Automotive Power and Free System
Automotive Facility Study (Body Shop)
February 3, 2023
Blanking and Stamping
February 3, 2023
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY \ Power & Free Conveyor system
Congestion Analysis: Closed Loop Material Handling System
Key Points
- Closed loop power & free(P&F) system
- This P&F system transports:
1. Empty Hangers
2. BIW
3. CED Bodies
4. Painted Bodies - Different production levels across five body shops
- Staggered placement of body shops complicates the
empty hanger distribution
Client's Challenge
- Whether P&F conveyor is capable to meet required production volumes
- If not, actions required to meet the target
- Finished BIW Buffer requirements
PMI's Approach
- Data analysis, 2D model building, verification & validation
- Bottleneck Identification
- "What If" experimentation to achieve set target
1. Impact of Change in no. of Hangers
2. Distribution of hangers on various junction points
3. Buffer analysis
Findings & Recommendation
- Facility was unable to meet target production volume
- Distribution of hangers at various junctions played key role
- Production volume also dependent on number of hangers
- Reduce the number of empty hangers to meet the target
- Distribution of empty hangers at various junction points
- Number of empty hangers to be parked in different places
- BIW Buffer size was estimated
