HITEC University

Taxila Cantonment
Department of Electrical Engineering
Heavy Industries Taxila

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OF FUEL CELL

OF M113 ARMORED PERSONEL CARRIER

Supervised By:
Col. Syed Irshad Ali
GM APC Factory

Completed By:
Nisar Ahmed Rana
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad

Thursday, September 11,

2008
INTRODUCTION
The ORGANIZATION – I was established in 1975 to fulfill the requirements of the defense by
the collaboration of ministry of defense. The ORGANIZATION – I consist of different factories
such as

o DESCOM
o Heavy Rebuild Factory T-Series (HRF-T)
o Heavy Rebuild Factory M-Series (HRF-M)
o Armored Personal Carrier (APC)
o AARDAC etc.

APC is one of the most important factory of ORGANIZATION - I. The APC was established in
1989. The establishment purpose of APC was to provide vehicles for security purpose at the
start the APC was given a project of 300 vehicles which APC successfully completed within
the time. Now APC is providing security vehicles to the national level as well as its scope
expand to the international level. Recently APC factory manufactured 125 vehicles for gulf
countries. And its rate of production is increasing day by day.
Background
This case study was conducted at Fuel Cell of Special Vehicle in the year 2008. The purpose
of this report was to improve the manufacturing performance of the cell as well as
enhancing the productivity. At the time of the study the number of persons working in
ORGANIZATION - I are 450 employees and had turnover around 90 million rupees per year.
This was the unique factory across the country which is producing the Special Vehicles, and
had since 1989 provided 700 Special Vehicles. The manufacturing activity was heavily
dominated by CNC machine operation. When the case study was performed, fuel cell was
under manufacturing along development of its production system to be able to provide
maximum fuel cell for the Special Vehicle. During a survey of long structured interviews of
10 employees of Operator, Lineman and Foreman level was carried out. Several Internal
documents were also studied in which productivity improvement work at ORGANIZATION – I
was explained. Direct observation of plant was also carried out in a visit of 3 days.
Objective and Method
The main objective of this case study was to explore the performance measurement
techniques and method to improve work that was conducted at the fuel cell as well as to
identify and suggest new method and technique for product improvement .This report also
included the methods by using tool Overall Equipment Effectiveness OEE by which we can
increase the quality as well as reliability. This included an investigation of how the company
and its employees defined productivity and others terms related to performance as well as
an evaluation of the performance measures that were used within the factory .In addition
,another objective connected to this case study was to start to formulate a theoretical base
of how to generally improve productivity in manufacturing companies. From overall point of
view ORGANIZATION – I has specified five major objectives to be reached within the
following years.

o Productivity: Increase the output from production process.

o Reliability: Make the product more reliable for customer.
o Efficiency: Increase the effectiveness of the product.
o Quality: Deliver product to the right quality and high degree of excellence.
o Flexibility: Ability to handle a large number of variations.
Manufacturing Process
Detail of Process:
The manufacturing of Fuel Cell is completed in four different shops for different purposes
names of shops and their detail is given below:-

o Cutting routing & drilling (CRD) shop

o Fabrication (FAB) shop
o Surface Treatment shop
o Assembly shop

Now we shall explain the whole process of each shop respectively.

The shift length in ORGANIZATION – I is 8 hours. First of all material received from ware
house and the process started. CRD stands for “CUTTING ROUTING AND DRILLING”. In this
shop the smooth plates are cut into different size of plates according to the requirement of
the fuel cell. Firstly these plates cut on the sewage saw and then some plates are sent to the
CNC machine for further cutting.

Almost 19 pieces of different size and shapes are used in fuel cell. Two CNC (computer
numerical control) machines are used for cutting purpose. This whole process of cutting the
plates takes several hours and the average time of one fuel is almost 7 hours. This time is
sometimes up to 8 hours because of down time loses. Two plates named as “BOSS” came
from DESCOM factory which are used in fuel cell. DESCOM factory send these parts
according to the demand of APC factory in time. The meal break of APC factory is 30
minutes.

After the completion of cutting process these plates are sent to next shop which is known as
“FABRICATION SHOP” (FAB shop). The strength of man power in fabrication shop is four
persons for fitting and inside & outside welding four men are involved because all the
machinery in this shop is of old version therefore sometimes workers have to wait for the
repair of machine. When there was one CNC machine in CRD shop at that time workers
usually have to wait for the plates in FAB shop but after induction of second latest CNC
machine this delay time shortened.

