Value Analysis of A Rubber Hose Moulding and Assembly Line: A Case Study

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | Mar -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1817
Value Analysis of a Rubber Hose Moulding and Assembly Line: A Case
Study
Pranish M. Naoghare1, Atul R. More2, Sandip S. Patil3
1,2Student,Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Guru Gobind Singh College of Engineering & Research Centre
(GCOERC), Nashik, Maharashtra, India
3Professor,Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Guru Gobind Singh College of Engineering & Research Centre
(GCOERC), Nashik, Maharashtra, India
----------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - At present, the competition between the
companies is leading to a constant battle for adequatemarket
share. This is not only done by reducing the prices, but by
constantly bringing new innovations in different fields of the
company so that the value for a product or an entity is
increased. The new concepts or ideas may come from the
company itself or from any externalsource. Themainobjective
of Value Analysis(VA) is to find and eliminate all the
characteristics of a product or service which are of no real
value to the customer. Thus VA ensures a better product or
service for the customer at minimum costs compared to
replacing the product with less favorable alternative. This
paper focuses on the case study on process optimization for
rubber hose moulding and assembly through value analysis.
Key Words: Value Analysis, Takt Time, Assembly Line
Balancing, ECRS, Throughput time
1.INTRODUCTION
Value can be given as the relationship between perceived
benefits and perceived costs: Value = Benefits / Cost. In
order to increase the value, the organization has to improve
the value : cost ratio. When the value is provided at high
price, the perceived value may be low. This value can be
increased by using tools like Value Analysis[1]. VA is the
process of reducing costs in a development project. This
process is achieved by assessing materials, processes and or
products and offering alternatives. The outcome should
result in reduced cost but without compromising the quality
of the design[2].
2. VA METHODOLOGY
The VA methodology (or the “job plan”) can be appliedtoany
subject or problem. The VA job plan divides the task being
studied into functions. The job plan is normally organized by
a value team leader. It is conductedineightsequentialphases
as follows:
i. Orientation Phase: Refine the problem and prepare
for the value study.
ii. Information Phase: Finalize the scopeoftheissuesto
be addressed, targets for improvement, and
evaluation factors while building cohesion among
team members.
iii. Function Analysis Phase: Identify the most beneficial
areas for study.
iv. Creative Phase: Develop a large number of ideas for
alternative ways to perform each function selected
for further study.
v. Evaluation Phase: Refine andselectthebestideasfor
development into specific value-improvement
recommendations.
vi. Development Phase: Determine the “best”
alternatives for presentation to the decision-maker.
vii. Presentation Phase: Obtainacommitmenttofollowa
course of action for initiating an alternative.
viii. Implementation Phase: Obtain final approval of the
proposal and facilitate its implementation.[3]
3. LITERATURE SURVEY
Amit Narwal, (2015) et.al. studied a case on the concept of
value analysis in sheet metal. By Value analysis of the parts,
the group produces the same parts at the cheaper cost from
their competitors in market.[4]
Marjan Leber, (2014) et. al. discussed the development of
new product on the basis of value analysis and conjoint
analysis. Implementation of such methodsresultedinstrong
reduction in cost inside a company.[5]
Ignacio Cariaga, (2007) et. al.studiestheintegrationof value
analysis and quality function development or evaluation
design alternatives. This framework enabled to: 1) Elicit
customer requirements through the use of FAST.,2) Relate
various design options to each customer requirement
through the use of QFD, 3)Provide a decision support
environment to assist in selecting the most suitable
alternative.[6]
4. VALUE ANALYSIS TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
i. Role of Kaizen and Poka Yoke:
KAIZEN-. It can be defined as the improvementwhichmaybe
one-time or continuous, large or small. Kaizen is to be done
on daily basis so as to increase the productivity.[7]
POKA YOKE is a Japanese term that means "mistake
proofing". A poka-yoke is not a process but a concept that

