PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT IN STEERING KNUCKLE MACHINING LINE USING LEAN PRINCIPLES

Abstract: To enhance the productivity and quality of products many firms are practicing the lean manufacturing concepts. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is one of the lean tools to visualize the hidden waste and its sources. This paper describes the lead time reduction of steering knuckles carried out at XYZ organization in Tiruppur located in South India. On observing the present system of steering knuckle production, the current lead time was calculated and found to be 22.70 minutes for producing two components simultaneously in CNC machines and their current production rate is 619 components per day against the customer demand of 648 components per day. A VSM is drawn to find out the value and non-value added activities involved in current production floor. Then, a Future Value Stream Map is developed to design a lean process flow through the elimination of the root causes for the wastes and through process improvements. This paper uses the VSM technique thereby helps the management to reduce the production lead time of steering knuckle and to fulfill the customer demands.

Keywords: Lean Manufacturing, Value Stream Mapping, Steering Knuckle, Lead time, Customer Demand.