Lean Manufacturing of Lathe Machine

Abstract

This dissertation work aims to understand the role of lean manufacturing in design and optimum utilization of product. Today market demands for more e cient prod- uct at low cost. To ful ll the market demands it is necessary to improve design of product constantly and to decrease its manufacturing cost. Lean thinking is a process which emphasize on elimination of non value added services and it augurs maximum e ciency of product Research & Development. Here lean principle is implemented to design optimum utilization of conventional lathe machine components from a manu- facturer's point of view. Existing lathe bed structure has been studied for stress analysis and modal analysis. Optimization of existing lathe bed has been carried out using value stream mapping (VSM) principle and finite element tools. The optimized design proposed by FE analysis have been studied for functional and manufacturing feasibilities. A modi ed design of lathe bed has been proposed with total weight reduction of 10%. An alternate material (Al-Cu alloy) has been pro- posed for equivalent performance. A weight reduction of 63% has been noticed with compare to the existing lathe bed made of GCI. Thus with lean manufacturing concept it can be used to optimize the structure with- out impeding its functional requirements.