Challenges in the Automotive JIS/JIT Production of Steering Wheels Involving Traceability

The purpose of this article is to present the new challenges faced by the automotive industry and specifically by the steering wheel producers in terms of product design changes, process changes and the solution to solve them, the concept of TTM - Total Traceability Management. The article presents the traceability solution as a proved solution for managing JIS (Just in Sequency) & JIT (Just in Time) manufacturing concepts in terms of customer demand sequence attainment, process sequence attainment, and technical test verifications. The research is based on case studies deployed in production facilities, in the companies TRW and Key Safety Systems. Both entities are steering wheel producers with JIS&JIT conditioned production systems and are also using latest technology in synchronizing the traceability communication with various cars producers (Porsche, BMW, Daimler, etc.). This concept of manufacturing and delivery of the products to the famous automotive companies is crucial for the supplier including the base of business, because the entire work in this domain is completely automatic by robots. That means: all the final products (cars end others), including the components from different suppliers, also the technology of assembling, it need to be adapted in order to be performed by robots. The components as steering wheels, and many others, arrive at the assembling line at OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturing) facilities and the robots work on directly the buffers with these components in order to ensure the continuous assembling process in the condition of total flexibility and without errors.

Minimizing deviations of car sequencing in a JIT production painting line

Purpose The first in first out (FIFO) rule is an indispensable rule in the automotive industry. However, during production, the order of coming to welding operation and exiting through the painting operation is broken. Consequently, the rule of FIFO also gets broken. The purpose of this paper is to eliminate the deviations of the automotive painting process in a just in time (JIT) environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper has been solved using observations and expert’s opinions and recorded data in the real problem area. Bypass technique and express line have been used as a real problem for the minimization of these deviations. The current process and the bypass process have been compared with simulation optimization. Findings This paper provides analytical insights about how to prevent delays during the JIT production painting process. Delays have been prevented by using the bypass technique and express line together. The number of delays reduced with an improvement of 129. The ratio of effect (for four months) has been founded to be 0.12. The output rate has been increased from 80% to 89%. Research limitations/implications This paper focused on the number of vehicles in the cooling area of the painting process in the study; there may occur bottleneck processes or products. It does not contain station-based bottleneck processes. Practical implications From the real-case problem, one will see that the bypass technique and the express line can be applied and generalized to many similar problems and help companies conduct their assembly lines more efficiently. Originality/value This paper is the only example that has been used to bypass technique and express line together on the paint/cooling process in a JIT production system.

A Study of Inbound Logistics Mode Based on JIT Production in Cruise Ship Construction

The cruise market has developed rapidly in recent years. The opulence of the cruise market has also augmented the demand for the cruise construction industry. Cruise ship construction is a huge and intricate heavy industry that can cause serious environmental problems. Therefore, optimal use of advanced logistics systems, to meet the demands at the lowest possible cost and unnecessary waste, has become a key issue. This paper developed two typical inbound logistics system modes based on JIT (Just In Time)-logistics policy and formulated two single-objective nonlinear models to simultaneously determine the ordering strategy under the inbound logistics system and the optimal selection strategy of two typical inbound logistics modes. Numerical experiments depicted the variations of optimal inbound logistics mode over three different kinds of cruise parts. These two models could provide insights in making inbound logistics decisions, and serve as a reference in the mass customization logistics service for cruise ship construction to control costs, which is helpful for promoting the sustainability of the cruise market.

Effect of Total Quality Management Practices and JIT Production Practices on Flexibility Performance: Empirical Evidence from International Manufacturing Plants

This paper presents the results of an empirical study investigating the relationship between Total quality management (TQM) practices, Just-in-time (JIT) production practices, and flexibility performance in manufacturing companies. Correlation and regression analysis are applied to analyze the data collected from 280 manufacturing plants in 12 countries including China, Finland, German, Italy, Israel, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Vietnam from 2013 to 2015 in the framework of a High Performance Manufacturing Project. The analytical results confirm the closed linkage between TQM, JIT production practices and flexibility performance. Moreover, this study indicates that the effect of JIT production practices on flexibility performance can be strengthened with a higher level of TQM practices. The main findings of this study suggest that flexibility performance can be built up by implementing both TQM and JIT production practices, and TQM should be regarded as the platform to maximize the effect of JIT production on flexibility performance.

JIT Production Strategy and Maintenance for Quality Deteriorating Systems

We study the optimal production planning and major maintenance scheduling for an unreliable manufacturing system. We assume that the production unit experiences progressive deterioration that negatively influences product quality. For the production policy, we extend improve traditional threshold policies with a superior alternative, based on a just-in-time (JIT) strategy. The paper brings a new vision on the importance of implementing more effective production strategies based on JIT methods, instead of traditional threshold policies. When a failure occurs, the production unit is minimally repaired, and when the major maintenance is selected, the machine is restored to brand-new conditions. The objective of the model is to determine the simultaneous JIT production and major maintenance strategy that minimizes the total cost. Due to the stochastic features of the system, a simulation-based optimization approach is proposed, which combines the descriptive capabilities of simulation modeling with analytical models, statistical analysis, and optimization techniques. The results verify that the proposed simulation–optimization approach provides new and coherent results that highlight the strong influence of quality deterioration on the determination of the control parameters. A sensitivity analysis and a comparative study are conducted to illustrate that significant cost savings could be obtained with the proposed approach.