Title: Development of geometry spot weld distribution model to improve efficiency of automotive body shop

Authors: G. Selvam; Prince Arockia Doss Sebastian

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Vandalur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600048, India; Auto Division Product Development, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Mahindra Research Valley, Mahindra World City, Anjur PO Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, 603004, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Vandalur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600048, India

Abstract: In conventional car body process planning, parts and spots of an assembly get evenly distributed in geometry fixtures. The remaining spots, over and above the cycle time of the geometry stations are moved to re-spot stations. Global trend indicates that percentages of geometry fixtures are higher in manual body shops with less than 40% of automation. The percentage of geometry stations varies up to 14% in 100% automated body shops. This trend shows the inappropriate planning of geometry and re-spot stations for manual and automated lines. A geometry spot distribution model has been developed to resolve this concern. The proposed model can be used to calculate the appropriate geometry and re-spot stations required for a lean body shop. Improvement in quality establishment and productivity of the body shop are discussed. The developed methodology is simple to use during any new product development phase and also for existing body shop optimisation.

Keywords: productivity; geometry station; re-spot station; body shop; weld shop; body-in-white; BIW; process planning; process management; automotive body; efficiency improvement; spot weld; geometry spot; lean body shop.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPMB.2021.112247

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, 2021 Vol.11 No.1, pp.44 - 59

Received: 11 Dec 2017
Accepted: 12 Oct 2018

Published online: 06 Jan 2021 *

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