In FAB shop first of all these plates are fitted in a fixture. This fixture is actually a master
gauge of the fuel cell. This fitting process takes almost 1 hour. After fitting the welding
process starts. Firstly inside welding carried out and it takes almost 2 hours. After this fuel
cell is drawn out from the fixture and takes almost 20 minutes. Then the outside welding is
performed by two skilled workers. This outside welding performed on the TRUNNION
welding machine. After 3 hours outside welding, 8 number plate sent to the pressing
machine. In 15 minutes this plate completes the pressing process and then this plate is also
weld in the fuel cell and it takes almost 30 minutes more.

After this fuel is sent in the CRD shop for the drilling of the upper plate and for graving..
Then fuel cell is sent back to the FAB shop. After the complete welding of fuel cell LEAK TEST
in performed to check the air gaps at the joints of fuel cell plates which are welded together.
For the leak test firstly almost 5 lb air is pumped into the cell and then cell is dipped into the
water tank. Air bubbles indicate the leaking place of the fuel cell and if any place of fuel cell
is leak then the layer is totally removed and re-welding take place. The meal break is 30
minutes in this shop.

Then the fuel cell is sent to the 3rd shop which is “SURFACE TREATMENT SHOP”. Actually
the surface treatment takes place twice. First after cutting the plates they are sent to
surface treatment shop. Second after fabrication the whole Fuel Cell is sent to surface
treatment shop. The processes of surface treatment shop consist on the following steps:-

o Fuel cell is dipped in RIDOLINE-53 tank-1 for 1-15 minutes at 140o-160o F to remove
grease and oils from its surface.
o Then it is dipped into cold water tank-2 at room temperature for 2 minutes for cool
down.
o Then it is sent to tank-3 DEOXIDINE for 1-10 minutes at 140o-160o F to remove
layers of paper or dust from cell’s surface.
o Then it is again sent to cold water tank and dipped for 2 minutes.
o Then it is sent to tank-4 DEOXIDIZER for 1-10 minutes at room temperature for more
smoothening and cleaning purpose.
o Then it is again sent to cold water tank.

This whole process is done before welding on plates and after welding on Fuel Cell but Fuel
Cell after completion of these steps is again sent to two more surface treatments.

o After complete fabrication of fuel cell it is sent to tank-5 ALODINE for 30seconds to 3
minutes at 58o-86o F for paint and to remove the effects of gases.
o Then it is sent to hot water tank-6 for 30-60 seconds at 120o-130o F.

By completing these steps the process of surface treatment shop is completed and then it is
sent to Next shop.

After the complete surface treatment this completely prepared fuel cell is sent to the
“ASSEMBLY SHOP”. In this shop totally man power is involved and machine work is almost
zero. In this shop two fuel cells are fitted on one vehicle. Due to the deficiency of man
power one fuel cell is fitted in 2 hours and the recommended time is? So, the total time of
fitting of two cells is 4 hours. In assembly shop while fitting fuel cell one roll of wire is used
per vehicle and one slender of organ gas is used per vehicle. The meal break in this shop is
30 minutes and reason of delay is only deficiency of man power.
Flow Chart Diagram of Fuel Cell is Given Below.
FAB Shop

Raw Material
From ware house
Surface Treatment
Shop
CRD Shop 1-2 hour
7.5 hour

Dip Tank-1
(RIDOLINE)
Cutting Routing Drilling
15 minutes

Sewage Saw Router Drill Machine Dip Tank-2 (cold

2-3 hour 1-2 hour 1-2 hour
water)
15 minutes

CNC Machine
3-4 hour Dip Tank-3
(DEOXIDINE)
10 minutes
After CRD Shop Plates goes to Fabrication Shop.
Dip Tank-4
(DEOXIDIZER)
CRD Shop
7 hour 10 minutes

Dip Tank-5
Fabrication Shop (ALODINE)
7.5 hour
3 minutes

Dip Tank-6 (HOT

Fixture Fitting
1 hour
Water)
1 minutes

Welding and Cooling

2 hour
Cooling
30 minutes

Pressing and Fixing plate

30 minutes
Assembly Shop
30
2 hour

Unfixing Time form Jigs

30 minutes Instrument Fitting
in Fuel Cell
1.5 hour
Outside Welding and Cooling
2.5 hour

Assembling on APC
30 minutes
Leak Test
30 minutes
Six Big Loses Occurred During Fuel Cell Study
Table of standard six big loses of a manufacturing organization are given below in the table.

