Manufacturing Line Labor Optimization

Abstract

The identified manufacturing line had 45 operators distributed in three (3) shifts for a total of 135 operators. The rebalancing process included the consolidation of multiple current operations using procedure changes and process validations. The manufacturing process was rebalanced in order to reduce from 15 to 13 operations. After analyzing the results, there was a significant reduction in the manufacturing cycle time of the product. With the implementation of this change, the manufacturing line now has 39 operators distributed in three shifts for a total of 117 operators. This is 18 operators less, which significantly reduces the overhead of the line. The project engineer relied on the input and support of the Manufacturing and Quality Engineers of the affected line. Key Terms - Line Balancing, Cycle Time, Operation Consolidation, Process Validations.