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Industrial Engineering Study of a Hydrogen Annealing Process |
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SUMMARY |
Production Modeling Corporation conducted a study of the Hydrogen Annealing Process at a major steel manufacturing facility. In order to examine a proposed change in the system layout, PMC engineers conducted an in-depth time study, methods improvement analysis, and a simulation study. The project helped area managers to identify inefficiencies of the new design prior to implementation.
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SYSTEM DESCRIPTION |
The current Hydrogen Annealing facility consists of fourteen annealing bases. In order to increase production capacity, the company plans to add three more bases. Hydrogen Annealing is a seven day per week, round-the-clock operation. Associated manpower includes a crane operator, a hooker, an annealer , and a recorder. Equipment includes furnace hoods, inner covers, cooling hoods, an overhead crane, and two AGVs. The process is interfaced with a computer system that provides process monitoring and control.
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PROBLEM |
Due to an increase in demand, three additional annealing bases were needed in order to increase production capacity. Prior to implementing a change in their system, area managers wanted to examine what effect these additional bases would have on the overall system throughput.
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OBJECTIVE |
The study was conducted in order to identify and evaluate opportunities to improve throughput in the facility while minimizing capital investments. More specifically, the study was designed to:
- Identify bottlenecks and determine the level of resources necessary to maintain production targets.
- Provide accurate, objective, quantitative information to refine the process and increase productivity.
- Gain insight into developing a control strategy for the system by understanding its logical operation.
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SOLUTION |
The foundation of this project was a round-the-clock time study conducted over seven consecutive days to observe general system operations, identify reasons for delays, and gather input data for subsequent analysis. Next, a methods improvement analysis was performed to analyze process flow and identify opportunities to eliminate unnecessary steps and to improve process efficiency. A SIMAN/Cinema model was built to identify the bottlenecks and analyze the performance of the system.
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