Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2012

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Industrial Engineering

Committee Chair

Biles, William E.

Author's Keywords

OEE; Assembly; RCA; Ischikawa; Productivity; Data mining

Subject

Manufacturing processes; Assembling machines

Abstract

Fully automated assembly systems are designed for a specific capacity, starting with the machine, the designed product and the infrastructure. The performance must be insured to fulfill the requirements for the whole system. The following thesis describes the improvement of an assembly system to fulfill requirements regarding the "Overall Equipment Effectiveness" (OEE). In a complex environment a good understanding of the technical background is very important. The first section of the thesis gives the technical background of the system. The improvement process is a top down process: the problem is broken down from large problems - indicated by the key performance indicators like OEE - down via Pareto analyze to root cause analysis. The most influencing factor for an inefficient performance of a product is the faulty interpretation of existing knowledge and communication problems. Finally the improvement of the situation is evaluated and changes in the structure of the company applied, to ensure a better performance right from the start for future projects.

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