Abstract
In this paper, a data-driven approach was applied to improve a furnace zone of a foundry in Taiwan. Improvements are based on the historical production records, order-scheduling, and labor-scheduling data. To resolve the bottleneck provided by the company, historical data were analyzed, and the existence of large variance in the process was found. Statistical analysis was performed to identify the primal factors causing the variance, and suggestions were made and implemented to the production line. As a result, daily production increased steadily to more than 30 pots of molten metal, while the original production was 20–30 pots of molten metal and are not controllable. Such significant improvement was mainly made by standardizing the input and reducing the variance of processes. The average cycle time of each pot of molten metal was reduced from 219 min to 135 min. Our suggested improvements also reduced the foundry’s electricity consumption cost by almost $240,000NT per month. In summary, data analysis can help traditional industries in identifying the main factors causing the bottleneck.
Highlights
Casting is the process of injecting the molten metal solution into a pre-made mold and waiting for it to cool and solidify before the cast is removed
After the raw materials are melted into a molten metal, the casting is poured into the mold for cooling; the cast can be completed after cleaning off remaining sand, mechanical processing, heat treatment, and inspection
The analysis starts from investigating the overall process in the furnace zone, followed by the investigation of scheduling, analysis of process process in theand furnace followed the investigation of scheduling, analysis of protime statistics, so on,zone, as stated in theby following sections
Summary
Casting is the process of injecting the molten metal solution into a pre-made mold (such as a sand mold, ceramic mold, or metal mold) and waiting for it to cool and solidify before the cast is removed. The main casting products are automobile parts (35%), large line tool castings (25%), water hardware (20%), and cast-iron pipes (3%) These enterprises employ approximately 18,000 people and have an annual output of approximately 1.4 million tons. Reduction of waste raised researchers’ attention, and statistical tools are used to optimize mechanical reclamation systems in cast iron foundry [15]. Computer simulation is another tool for the performance and improvement of the production line [16]. To improve production efficiency, statistical analysis cannot be neglected In this project, we streamlined the production process in the furnace zone based on data-driven technology. In terms of corporate management, the executives were profoundly aware of the importance of building a corporate digital culture
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