Productivity Improvement of a Special Purpose Machine Using DMAIC Principles: A Case Study

Sunil Dambhare,Kiran Kakade,Tejas Thote,Atul Borade,Siddhant Aphale

doi:10.1155/2013/752164

Abstract

Six Sigma is one of the popular methodologies used by the companies to improve the quality and productivity. It uses a detailed analysis of the process to determine the causes of the problem and proposes a successful improvement. Various approaches are adopted while following Six Sigma methodologies and one of them is DMAIC. The successful implementation of DMAIC and FTA is discussed in this paper. In this study, the major problem was of continuous rework up to 16%, which was leading to wastage of man hours and labor cost. Initially, fault tree analysis (FTA) was used to detect the key process input variables (KPIVs) affecting the output. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to know the possible relationship between the KPIVs and the output. The DMAIC methodology was successfully implemented to reduce the rework from 16% bores per month to 2.20% bores per month. The other problem of nonuniform step bores was also reduced significantly.

Highlights

Diesel engines have very wide applications in this modern technological era
The cylinder liner is much harder than the engine block and prevents the piston from wearing out through the cylinder bore
The steel cylinder liner is pressed into the engine block and the engine block is machined to assure that the cylinder head mating surface is smooth and flat

Summary

Introduction

Diesel engines have very wide applications in this modern technological era They are designed to cater for the need of construction, mining, power generation, locomotives, marine transport, compressors, and so forth market segments. Used in aluminium engine blocks and diesel engines, the cylinder liner is either pressed into position or held in place by the cylinder head. The friction of a piston moving up and down inside the alloy block would make the piston wear out, resulting in a loss of compression and severe oil consumption [1, 2] In such cases, the steel cylinder liner is pressed into the engine block and the engine block is machined to assure that the cylinder head mating surface is smooth and flat. Engine block boring is one of the critical operations performed on special purpose machines under study.

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Conclusion