PRT401I/101/0/2021

Production Technology IV
PRT401I
Assignment 2

Department of Mechanical and Industrial

Engineering

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Question 1
1.1 A manufacturing system is defined as a collection of integrated equipment and human
resources, whose function is to perform one or more processing and/or assembly operations on
a starting raw material, part, or set of parts. Evaluate the components of a manufacturing
system. (8)

1.2 A new forging plant must supply parts to a construction equipment manufacturer. Forging is
a hot operation, so the plant will operate 24 hr/day, five days/wk, 50 wk/yr. Total output from the
plant must be 800,000 forgings per year in batches of 1250 parts per batch. Anticipated scrap
rate = 3%. Each forging cell will consist of a furnace to heat the parts, a forging press, and a
trim press. Parts are placed in the furnace an hour prior to forging; they are then removed,
forged, and trimmed one at a time. The complete cycle takes 1.5 min per part. Each time a new
batch is started, the forging cell must be changed over, which consists of changing the forging
and trimming dies for the next part style. This takes 3.5 hr on average. Each cell is considered
to be 96% reliable (availability = 96%) during operation and 100% reliable during changeover.
Determine:
1.2.1 the number of forging cells that would be required in the new plant. (2)
1.2.2 what is the proportion of time spent in setup for each batch? (2)
[12]

Question 2

2.1 Automated production lines are examples of fixed automation and it is generally difficult to
alter the sequence and content of the processing operations once the line is built whilst most
automated assembly systems are designed to perform a fixed sequence of assembly steps on a
specific product. Debate why a company would want to use automated production lines and
automated assembly line. (12)

2.2 An eight-station automatic assembly line runs 5000 hr/yr and has an ideal cycle time of 12
sec. Downtime occurs for two reasons. First, mechanical and electrical failures cause line stops
that occur with a frequency of once per 160 cycles. Average downtime for these causes is 4.0
min. Second, defective components also result in downtime. The fraction defect rate of each of
the eight components added to the base part at the eight stations is 1.0%, and the probability
that a defective component will cause a station jam is 0.5 for all stations. Downtime per
occurrence for defective parts is 3.0 min. Calculate:

2
 PRT401I/101/0/2021

2.2.1 The total number of assemblies produced in one year. (2)

2.2.2 The number of assemblies with at least one defective component. (2)

2.2.3 The number of assemblies with all eight defect components. (2)

[18]

Question 3

3.1 Group technology is a manufacturing philosophy in which similar parts are identified and
grouped together to take advantage of their similarities in design and production. Similar parts
are arranged into part families, where each part family possesses similar design and/or
manufacturing characteristics. Appraise the three ways in which group-technology principles
can be applied in manufacturing. (6)

[6]

Question 4

4.1 You have been contracted by Damie Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd to diagnose and assess the
problem faced by the company. After the assessment, you have chosen to implement Flexible
Manufacturing System as a turnaround strategy as you deem this appropriate for survival of the
company. Present your plan to top level management in a way that you will get a buy in from
them.

• Give them a picture of what you are planning by explaining to them what the FMS is. (3)

• Present to them the basic components that make up the FMS and their functions. (12)

• Bring to their attention the FMS planning and implementation issues that they must be
aware of. (6)

• Lastly, convince them that this is a good turnaround strategy by presenting the benefits
of implementing the system. (7)

[28]

[TOTAL MARKS = 64]