Six Big Loss OEE Loss Event Examples Comment

Category Category
Breakdowns Down Time  Tooling Failures There is flexibility on where to set the
Loss  Unplanned Maintenance threshold between a Breakdown (Down
 General Breakdowns Time Loss) and a Small Stop (Speed Loss).
 Equipment Failure
Setup and Down Time  Setup/Changeover This loss is often addressed through
Adjustments Loss  Material Shortages setup time reduction programs.
 Operator Shortages
 Major Adjustments
 Warm-Up Time
Small Stops Speed Loss  Obstructed Product Flow Typically only includes stops that are
 Component Jams under five minutes and that do not
 Misfeeds require maintenance personnel.
 Sensor Blocked
 Delivery Blocked
 Cleaning/Checking
Reduced Speed Speed Loss  Rough Running Anything that keeps the process from
 Under Nameplate running at its theoretical maximum speed
Capacity (a.k.a. Ideal Run Rate or Nameplate
 Under Design Capacity Capacity).
 Equipment Wear
 Operator Inefficiency
Startup Rejects Quality Loss  Scrap Rejects during warm-up, startup or other
 Rework early production. May be due to
 In-Process Damage improper setup, warm-up period, etc.
 In-Process Expiration
 Incorrect Assembly
Production Quality Loss  Scrap Rejects during steady-state production.
Rejects  Rework
 In-Process Damage
 In-Process Expiration
 Incorrect Assembly
World Class Overall Equipment Effectiveness
OEE is essentially the ratio of Fully Productive Time to Planned Production Time. In practice,
however, OEE is calculated as the product of its three contributing factors:

This type of calculation makes OEE a severe test. For example, if all three contributing
factors are 90.0%, the OEE would be 72.9%. In practice, the generally accepted World-Class
goals for each factor are quite different from each other, as is shown in the table below.
OEE Factor World Class
Availability 90.0%
Performance 95.0%
Quality 99.9%
OEE 85.0%
Worldwide studies indicate that the average OEE rate in manufacturing plants is 60%. As
you can see from the above table, a World Class OEE is considered to be 85% or better.
Clearly, there is room for improvement in most manufacturing plants.

Calculation of OEE
The Formulas:

As described in World Class OEE, the OEE calculation is based on the three OEE Factors:
Availability, Performance, and Quality. Here's how each of these factors is calculated.

Availability:

Availability takes into account Down Time Loss, and is calculated as:

Performance

Quality:

Quality takes into account Quality Loss, and is calculated as:

OEE:

OEE takes into account all three OEE Factors, and is calculated as:
It is very important to recognize that improving OEE is not the only objective. Take a look at
the following data for two production shifts.

OEE Factor Shift 1 Shift 2

Availability 90.0% 95.0%
Performance 95.0% 95.0%
Quality 99.5% 96.0%
OEE 85.1% 86.6%
Superficially, it may appear that the second shift is performing better than the first, since its
OEE is higher. Very few companies, however, would want to trade a 5.0% increase in
Availability for a 3.5% decline in Quality!

The beauty of OEE is not that it gives you one magic number; it's that it gives you three
numbers, which are all useful individually as your situation changes from day to day. And it
helps you visualize performance in simple terms a very practical simplification.
OEE Calculation of Fuel Cell
The table below contains shift data which we have used in OEE calculation, starting with the
calculation of the OEE Factors of Availability, Performance, and Quality. Note that the same
units of measurement (in this case minutes and pieces) are consistently used throughout
the calculations.

Item Data
Shift Length 8 hours = 480 min.
Short Breaks 0 @ 0 min. = 0 min.
Meal Break 1 @ 30 min. = 30 min.
Down Time 10 minutes
Ideal Run Rate 1 / 6*60 = 1 / 360 = 0.002778 pieces per minute
One fuel cell should be produced in 6 hours so ideal run rate per minute
is 0.002778
Total Pieces Pieces
Reject Pieces Pieces
Planned Production Time
[ ]
[ ]

Operating Time
[ ]
[ ]

Good Pieces
[ ]
On average out of hundred 23 pieces are rejected so it is
[ ]

