Miapl Report - Springs Manufacturer
Essay by Alcatraz • August 29, 2019 • Term Paper • 570 Words (3 Pages) • 1,886 Views
Market Strategy:
- Export markets in vicinity of Kolkata:
The Bangladesh government has undertaken a 30-year master plan spanning from 2016 to 2045 where as many as 230 projects have been identified. Plans of expansion of railway networks, construction of new railway lines and launch of new trains are underway. The current railway network of 2877 kilometers is planned to be expanded to 4700 kilometers.
Another possible alternative could be Nepal building the cross Himalayan railway to increase trade and connectivity. The country looks at railways as the game changer. The undergoing trans Himalayan railway that will connect Nepal to China’s land and sea ports provides a huge opportunity for new locomotives, coaches and wagons. The company can leverage its vicinity to the country to expand its footprint in other locations.
- New application areas:
Apart from the railway freight industry, helical compression springs can also be used in military vehicles (trucks, tankers, armored vehicles, water bowsers, field artillery tractors). The company can collaborate with factories located across India which cater to Indian Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces and Paramilitary forces. As is the case with Indian Railways, such collaborations can be on a contractual basis which would ensure regularity of orders and would also hedge the risk inherent in relying on limited customers.
- Setting up in-house Research & Development expertise:
The current system is dependent on the customer for the design and specifications. An in house R&D will enable the company to provide consultation to its clientele and support them end to end from understanding of expectations and application demands to validating the design. There can be a unique set of spring experts with knowledge about material, possible stress levels, load, deflection which will provide overall service to the customers.
Capacity Utilization
The capacity utilization varies based on the demand. As observed in the following table, for the processes with available data of days production, assuming a month with 25 working days, the following utilizations are obtained.
Days Production | Utilisation (25 working day/month) | |||||
Month | End Forging | Coiling | End Grinding | End Forging Utilisation | Coiling Utilisation | End Grinding Utilisation |
April | 16 | 16 | 8 | 64 | 64 | 32 |
May | 19 | 21 | 9 | 76 | 84 | 36 |
June | 16 | 15 | 10 | 64 | 60 | 40 |
July | 23 | 29 | 12 | 92 | 116 | 48 |
August | 25 | 23 | 13 | 100 | 92 | 52 |
September | 25 | 19 | 12 | 100 | 76 | 48 |
October | 18 | 22 | 10 | 72 | 88 | 40 |
November | 14 | 15 | 10 | 56 | 60 | 40 |
December | 23 | 29 | 16 | 92 | 116 | 64 |
January | 23 | 23 | 13 | 92 | 92 | 52 |
February | 21 | 23 | 13 | 84 | 92 | 52 |
To increase the daily production, there are three parameters that can be optimized, namely
- pieces handled per hour (e.g. in peeling, centerless grinding, tempering, coiling, end grinding, scragging etc.)
- Number of hours of production per day
- Number of machines per function
| Pieces per hour | Number of hours worked | Number of machines | Output pieces/day | Time to produce a batch of 500 sets (days) |
Peeling | 30 | 10 | 2 | 600 | 26.67 |
Centreless Grinding | 30 | 10 | 2 | 600 | 26.67 |
Tempering | 90 | 10 | 1 | 900 | 17.78 |
Coiling | 85 | 10 | 1 | 850 | 18.82 |
End Grinding | 75 | 10 | 2 | 1500 | 10.67 |
Scragging | 100 | 10 | 1 | 1000 | 16.00 |
An assumption is made that the functions are optimized in terms of number of pieces that can be handled per hour, following the system of continuous improvement. However, it is seen that the number of hours of production is only 6 per machine, so we recommend that this be raised to 10 hours per day, according to the following table
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