Application of MOST in the Chassis Preparation Area

LITERATURE REVIEW
Ashish R et al [1] highlights a methodology developed for minimization of non-productive activities in an assembly line. The case study was conducted in tractor manufacturing unit having a dedicated assembly line for tractor engine. The study conducted using MOST (Maynard's Operation Sequence Technique) revealed the excessive movements of the operators that significantly added to the basic work content. The necessary changes were suggested in workplace layout to minimize the stress creating unproductive movements. The study was conducted using Basic MOST for the estimation of TWC (Total Work Content) of an assembly process consisting of 20 activities and 112 sub-activities. There are 20 workstations (carrying out one activity each) in the assembly line which are connected by a belt conveyor and equipped with auxiliary facilities to facilitate the assembly of 28 different types of tractor engines. The longest assembly process (of CI type engine) was chosen to identify NVA activities and further to improve the layout.

The study was carried out in three phases: (i) (ii) (iii) Existing TWC Calculations using Basic MOST, Basic MOST Analysis to Identify NVA Activities and Elimination of the NVA Activities by making the necessary changes in layout/work methods.

The study was revealed that the MOST can be successfully utilized to determine the NVA activities associated with various work elements/ parameters. It helped to establish the standard time of 73.40 min. which could save 15.41 min. per engine thereby saving manpower cost of Rs.12 lakh per year. The manpower can be reduced by 17% with little changes in the layout and rearrangements at the workstations. Further, the study focused on an alternative of improving the production capacity to 117 engines (as against 87 engines) per shift which could result in 34.5% higher production at the same cost. It would be interesting to utilize MOST to balance the entire assembly line by identifying the bottlenecks.
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Amol Mate [2] discusses the concept of Work Measurement using MOST and its application for the Cement Manufacturing Industry. Project findings revel about the labor Resources being underutilized in Cement Manufacturing and also emphasize the need for re-deployment of manpower for achieving higher engagement time per associate in Production Direct & In-Direct and Office Areas. Potential for labor productivity improvement is as high as 128% in Production (Direct and InDirect areas) and as high as 55%in Office areas. The three main reasons for wanting to know the amount of time a particular task should take to be completed. They are: (1) To accomplish planning, (2) Determine performance and (3) Establish costs. The expectation from the MOST in the cement industry was to Record and Measure Activities, Filter NVA (Non Value Added) and get Lean Work Content, Reduce the delivery times and costs, Communication : Actual Effective Working Time and Losses are communicated, Increase participation from all employees, Target for only Value-Added activities that customers are willing to pay for. Amol Mate [3] discusses the concept of Work Measurement using MOST and its application for the Tyre Manufacturing Industry in India. Project findings revel about the labor Resources being underutilized in Tyre manufacturing this emphasizes the need for re-deployment of manpower for achieving higher engagement time per associate in Production (Direct & In-Direct Areas). There is also significant scope for improvements in the facility layout, material handling system and shop floor processes. This study also includes detailed capacity (Load Analysis) analysis of the plant to identify critical work centers as per the demand for various product categories. Significant portion of the current work content and cycle time is spent in performing non-value adding activities, which can be further reduced to eliminate waste from the system.

Potential for labor productivity improvement is as high as 55% in Production (Direct and InDirect areas). Effective utilization of workforce is a primary objective for any manufacturing organization and Tyre manufacturing industry one among it.

Jafar Razmi and Majid Shakhs-Niyaee [4] present the results of a project accomplished in the Iran-Khodro Car manufacturing Company (IKCO). A particular predetermined time study approach is developed in this company which covers all body shop operations. Besides, some special time tables are developed by the combination of MOST and work time table standards. Finally, an easy-to-use worksheet is designed which can be filled out by moderately educated practitioners. The potential errors will be minimized in the proposed approach to compare with existing ordinary methods.

Jianxin Jiao et al [5] Proposes a pragmatic approach to product costing. The approach involves two stages which are preparatory and the production stages. In the preparatory stage, standard routings are first extracted from existing products. A generic activity hierarchy is established according to the analysis of standard routings, where cost drivers for each activity are identified and summarized by appropriate Cost Related Design Features (CDFs). Then the Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST) is employed to analyze each operation of standard routings to determine the associated standard time. Historical cost data are analyzed to induce the relationships between the CDFs and standard time, namely Time Estimating Relationships (TERs). By allocating plant-wide overhead costs to standard routings, the unit price of standard time is established from existing products. In the production stage, CDFs are first induced from new design. Then a dummy process plan for this design is used to retrieve the associated TERs to determine its time estimate. Once a standard time has been estimated, CERs can be applied to compile the total product cost by adding the estimated material costs. A case study conducted in an electronics enterprise is also reported.

SUMMARY
From the above literature reviews, the points considered for my current project are: y y y Optimization of assembly line. Determination of standard time. Minimization of Non Value Added activities (NVA) in assembly operations.

From the above points regarding to application of Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST) in chassis preparation area, the detailed study of existing MOST chart at assembly line1 (stage 1 to stage 3) will be carried out. During which the non-value added activities are identified from existing standard operating procedure and again applying MOST for the same assembly section by removing non value added activities. Finally validation will be carried out between existing and current procedure by applying MOST.

REFERENCE
[1] Ashish R. Thakre, Dhananjay A. Jolhe, Anil C. Gawande, "Minimization of Engine

Assembly Time by Elimination of Unproductive Activities through 'MOST'," icetet, pp.785-789, 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology. [2] Ashok Badve and Amol Mate [23/11/2009]. Lean Enterprise MOST Way in Cement

Industry: A Case Study on Work Force Productivity Improvement. UMAS Private Limited. India. [3] Ashok Badve and Amol Mate [15/5/2010]. Lean Enterprise MOST Way in Tyre

Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study on Process Improvement, Facility Layout Planning and Work Force Productivity Improvement. UMAS Private Limited. India. [4] Razmi, Jafar; Shakhs-Niyaee, Majid (2008) Developing a specific predetermined time

study approach: an empirical study in a car industry. Volume 19, pp. 454-460(7) [5] Jianxin Jiao and Mitchell M Tseng [1997] A Pragmatic Approach to Product Costing

Based on Standard Time Estimation, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [6] MOST Work Measurement Systems, 3rd Edition, 2008 Kjell B. Zandin.