Date of Award

2020

Degree Type

Capstone Project

First Advisor

Dr. Bahram Nassersharif

Abstract

VIBCO vibrators have tasked team 22 with continuously improving material flow and standardizing the assembly process within the silent pneumatic vibrator workcells. The Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control cycle was followed using Design for Manufacturing and Assembly thinking along with Lean Thinking in order to complete this task. The engineering team has brainstormed new designs and procedures to implement in the assembly process that will improve the overall production on the manufacturing floor. To start this project the team began researching different ideas and topics centering around lean thinking and other manufacturing improvement methods. Using the knowledge obtained through research, our team went onto the shop floor to observe the assembly process and determine how it could be improved. Time studies were performed on the current assembly procedure and the recorded data was used as an aid to find where fixtures and jigs could create improvement in the process. After determining how long different operations took, the team consulted with VIBCO to discuss the specific guidelines expected for design.

To accomplish the task VIBCO gave some basic design specifications which included reducing the assembly time as well as the assembler’s motion and range of reach and standardizing the work cell. Using these requirements, our engineering team was able to generate 150 different concepts. Some of these concepts include new fixtures, alterations to current equipment, relocating materials, and eliminating procedures. These ideas were all thought over before narrowing down the final concepts to just five. In order to reduce motion and standardize the workcell, a new bench was designed along with a bearing chute to organize the work area. Three fixtures were also designed to be incorporated into the assembly process to standardize procedure and remove unnecessary steps from operations. The team began drafting CAD files of our designs and presented each concept to the customer. Consulting VIBCO, materials were determined, calculations were performed, and prototype designs were created for the fixtures. Mock assembly trials were performed using prototypes in order to complete time studies with the new fixtures. Comparing the new assembly time study with the previous study, our team was able to see where improvements were made and determined we reached our design specifications. A financial analysis was calculated using estimated costs of labor and materials. The total cost of implementing the new designs has a very good return on investment based on how much time would be saved in the workcell.

Although the team’s intent to run further time studies and implement our designs on VIBCO’s assembly floor did not go as planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were still able to continuously refine and modify our designs, conduct FEA analyses, and submit our final bill of materials along with CAD drawings and models to our sponsor for future fabrication.

Comments

Sponsor: VIBCO Vibrators

Company Advisors:

Karl Wadensten, Owner

Claudia Brown, Mechanical Engineer

Greg Pickering, Mechanical Engineer

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