ISE – 482L : Lab II

ISE 482L – Lab II

Time Study / Line Balance Lab

Purpose:

Time Studies and line balancing can provide important information about net profit, time of an individual task, and can also provide information on the optimum number of employees within a process. This lab will outline the importance of analyzing the number of employees on staff, the effect this quantity has cost, and the time it takes to complete a task in a manufacturing environment.

Equipment:

Assembly Diagrams for the Solar Dragster

Knex Box/parts

Solar Panel

Stopwatch

Time Study Forms

Microsoft Excel

Procedure: Work in teams of 6-8 to complete the following.

Part A: Time Study

  1. Setup: Separate the Knex parts into each grouping according to the designated stations shown below. Refer to assembly diagrams for each station’s materials and responsibilities.

Stations:

  1. Right Frame Assembly
  2. Left Frame Assembly
  3. Engine and Frame Attachment Assembly
  4. Rear Wheel and Spoiler Assembly
  5. Gear Assembly
  6. Solar Panel Assembly
  7. Storage

2. Perform a time study to determine the “Normal Time” for each station using a single operator for each station. Use the time study form to record your observations. For sake of time, only measure 5 cycles per station. Note, station 7 is “Storage” and therefore requires no time. Also you may want to practice performing the assembly several times before capturing the 3 cycle times to be used in your study.

3. Use the following information to determine 1) the number of Solar Dragsters produced per shift given one worker per workstation (6 workers), and 2) the labor cost for assembling a single Dragster.

  • 8.5 hour shift
  • 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks
  • Productivity rate of 80% (workers work about 80% of the time during working hours)
  • Labor rate - $15 per worker / hour (workers get paid for 8 hours per shift)

Part B: Line Balance (keep work content from original stations intact)

1. Using the assembly diagram, create a precedence diagram depicting the flow of the assembly stations.

2. Using the time study results and precedence diagram, suggest a line balancing that can reduce the labor cost. In this line balance more than one station of the original 6 stations can be assigned to a worker, but work within a station cannot be moved to another station.

3. State the number of assembly operators and report 1) the number of Solar Dragsters produced per shift given your line balance, and 2) the labor cost for assembling a single Dragster.

Week 2

Part C: Line Balance (free to reorganize work within a station)

1. Removing the constraint that the original station work content had to remain intact, describe an alternative line balance.

2 Perform a time study to determine the “Normal Time” for each station in this new line balance. Use the time study form to record your observations. For sake of time, only measure 5 cycles per station.

  1. Again determine 1) the number of Solar Dragsters produced per shift given one worker per workstation (6 workers), and 2) the labor cost for assembling a single Dragster.

Part D: Recommended Staffing

Recommend assembly line layouts and staffing under the following conditions:

  1. Demand is 180 dragsters / day
  2. Demand is 350 dragsters / day
  3. Demand is 100 dragsters / day
  4. Demand is 3000 dragsters / day

Report: The report should include the following:

  1. Purpose
  2. Procedure
  3. Results
  4. Provide documentation of the time study for the three iterations and for assembly line layout in Part A, Part B, and Part C.
  5. Provide 1) number of assembly operators, 2) production rate per shift, and 3) labor cost per vehicle for Part A, Part B and Part C.
  6. Report recommendation of assembly line layouts under each of the demand conditions identified in Part D.
  7. Conclusion

Present concluding remarks on how a time study and line balance impacts costs, and thus profits, for an assembly process.

  1. Include all calculations and data in an appendix.