Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

In partnership with Meritor, this project focused on improving the part presentation and downtime losses of the current brake assembly process. The way in which the parts are currently presented to an operator causes an ergonomic strain on the worker, which is not ideal for production, resulting in worker downtime losses and an inefficient build rate. The Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was conducted to ensure the ergonomic strain on the worker remains at an acceptable level. As a result of performing two fishbone diagrams on the downtime and ergonomic strain, the team quantified the system losses by the amount of time lost and quantified harmful motions by conducting a RULA assessment. Based on the findings of the Pareto chart and utilizing various Industrial Engineering tools, the team was able to provide solutions to reduce the amount of downtime while also ensuring the motions of workers remain ergonomically safe.

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