Optimization of the total production time by splitting complex manual assembly processes

Abstract

In this article the minimization of the learning content in the total processing time isstudied. Research is based on manual automotive wiring harness assembly, with unstable demand,fluctuating order quantities and enormous product variety. Such instability in manual productionenvironment results that assembly is always at the start-up or learning phase, thus, operationaltimes are greater than standard and operational efficiency is significantly reduced. Since a lot ofresearch is done on learning time calculation, there is still lacking studies that address learningtime reduction in such production situation. The methodology proposed in this article addressesreduction of learning time by splitting and simplifying complex assemblies of automotive wiringharnesses. Experimental results from the company indicate that this approach enables to optimizelearning time and increase operational efficiency.