Productivity Improvement in Agricultural Equipment Manufacturing Industry

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Summary

The agricultural equipment manufacturing business is turning a tide with the increasing competition. Streamlining production operations is essential to remain ahead of the competition. As a leading manufacturer and supplier of agricultural equipment, with a customer vision to emerge as a global agricultural leader in innovative solution-making, the company saw a need to improve its production efficiency. To this end, the company collaborated with Production Modeling India (PMI) to conduct an in-depth productivity enhancement study. Capitalizing on the capabilities of PMTS (Predetermined Motion Time System) methods, PMI provided quantifiable gains in manpower utilization, machine productivity, and overall throughput.

Client Objectives

The client embarked with challenging yet essential objectives:

• Precisely quantify work content through the application of PMTS methods.
• Undertake line balancing to provide uniform task flow and maximum resource utilization.
• Enhance manpower utilization through systematic work allocation.
• Compute machine and manpower needs for existing and future demand.
• Performs a comprehensive Value-Added (VA) and Non-Value-Added (NVA) analysis to identify inefficiencies.
• Recommends layout changes and low-cost automation options for long-term improvements.

Challenges Encountered

Even with a highly established production line, the client encountered some issues that were capping performance:

  • Poor task allocation and repetition-based workloads that caused high manpower fatigue.
  • Inefficient utilization of manpower, with workflows resulting in wasted time.
  • Inadequate data-driven planning tools, capping visibility into actual production capability.
  • Suboptimal plant layout, increasing unnecessary motion and travel
  • The absence of automation in simple but labor-intensive processes.

These challenges not only impacted productivity but also reduced the factory's ability to scale up to future production targets.

Productivity Improvement in Agricultural Equipment Manufacturing Industry

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PMI’s 3-Stage Approach

To address these concerns, PMI followed a structured and analytical approach:

1. Data Collection

PMI engineers went to the client's site and carried out extensive video recording of shop floor operations. They also analyzed the previous six months of production data and engaged with the client's team to understand deeply existing workflows and bottlenecks.

2. Estimation & Data Analysis

Collected data was put through Basic MOST (Maynard Operation Sequence Technique) to analyze and split tasks into quantifiable units. Through this, the team could:

• Specify precise cycle times and work contents for every operation.
• Separate VA and NVA activities.
• Develop work distribution models to balance workloads between stations.
• Design interactive dashboards for manpower and production planning in accordance with varying demand scenarios.
• Recommend layout adjustments and ergonomic enhancements to improve material flow and decrease fatigue.

3. Results & Conclusion

The findings were both revealing and transformative. For the existing production capacity of 3,000 units per month, PMI’s recommendations resulted in:

• A 49.7% increase in productivity
• A 33.2% reduction in manpower requirement

For the proposed capacity of 4,500 units per month, projected improvements were even more substantial:

• A 67.3% boost in productivity
• A 40.2% reduction in manpower

Also, operator fatigue was minimized through alternating workers between lines as well as using low-cost automation. Dashboards developed during research are now assisting the client in future production planning, resource allocation, and determining bottlenecks.

Productivity Improvement in Agricultural Equipment Manufacturing Industry

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Improvements and Recommendations

PMI also delivered an actionable list of recommendations to further streamline operations:

Special fixtures were suggested that would minimize the use of additional manpower during holding workpieces.

Inventory labeling strategically positioned oil dispensers, and other ergonomics changes were suggested to enhance workflow and reduce unnecessary movement.

These changes not only improved efficiency but also made the workplace safer and more orderly.

Conclusion

This case study illustrates how a systematic and data-driven approach through PMTS can revolutionize operational effectiveness in manufacturing. By intelligent planning, precise measurement, and strategic enhancements, PMI helped the customer achieve substantial productivity improvements with minimized fatigue and manpower needs. With these measures and insights, the customer is now poised to increase production and uphold its position of dominance in the farm equipment segment.

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