Abstract: As product life cycle becomes less and less every day,
having flexible manufacturing processes for any companies seems more demanding. In the assembling of closures, i.e. opening parts in
car body, hemming process is the one which needs more attention. This paper focused on the robot roller hemming process and how to
reduce its cycle time by introducing a fast roller hemming process. A
robot roller hemming process of a tailgate of Saab 93 SportCombi
model is investigated as a case study in this paper. By applying task
separation, robot coordination, and robot cell configuration principles in the roller hemming process, three alternatives are
proposed, developed, and remarkable reduction in cycle times achieved [1].
Abstract: In the automotive industry test drives are being conducted
during the development of new vehicle models or as a part of
quality assurance of series-production vehicles. The communication
on the in-vehicle network, data from external sensors, or internal
data from the electronic control units is recorded by automotive
data loggers during the test drives. The recordings are used for fault
analysis. Since the resulting data volume is tremendous, manually
analysing each recording in great detail is not feasible.
This paper proposes to use machine learning to support domainexperts
by preventing them from contemplating irrelevant data and
rather pointing them to the relevant parts in the recordings. The
underlying idea is to learn the normal behaviour from available
recordings, i.e. a training set, and then to autonomously detect
unexpected deviations and report them as anomalies.
The one-class support vector machine “support vector data description”
is utilised to calculate distances of feature vectors. SVDDSUBSEQ
is proposed as a novel approach, allowing to classify subsequences
in multivariate time series data. The approach allows to
detect unexpected faults without modelling effort as is shown with
experimental results on recordings from test drives.
Abstract: This paper addresses integration issues in supply
chain, and tries to investigate how different aspects of integration are
linked with some product features. Integration in this study is
interpreted as "internal", "upstream" (supply), and "downstream"
(demand). Two features of product innovative and quality are
considered. To examine the relationships between supply chain
integrations – as mentioned above, and product features, this research
follows the survey method in automotive industry.The results imply
that supply chain upstream integration has a higher impact on product
quality, comparing to internal and supply chain downstream
integrations. It is also found that the influence of supply chain
downstream integration on product innovation is greater than other
variables. In brief, this study mainly tackles the importance of
specific level of supply chain integrations and its effects on two
product features.
Abstract: Overhead conveyor systems satisfy by their simple
construction, wide application range and their full compatibility with
other manufacturing systems, which are designed according to
international standards. Ultra-light overhead conveyor systems are
rope-based conveying systems with individually driven vehicles. The
vehicles can move automatically on the rope and this can be realized
by energy and signals. Crossings are realized by switches. Overhead
conveyor systems are particularly used in the automotive industry but
also at post offices. Overhead conveyor systems always must be
integrated with a logistical process by finding the best way for a
cheaper material flow and in order to guarantee precise and fast
workflows. With their help, any transport can take place without
wasting ground and space, without excessive company capacity, lost
or damaged products, erroneous delivery, endless travels and without
wasting time. Ultra-light overhead conveyor systems provide optimal
material flow, which produces profit and saves time. This article
illustrates the advantages of the structure of the ultra-light overhead
conveyor systems in logistics applications and explains the steps of
their system design. After an illustration of the steps, currently
available systems on the market will be shown by means of their
technical characteristics. Due to their simple construction, demands
to an ultra-light overhead conveyor system will be illustrated.
Abstract: Green Lean Total Quality Management (TQM)
System is a system comprises of Environmental Management System
(EMS) practices which is integrated to TQM with Lean
Manufacturing (LM) principles. The ultimate goal of this system is to
focus on achieving total customer satisfaction and environmental care by removing eight wastes available in any process in an
organization. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 30 highly active automotive vendors in Malaysia and analyzed by
SPSS v.17. It was found out that some vendors have been practicing TQM and LM while some have started to implement EMS. This
study is only focusing on highly active companies that have been involved in MAJAICO Program and Proton Vendor Development
Program. This is the first study conducted to know the current status of TQM, LM and EMS practices in highly active automotive companies in Malaysia. It was found out that EMS has been
practiced by 16 companies out of 30. Within these 16 companies the
approach is more holistic and green. This is a preliminary study that combined 4 awards practices, ISO/TS16949, Toyota Production
System SAEJ4000, MAJAICO Lean Production System and EMS.
Abstract: Green Lean Total Quality Management (LTQM) Human Resource Management (HRM) System is a system comprises of HRM in Environmental Management System (EMS) practices which is integrated to TQM with Lean Manufacturing (LM) principles. HRM is essential especially in dealing with low motivation and less productive employees. The ultimate goal of this system is to focus on achieving total human resource development that is motivated and capable to optimize their creativity to be a part of Green and Lean TQM organization. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 30 highly active automotive vendors in Malaysia and analyzed by Minitab v16 and SPSS v17. It was found out companies that are practicing Green LTQM HRM practices have generated more revenue and have RND capability. However, years of company establishment do not affect the openness of the company to adapt new initiatives that can help to improve the effectiveness of the operations. It was also found out the importance of training, communication and rewards for employees. The Green LTQM HRM practices framework model established in this study hopefully will give preliminary insight especially to companies that are still looking for system that can improve their productivity from managing human resource. This is preliminary study that combined 4 awards practices, ISO/TS16949, Toyota Production System SAEJ4000, MAJAICO Lean Production System and EMS focusing on highly active companies that have been involved in MAJAICO Program and Proton Vendor Development Program. Future study can be conducted to know the status at other industry as well as case study pertaining to this system.
Abstract: The right information at the right time influences the
enterprise and technical success. Sharing knowledge among members
of a big organization may be a complex activity. And as long as the
knowledge is not shared, can not be exploited by the organization.
There are some mechanisms which can originate knowledge sharing.
It is intended, in this paper, to trigger these mechanisms by using
semantic nets. Moreover, the intersection and overlapping of terms
and sub-terms, as well as their relationships will be described through
the mereology science for the whole knowledge sharing system. It is
proposed a knowledge system to supply to operators with the right
information about a specific process and possible risks, e.g. at the
assembly process, at the right time in an automated manufacturing
environment, such as at the automotive industry.
Abstract: The environmental factors such as temperature and
relative humidity are very contribute to the effect of comfort, health,
performance and worker productivity. To ensure an ergonomics work
environment, it is possible to require a specific attention especially in
industries. The aim of this study is to show the effect of temperature
and relative humidity on worker productivity in automotive industry
by taking a workstation in an automotive plant as the location to
conduct the study. From the analysis of the data, there were
relationship between temperature and relative humidity on worker
productivity. Mathematical equation to represent the relationship
between temperatures and relative humidity on the production rate is
modelled. From the equation model, the production rate for the
workstation can be predicted base on the value of temperature and
relative humidity.