helps the operator to avoid mistakes. It is used to eliminate
product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing
attention to human errors as they occur.[8]
ii. Takt time:
Takt timeis the average timebetween the startofproduction
of two successive units on a production line,thistimeissetas
per the rate of customer demand.
Takt time can be determined with the formula:
T = Ta / D
Where
T = Takt time, e.g. (work time between two consecutive
units)
Ta = Net time available to work, e.g. (work time per period)
D = Demand (customer demand), e.g. (units required per
period) [9]
iii. Assembly line balancing
Assembly line balancing is concernedwithredistributingand
rearranging of the work to the workers in an assembly line.
The main goal is to minimizethe idle timeof the workersand
to increase the utilization of resources, labor and machines.
[10]
iv. Cycle time:
Cycle time is the total time required for the completion of a
process. Cycle time includes process time, during which a
particular operation is done on the unit, and delay time,
during which a unit has to wait so that next operation is
started.[11]
v. Multiple activity charts:
Multiple activity charts are used to understand the
relationship between the workers and their associated
equipment. The activities of each subject are recorded,
normally as blocks in tabular form withacommontimescale.
They serve as useful devices to assist in the redistribution
and balancing of workloads.[12]
vi. ECRS:
In generatingpracticalideasforimprovement,acommonand
practical framework ECRS is used, which stands for the
following:
Eliminate
Combine
Rearrange
Simplify
 Eliminate
In this step, all the unnecessary activities, non-value
added activities are identified and are immediately
eliminated..
 Combine
In this step, the activities which cannot be eliminated are
combined.
 Rearrange
Work can also be rearranged. This rearrangement can be
either in terms of order of operations, layout of the
assembly line.
 Simplify
And, a good rule of thumb regardless of the situation is to
simplify anyway. Of course, wewanttoEliminatefirstbut,
if not, then Combine, Rearrange, and Simplify will be
helpful.[13]
vii. Flow process chart:
The flow process chart is the graphical and symbolic
representation of the various activities or operations or
movements performed during a process.Itisusedtoidentify
the unnecessary activities, movements and eliminate them,
thus makes the process more efficient.[14]
viii. Throughput time
The amount of time required to turn raw materials into
completed productiscalledthroughputtime.Thethroughput
time or manufacturing cycle time is made up of process time,
inspection time, move time, and queue time.[15]
5. CASE STUDY
5.1 Company Background
INNOVA RUBBERS PVT. LTD. is located at Ambad, Nashik,
Maharashtra. The industry is one of the technological leader
in designing and manufacturingofautomotiveandindustrial
rubber moulded and rubber to metal bonded anti-vibration
parts. The industry produces silent block bushes, engine
mountsandtransmissionmounts,propellershaftmountings,
torsional vibrational dampers, bare rubber parts, control
arms, etc.
5.2 Implementation
Here value analysis was done to optimize the rubber hose
moulding and assembly line. This hose assembly consists of
two parts made of two different rubbers, namely EPDM and
VAMMAC. The main processes involved in this production
are: injection moulding of the rubber parts, post curing of
VAMMAC rubber part, assembly and packing. Respective
raw rubber is feed to the injection moulding machine. The
rubber is melted by the heating mechanism in the machine
as is then sent to the mould cavity through runners. After
allowing the rubber to cure in the mould for some time, the
mould is opened and the rubber parts are removed. EPDM
rubber is directly sent to assembly with the post-cured
VAMMAC rubber parts, while the VAMMAC rubber from the
moulding machine is sent to post curing in a post curing
oven for 4 hrs. At the assembly line various operations like
hole drilling, ID cleaning, thread cleaning, whistle pin
painting are done and is then assembled and packed.
For the implementation of value analysis, data was collected
regarding number of operations taking place, time required
for each operation, number of operators on the line. With
this a line balancing chart was drawn.
From the data collected and the line balancing chart
problems were found out, they were as follows:
i. More WIP Inventory at every stage
ii. Shortage at Customer end

