Continuous improvement of a machining process by designing a new jig

• Autor(a) principal: Kumar, Sampath
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/12709
• topic: Jigs and fixtures; Six Sigma for design; Continuous improvement; SOLIDWORKS; Gabaritos e acessórios; Six Sigma para design; Melhoria contínua; Gestão Industrial

This thesis report gives an insight on how an often overlooked, jig and fixture used as a manufacturing aid to produce a product and essential for delivering products reliably and repeatedly with high quality. This continuous improvement project of an exciting machining process of winding cones used overhead garage doors. The improvement was a necessity with a forecast for 2019 estimating the need for 43% faster production cycle (takt time) compared to the previous year. Hence, the main objective was to reduce the machining time required per part by designing a modular jig system, ideally with 12 parts per cycle. To make the work in an organized structure the project was dived into four phases namely: research, design, machining and implementation. The research phase included in the study of the old jig in use, analysing the process and sketching the basic requirements. The design phase was based on the methodology of Design for Six Sigma methodology for the fixture. Different kind of jig components was designed and assembled using SOLIDWORKS CAD model. The critical review of design iteration was analysed using SWO analysis (short version of the standard SWOT analysis) for design. The machining of most components of the jig was done in-house with tacit knowledge of the machinist instead of using CAM software’s making it first of its kind project in developing knowledge management in the company for future jig requirements. The critical outcomes of the project were harvested from the implementation phase. The newly machined modular jig system proved to have increased the number of parts machined per day by 32% with expected savings of more than €6000 per annum. The added benefit of a modular jig system was that one base (skeleton of the jig) could be used in machining different products. Also, future projects now have the intellectual and physical resources of making jigs and fixtures in-house. This drastically reduces the lead times for new parts, which is crucial for a small-medium enterprise stay competitive.