Process Design and System Layout for an Automobile Manufacturing and Assembly Plant

Abstract

The Automobile is the most complex product, and the development of a vehicle will take years of Research and Development (R&D) starting from designing, analyzing the product structure from sub-levels, building prototypes, testing the prototypes, finalizing the vehicle to manufacture. It is also essential to find the correct suppliers to manufacture the components, parts for the vehicle, assembly of all these to the vehicle, and go through examination and analysis of various stages of the processes in building the vehicle, and it is a herculean task. With the increase in competitiveness in the Automobile industry, the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) want to reduce their investments in manufacturing, keeping core competencies of R&D within the industry, and outsourcing remaining functionaries to Tire companies. The main goal of this paper is to illustrate the step by a step manufacturing process that is needed to produce an Automobile. And explaining each step that takes the Automobile from sheet metal to complete product, this helps to understand the process chain, logistical and distribution network that an Automobile follows throughout its Product Life Cycle (PLC).