iii. Multiple moulding station engaged for production
iv. Less output per man
v. More throughput time
vi. Frequent incidences of assembly line stoppage.
Chart -1: Line balancing chart - Before
vii. More space utilization
viii. Excess material handling
Taking note of these problems various brainstorming
sessions were taken. Various ideas/ alternatives were put
forth, of which the team leader selected. These were:
i. Reducing the labor force.
A total of 11 workers were required over the entire
production line.Thiswouldcausemoreexpenditure
on the workers in terms of salary. By reduction of
workers there would be less investment on the
labors and this would led to saving of capital.
ii. Combining of operations.
As the workforce was to be reduced combining of
operations was necessary. In this multiple
operations were done by a worker.
iii. Combining the moulding of the rubber hose on
single injection moulding machine.
The rubber hose assembly consists of two rubber
part together. Each rubber part was produced on
different machines. But productionofboththe parts
on single machine would result in elimination of
one injection moulding machine.
iv. Changing the internal design of the post curing
oven.
One of the rubber part requires a post curing of 4
hrs. This is done in post curing oven. Its capacity
was of 160 units. The internal design was further
modified which resulted in accommodation of 216
units. By which the productivity increased.
6. RESULTS
By implementation of the above ideas, the results obtained
were as follows:
i. Better line balancing
By combining the operations, reducing the number
of operators on the production line and also
reducing the takt time resulted in simplified line
balancing.
Chart -2: Line balancing chart- After
ii. Reduced Throughput time ratio
By combining the moulding on single machine and
modifying the internal design of the oven, the ratio
of throughput time required totheideal throughput
time was reduced from 22 to 2.76, i.e., by 87.4%.
iii. Reduced Space Utilization ratio
Due to the rearrangement of the machines,theratio
of actual space utilized to the minimum space
required was reduced from 2.79 to 1.37, i.e., by
50.89%.
iv. Reduced material handing ratio
Due to simplification of the workplace layout, the
ratio of the actual working width to the minimum
working width was reduced from 2.93 to 1.41,i.e.,
by 51.8%.
v. Increase in productivity of each operator
Before, the output per man was only 100 units,
while after the implementation; the outputperman
was increased to 350 units. This increased the
productivity of each worker by 250%.
7. CONCLUSION
Value analysis is a systematic effort to improve upon cost
and performance of product produced. It examines the
materials, processes, information systems, and the flow of
materials involved. While we strive to implement the
different VA tools, we realize that the years of experience in
product design and development is very essential toachieve
the desired objective. VA tools and techniques if applied
properly, with trained and experienced resources will
provide an extremely powerful suite to improve
productivity, lower cost, improve quality and also shorten
the time-to-market. This paper showed the implementation
of value analysis in a production line which led to reduction
in labor resulting in reduced investments. Also it help in
reducing the space utilization,material handling, throughput
time and lastly increase in the productivity. Value analysis
thus helps realize substantial company-wideimprovements,
thereby delivering significant competitive advantage.

REFERENCES
[1] Value (Marketing),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(marketing)
[2] Ajitanath Patil, Cost reduction of a product through
value analysis and value engineering, QuEST Global
services, Copyright 2010.
[3] Jay Mandelbaum,Danny L. Reed, Value Engineering
Handbook, Institute for defense analyses, September
2006.
[4] A. Narwal, K. Lamba, “Case Study on the Concept of
Value analysis in Sheet Metal,” International Journal of
Enhanced Research in Science, Technology &
Engineering, Vol. 4 Issue 12, December-2015, pp.64-71.
[5] M. Leber, M. Bastic, M. Mavric, A. Ivanisevic, “Value
Analysis as an Integral Part Of New Product
Development,” Procedia Engineering 69, 2014, pp. 90-
98, doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.02.207
[6] I. Cariaga, T. El-Diraby, H. Osman,“Integrating Value
Analysis And Quality function Deployment for
Evaluating Design Alternatives,” Journal ofConstruction
Engineering and Management, October 2007, pp. 761-
770,doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2007)133:10(761)
[7] Kaizen Method- Management Library,
www.vectorstudy.com/theories/kaizen
[8] Poka-yoke-Wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poka-yoke
[9] Takt time- Wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takt_time
[10] Line Balancing, Cycle Tiem, Takt Time, Assembly/
Workload Balance & Man-Machine-Setup-Time,
http://www.sixleansigma.com/index.php/wiki/lean/lin
e-balancing-cycle-time-takt-time-assembly-workload-
balance-man-macjine-setup-time/
[11] Cycle Time- iSixSigma,
https://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/cycle-time/
[12] Multiple activity charts: Blackwell Reference Online,
http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id
=g9780631233176_chunk_g978140511096917_ss12-1
[13] Eliminate-Combine-Rearrange-Simplify-Work Analysis
Sheet, http://www.shmula.com/eliminate-combine-
rearrange-simplify-work-analysis-sheet/10340/
[14] Flow process chart- Wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_process_chart
[15] Throughput Time/manufacturingcycleTime-definition,
Explanation,
http://www.accountingexplaination.com/throughput_ti
me.html

Value Analysis of A Rubber Hose Moulding and Assembly Line: A Case Study

More Related Content

What's hot (18)

Similar to Value Analysis of A Rubber Hose Moulding and Assembly Line: A Case Study (20)

More from IRJET Journal (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Value Analysis of A Rubber Hose Moulding and Assembly Line: A Case Study