Lean Caselet 2: Variability – Machine Failure

Objective

To analyze the impact of variability due to breakdowns on the system performance

Scenario

Briar Patch Manufacturing Company has two component machining lines in the plant. Both lines produce
a similar component, Assembly Shackle, which fits into an auto subassembly at a later stage of production.
Both lines include a similar workstation for the grinding operation. The grinding operation is the slowest
in the line. Hare-X19 and Tortoise-2000 are the machines used on line 1 and line 2 respectively, for this
operation. The rated throughput of both machines (r0) is 4 parts/hour. Both workstations run for 24 hours
a day and are required to fulfil a demand of 69 parts per day (i.e. scheduled arrival rate = 69/24 = 2.875
parts per hour). Both machines are subject to random outages. The Hare-X19 machine is subject to
infrequent, but longer outages, while the Tortoise-2000 machine is subject to frequent, but shorter
outages. The management needed to decide the impact of outages of both machines on the performance
of the line. For this purpose, the company hired a consultant who collected data on machine uptime,
downtime and cycle time variation. Hare-X19 was observed to fail every 12.4 hours on an average, and
takes an average of 248 minutes to repair. These values for Tortoise-2000 are 1.9 hours and 38 minutes,
respectively. The consultant also verified that the average cycle time per part was indeed 15 minutes as
claimed by the company, however it was subject to variation due to raw material, process and operator-
related factors. The standard deviation of cycle time was found out to be 3.35 minutes.

Governing Equations
𝑀𝑇𝑇𝐹 𝑚𝑓
Availability 𝐴= = Eq. (1)
𝑀𝑇𝑇𝐹+𝑀𝑇𝑇𝑅 𝑚𝑓 +𝑚𝑟

𝑡0
Effective Mean Process Time 𝑡𝑒 = Eq. (2)
𝐴

Effective rate of throughput 𝑟𝑒 = 𝐴𝑟0 Eq. (3)

𝜎
The Coefficient of variation for process is calculated as: 𝑐0 = 0 Eq. (4)
𝑡0

CoV < 0.75; the process is called Low Variation (LV) process

CoV between 0.75 to 1.33; the process is called Moderate Variation (MV) process

CoV = 1 means Poisson Process, with Exponential distribution of interarrival time

CoV > 1.33; the process is called High Variation (HV) process
The Coefficient of variation for repair activity is calculated as:
𝑆𝑡𝑑.𝑑𝑒𝑣 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜎𝑟
𝑐𝑟 = = Eq. (5)
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑟
Note: In case of non-availability of data, assume Cr = 1.0 (i.e. exponential repair time)

Due to variability of the process and maintenance activity, the effective coefficient of variation is:
𝑚𝑟 𝑚𝑟
𝑐𝑒2 = 𝑐02 + 𝐴(1 − 𝐴) + 𝑐𝑟2 𝐴(1 − 𝐴) Eq. (6)
𝑡0 𝑡0

Next, we calculate utilization of the machine:

𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑟𝑎 )
𝑢= Eq.(7)
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑡𝑒 )

Finally, we use Kingman’s equation (G/G/1 model) to calculate the waiting time in queue (Also known as
V-U-T equation). Using queue time, we calculate other performance measures.

𝑐𝑎2 +𝑐𝑒2 𝑢
𝑄𝑇(𝐺 ⁄𝐺 ⁄1) = ( ) (1−𝑢) 𝑡𝑒 Eq. (8)
2

𝐿𝑇 = 𝑄𝑇 + 𝑡𝑒 Eq.(9)

𝑊𝐼𝑃 = 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑋 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 Eq.(10)

Analysis

1. Calculate 𝐴, 𝑡𝑒 , 𝑟𝑒 for both Hare and Tortoise machines. Comment on the effective throughput of
both machines. Use Eq. 1,2,3.
2. Calculate 𝑐0 , 𝑐𝑟 , 𝑐𝑒2 for both the machines. Use Eq. 4,5,6. Explain how effective process variability
(ce) is a function of mean repair time (mr). Also explain how ce is a function of cr.
3. Calculate utilization and waiting time in queue. Use Eq. 7,8.
4. Calculate lead time and WIP in the system using Eq. 9,10.
5. Which machine yields better performance?
6. What will happen if zero breakdown is achieved? (i.e. mr = 0)