Identification of the limits of the flow production for XXL-production and transmission of selected benefits from flow- to on the site Production

Theme XXL products, Production planning
Project title Identification of the limits of the flow production for XXL-production and transmission of selected benefits from flow- to on the site Production (Fließfertigung in der XXL-Produktion)
Project duration 01.07.2012 – 30.06.2014
Results
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Press release

In the automobile sector the assembly line is standard. Many manufacturers of XXL-products such as aircrafts, ships and wind turbines produce their large-scale products already with assembly lines. However, the assembly line is mostly limited to bigger companies. Most smaller companies still produce their XXL-goods in form of a site production. The objective of this research project was the analyzation of how a continuous assembly line can be used for XXL products. For that purpose, the limits of the flow production for XXL products were identified. In addition selected benefits of flow production were transferred to the site production. Moreover an instruction for the reorganization of the production principle was developed. The instruction is realized in form of a MS-Excel software. With this software manufacturers of XXL products can compare costs and benefits of different approaches to design a flow production. By using the obtained results, small companies can reduce the process and inventory costs and particularly increase their logistics services to improve their competitiveness.

Publications about the project

Manufacturing companies of xxl-products are increasingly forced to distinguish themselves from their competitors by the production costs. However, many manufacturers don’t have the capabilities to identify and evaluate approaches to optimize their production. Reasons for this drawback are limited capacities or financial restrictions. Therefore this paper introduces a new approach to the identification and selection of optimization approaches for manufacturers of xxl-products.

flow-production, xxl-goods, manufacturing principles, prefabrication

In this paper an approach to establish a flow-production in the production of xxl-goods is presented. The developed approach is based on three sequentially steps and takes the specific conditions and characteristics of the xxl-production (e.g. high customization, highly scattering process times) into account. With the developed approach a safe forecast on the economic impact of a manufacturing reorganization is made, so that investments in failing reorganization attempts can be avoided.

xxl-production, flow production, site production, reorganization

The production with assembly lines is highly efficient, but can it also be used for XXL products? Typical XXL products such as ships, aircrafts and wind turbines are not only larger and heavier than conventional products, but also much more complex. They are produced in a higher variety than conventional products, the degree of customer influence is greater – thus the processing contents vary during production. In addition, XXL products consist of a huge number of components and their value also is higher than that of conventional products. The manufacturing of XXL products therefore still largely follows the principle of the construction site.

xxl products, assembly, site production

Manufacturing companies of xxl products are increasingly forced to distinguish themselves from their competitors by the production costs. Commonly used manufacturing principles are designed for a customized production with high product variety. However, with regard to the production costs these manufacturing principles are insufficient. The transfer of alternative manufacturing principles to the xxl production offers a promising approach to increase the productivity.

flow-production, xxl goods, reorganization, manufacturing principles, prefabrication

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