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Case Studies

Papers & Case Studies

Manufacturing Process Management and Line Balancing

Learn more about MPM (Manufacturing Process Management) and where it fits. MPM fits in between the technologies of Product Design (CAD/CAM/PDM that define WHAT products are made) and the technologies of Product Scheduling (MRP/ERP/MES that define WHEN products are made). With MPM, Industrial, Manufacturing and Process Engineers define HOW products are made by taking product engineering BOMs (Bills of Material) and defining process sequence, time and resource requirement information. In addition, they evaluate processes for safety (ergonomics), create and distribute shop floor work instructions, identify quality issues (FMEAs) and quality validation/error-proofing procedures (Control Plans), and then they provide this information to MRP/ERP systems, as well as to the shop floor in a controlled manner.

 

Material Handling and Part Flow

Evaluation, Reduction, and Elimination of Excess Material Flow within Industrial Facilities
Materials handling involves the Movement (relocation) of Materials (container, parts, tooling, kanban triggers) using Methods (fork trucks, people, carts). The focus of any improvement study is aimed largely at improving, or eliminating the Movement of material because the Materials and Methods themselves may neither be conducive to change nor offer significant benefits for cost and time savings.

 

Ergonomics

Ergonomic Assessment Tools Available Through Proplanner
Proplanner offers three unique methods for ergonomic evaluation. They take into consideration all the data within the individual programs in order to improve safety and spot hazards fast.

 

Case Studies Prove Proplanner

Plan for Every Part Project
Large agricultural equipment manufacturer reduces part shortages by 98%, lineside inventory by 84%, and replenishment time by 66% using Proplanner's PFEP, eKanban, and eKitting tools.

Ag Equipment Tugger Routes
Flow Planner helped a logistics team improve tugger route efficiency by 17%, resulting in an $80,000/year cost savings.

Furniture Manufacturing Plant  
Holy Angel University, in association with Proplanner, completed a consultation project for a furniture manufacturing plant in Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines to make more efficient use of their human, equipment, material, and energy resources.  Flow Planner was used to asses and reduce WIP and material handling efforts, and ProTime Estimation was used to assess and remove non-value added work from the plant's bottleneck process. 

Heavy Equipment Manufacturing Plant
This study summarizes the consolidation of two assembly lines into one to accommodate future demand increases.  As a part of this, the project heavily leveraged Assembly Planner's line balancing module.

Receiving Docks
Proplanner's Flow Planner was used to assess congestion and long material travel distances from receiving dock locations and improve dock assignments to reduce the congestion and distances.

Warehouse De-consolidation Facility
Proplanner's Flow Planner was used to improve material flow throughout a warehouse facility.

Semiconductor Assembly & Test Facility
Proplanner's Flow Planner was used to design a layout in one week that reduced annual in-plant travel by 2.8 million meters, or 1,761 miles. 

Heavy Duty Vehicle Manufacturing Plant
This project focused on increasing the capacity and efficiency of a major heavy duty vehicle assembly facility. 

International Assembly Plant
This project utilized Proplanner's Flow Planner to optimize tow train tugger and fork flow and reduce material handling manpower.

Appliance Manufacturing Plant
This paper summarizes the application of Proplanner's Assembly Planner suite within a major appliance manufacturing firm.

Automotive Manufacturing Plant
The goal of the project was to perform a thorough indirect labor review of the Production Control Department at an automotive manufacturing plant. The review was to identify areas of opportunity to increase operator and equipment utilization resulting in reduced plant cost and reallocation of underutilized manpower to meet projected Indirect Manpower Target Levels; with a defined manpower reduction objective.

 

News Articles

Automatic Engineering - IIE Magazine, October 2013

Advancing Facility Planning - IIE Magazine, November 2011

GVSETS Technical Paper on MPM for Military Vehicles, July 12, 2011

Software on the Assembly Floor - Ames Tribune, February 2, 2011

Handling Material Problems as They Arise - Cutting Tool Engineering, March 2011

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