Assessment of manufacturing system reliability: A case study

Reduction of unproductive work-in-process (WIP) inventory has been a subject of global concern lately. Detailed examination often reveals that such unproductive WIP is the result of a low manufacturing system reliability (MSR). The impact of poor MSR is felt all the more in industries where material cost constitutes a significant portion of the total manufacturing cost. Guided by these considerations, in this paper a case study is reported wherein an analysis has been made to assess MSR in a multinational switchgear industry located in Western India. The paper provides a few practical guidelines towards maintaining a certain level of MSR by suitably adjusting factors like utilization level of machines, utilization level of tools, tool down-time, mean production rate per tool, etc. Detailed sensitivity analysis on the simulation results has also been presented, which is believed to help substantially in decisions related to the finer adjustments of these factors.