Availability

Performance
Quality

OEE

Production Data
Shift Length 8 Hours = 480 Minutes
Short Breaks 0 Breaks @ 0 Minutes Each = 0 Minutes Total
Meal Break 1 Breaks @ 30 Minutes Each = 30 Minutes Total
Down Time * 10 Minutes
Ideal Run Rate ** 0.00277778 PPM (Pieces Per Minute)
Total Pieces 1 Pieces
Rejected Pieces *** 0.23 Pieces

Support Variable Calculation Result

Planned
Production Time Shift Length - Breaks 480 - 30 450 Minutes
Operating Time Planned Production Time - Down Time 450 - 10 440 Minutes
Good Pieces Total Pieces - Reject Pieces 1 - .23 0.77 Pieces

OEE Factor Calculation My OEE%

Availability Operating Time / Planned Production Time 97.78%
Performance (Total Pieces / Operation Time) / Ideal Run Rate 81.82%
Quality Good Pieces / Total Pieces 77.00%
Overall OEE Availability x Performance x Quality 61.60%

OEE% for
OEE Factor World Class Fuel Cell
Availability 90.00% 97.78%
Performance 95.00% 81.82%
Quality 99.90% 77.00%
Overall OEE 85.00% 61.60%

* Delay due to any mal function.

** Fuel Cell which should be produced in one minute 1 / 360 = 0.002778.

*** Number of plates rejected out of one Fuel Cell.

Results
Deficiency Skilled Labor: Skilled labors should be incorporated to do work. The main
problem in quality control is lack of skilled worker.

Deficiency of Man-Power: There is deficiency of man-power in different shops especially in

assembly shop. Finished fuel cells wait for long time before fixing.

Cross Training of Workers: Cross training of workers of different shops should be held. If
there is need of more workers in a shop for specific day the idle workers can works in that
shop. Also it can work in the absence of a worker to carry out the work.

Proper training of Worker: Worker should be trained properly before he is assigned a work.
Also training sessions should be held. They should be trained according to latest
requirement.

Right Job for Right Person: Right job should be for right person. If a worker can't do a job
better he should be assigned another job.

Defining Delay Time: There is large delay time. In APC factory delay time always take place.
We can't totally eliminate it but it can be reasonably reduced by proper planning and co-
ordination between different shops.

Co-Ordination: There must be good relationship and co-ordination between different shops.
Relation between officers, supervisor and workers should be good.

No Idle Machinery: It is noted that some machinery is idle especially in CRD shop. CRD shop
contributes a lot in delay time so more worker should be incorporated to reduce delay time
to engage the machineries.

Decreasing the fixing time:

 The fixing time of work pieces especially in fabrication shop should be reduced to get
better results. Following are the ways which may be helpful:-
 Worker should be properly trained.
 Well-designed fixture and jigs should be used.
 Efficient clamps should be used that can be easily engaged and disengaged.

Deficiency of Modern Machinery: The machinery in FAB shop is of old versions. Also some
other machinery is of old versions which contribute lot in downtime loss. Modern machinery
should be incorporated to reduce delay time and efficient working.

High Delay Time: High delay time exists between the requirement and supply of one shop
from other and it is not delivered according to schedule.

Low Labor Productivity: The value adding time of the operators in the assembly was at an
unacceptable level compared to total time.
Survey of the Employees
Employee survey should be held to find out what worker think. The standard scale for
measurement is 1 to 5.
Question Scale
There is a strong spirit of cooperation in this organization. 5
I know what is expected of me. 3
I am treated with respect by my supervisors. 4
I am asked for my input. 4
I always have what I need to accomplish my job. 3
Employees in this organization treat each other with respect. 4
I fully understand the goals, policies and objectives of this organization. 3
The action of organization is always consistent with organization goals, policies and
objectives. 3
I am well informed. 3
I am properly recognized for my contributions. 3
My supervisor provides me with feed back on how well I am doing. 4
I have all the training I need. 2
Employee suggestions and recommendations are welcomed by management. 3
Management has a sincere concern for the employees. 3
I would like a greater say in how things get done. 3
The quality of work by this organization is excellent. 3
The working conditions in this organization are excellent. 3
This organization has the best reputation of any in this area as a good place to
work. 4
I thoroughly enjoy my job. 3
If I could find another job with same pay, I would. 2
If you have a "Magic Wand" that can change one particular thing, what would you change and why.
I would like to improve the environment where I work (Health Safeties, ACs for CNCs, Safeties against
hazzards e.g. Elecric Shock, Crane safeties and steel toe shoes).
What is the one most important factor that could be improved in order to help you do your job better?

Training should be heald to make workers skillful.