place one after the other. For instance, on a workstation with two operators, the operations B and C could be performed simultaneously, both starting at the end of A. 2. Cycle time Restriction Cycle time is maximum time for products spend in every workstation. Different workstation has different cycle time. 4.3.1. OBJECTIVE OF LINE BALANCING Line balancing technique is used to: To manage the workloads among assemblers. To identify the location of bottleneck. To determine number of workstation. To reduce production cost.

4.3.2. TERMS IN LINE BALANCING TECHNIQUE In assembly line balancing system, there is various term normally used. Each of them has their meaning and purposes. Several common terms found in assembly line balancing system are given below: 1. Cycle Time Maximum amount of time allowed at each station. This can be found by dividing required units to production time available per day. 18

2. Lead Time Summation of production times along the assembly line. 3. Bottleneck Delay in transmission that slow down the production rate. This can be overcome by balancing the line. 4. Precedence It can be represented by nodes or graph. In assembly line the products have to obey this rule. The product cant be move to the next station if it doesnt complete at the previous station. Figure 2.8 shows the precedence graph. The products flow from one station to the other station.

Figure 4.3.2. Precedence Diagram 5. Idle time In a particular period the system is not in used but is available. 6. Productivity Define as ratio of output over input. Productivity is depends on several factors such as workers skills, jobs method and machine used.

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4.3.3. Steps in Solving Line Balancing Here are the steps in solving line balancing i. Drawing Precedence Diagram Precedence diagram needs to be drawn to show a connection between a workstation. Certain process begins when previous process was done.

ii.

Determining Cycle Time Cycle time is longest time allowed at each station. This can be expressed by this formula:

This means the products needs to leave the workstations before its reach its cycle time.

iii.

Assigning tasks to workstation The tasks allocations should be taken after completing a time cycle. Its good to allocate tasks to workstation in the order of longest task times

iv.

Calculating an Efficiency Line

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4.3.4. Assembly line balancing problem Assembly line is a sequence of progressive assembly stations linked by some material handling devices. Assembly line is a special case of product layout in which the operations pertain to assembly of different parts at few stations. Line (or, product) layout is useful for high volume, single product type of manufacturing activity. In this, a moving conveyor may bring the work unit or sub-assemblies units near to the workers, who carry them along the next station and do the required operations. At each station, one or more workers perform the required operations.

Fig.4.3.3. Flow chart for ALB

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4.3.4.1. Procedure for Line Balancing 1. Construct the precedence diagram if not given. 2. Determine the cycle time required. 3. Determine the theoretical minimum number of work stations required. This is done by adding up all the task times and dividing the total by the cycle time. 4. Select either the Kilbridge & Wester method or the Rank Positional Weights Method to allocate task elements to each work station. 5. Each work station should not exceed the cycle time determined earlier. Use a table, setting out the work stations from left to right. 6. Use the Longest Operation Time (LOT) rule; select the task with the longest operation time next. Consider adding to the station any task whose time fits within the remaining time for that station. 7. Calculate the idle times, and hence the balancing loss (balancing delay) or line efficiency. 8. Ensure that the restrictions or constraints for the flow line are adhered to. 9. Analyze the balanced flow line to improve efficiency and to reduce idle times. An efficient balance will minimize the amount of idle time. 10. Ensure that the sequencing is in order, even for the task elements in each station. Precedence relationships may interfere with assigning two tasks to the same workstation. 11. Cycle Time When available work time at any station exceeds that which can be done by one worker, additional workers (or robots) must be added to that station. The available time is the total working hours less the assignable break-times and allowances. The length of work time, or operating time, that a product is available at each work station is the cycle time. It is the amount of time available for a worker at a work station to complete his work. Cycle time, CT = (available time per period) / (output units required per period). = production period / production volume.

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The ideal or theoretical number of workers needed is the product of the actual worker time it takes to complete one unit and the number of output units required, divided by the available time. Ideal no. of workers = t / CT, Where t = sum of actual worker time required to complete 1 unit. 12. Compute the theoretical minimum number of work stations. Nt = Total task time / C Where, Nt = theatrical workstation 13. Determine the actual number of work stations used, Na. 14. Compute the efficiency of the line. Line Balancing Efficiency, It is a means of measuring the degree of balance for each process time in a flow line operation. It is the percentage of available work station time that is used productively. Efficiency, = output / input= total task time / [No. of Stan. X Cycle time] Efficiency = Total task time / (Na * C ) 15. Balancing Loss or Delay The inefficiency of the flow line is the total idle times of the flow line Balance Delay = 1 Efficiency

4.3.4.2. Factors Affecting Line Balancing & Problems Encountered Bottlenecks. The workers in the line have great variations in level of skill and aptitudes for certain jobs. Thus, it is difficult to synchronize the time. Small production volumes do not justify the use of line balancing. Long set-up times There are constraints in operations in terms of size of machines, location, space, jigs and fixtures, building structure, etc. 23

4.4. DATA COLLECTION 4.4.1. Tabulation with collected data by time study

PROCESS NUMBER

DESCRIPTION PROCESS

OF

ASSEMBLY

WORKERS COMBINATION

STANDARD TIME(SEC)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Front forks Handle bar Brake & Brake levers Back rack & Rear derailleur Tightening of Rack seat & Rear derailleur Front Dropout & hub Nut & bolds for brake shoe, derailleur Saddle & Stem Back wheel & its cover Chain Tightening Front derailleur with chain Rack positioning Final tightening of screws Box, Front wheel & pedals Checking Packing

1 2,3 3,4 4,5 6 7 8,9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

35 110 23 55 137 37 54 60 80 62 52 41 63 88 15 60

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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
We have identified a number of aspects of the line balancing problem that are vital in industries by analyzing those problems obtained in optimized assembly line. We have identified a number of assembly aspects from assembly line in TI Cycle of India and increase the productivity in the gear cycle assembly through line balancing method.

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REFERENCES
1. Becker, C., and Scholl, A., 2006, A survey on problems and methods in generalized Assembly line balancing, European Journal of Operations Research, Vol. 168(3), pp 694-715. 2. Dilworth, J. B., 1993, Production and Operations Management: Manufacturing and Services, 5th Edition, McGraw Hill, Inc. 3. Gerhard P., 1997, Line Balancing Techniques as used for JIT Product line Optimization, Production Planning and Control, Vol. 8(7), pp 686-893. 4. Scholl, A. and Klein, R., 1999, ULINO: Optimally balancing U-shaped JIT assembly lines, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 37(4), pp 721 736. 5. Schroeder, R. G., 1993, Operations Management: Decision making in the Operations Function, 4th Edition, McGraw Hill, Inc. 6. Standridge, C. R., 1993, Modeling and Analysis of Manufacturing Systems, John Wiley& Sons, Inc. 7. http://www.acsco.com/ Line Balancing.html 8. http://www.manufacturinginstitute.co.uk/text.asp?PageId=83 9. http://www.optimaldesign.com/Download/Opti Line /FalkenauerPLM05.pdf 10. http://www.simcore.fr/Pages/en/en_soft_pplb.php?Langue=en&IndexMnu=6

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