MATEC Web of Conferences 290, 070 0 7 (2019) https://doi.org/10.

1051/matecconf /20192900 700 7

MSE 2019

Best Practices to Increase Manufacturing

Productivity - Comparative study
Ion Cosmin Gherghea1,*, Constantin Bungau1, and Dan Claudiu Negrau2
1
University of Oradea, Engineering and Management Department, Romania
2
University of Oradea, Industrial Engineering Department, Romania

Abstract. Nowadays, manufacturing companies are involved in a big

competition, each of them looking to increase productivity and profit by
implementing best practices within the company. The present paper
presents an analysis of best practices of manufacturing companies which
contributes to increasing and improving the productivity, and also have
been identified new trends regarding best practices implemented in
manufacturing companies. In order to accomplish this research, has been
analyzed a successful manufacturing company in the field of
manufacturing and automation from Romania. To collect data for this
study there were accessed two databases, different specialized websites in
the field, but the most important source of information was obtained from
the analyzed company. One of the best practices identified in this study
was to improve the productivity through re-engineering, practice that the
company studied has implemented. In order to highlight this good practice,
namely reengineering, were analyzed in parallel both of existing
manufacturing types from the analyzed company, respectively production
on CNC processing centers and classical production. The exemplification
of both types of productions was done by using a Lean Manufacturing
method, namely Value Stream Mapping, identifying the operational flow
of both types of production.

1 Introduction
The evolution of technology, increasing the competitiveness of companies and high
demand for products and services, both manufacturing and service companies has led to a
continuous search for innovative solutions, respectively to the adoption of best practices
within the organization, that contributes to increased the customer satisfaction and also to
the development of the company. [1].
Regarding manufacturing companies, which are focused on increasing productivity and
profit, while seeking to reduce costs and waste from manufacturing process through a
proper implementation of best practices. According T. Guidat et all examples of best
practice can be found in different fields, both in the service and production sectors, wich
can be found in the private and public sectors [2].

*
Corresponding author: [email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
MATEC Web of Conferences 290, 070 0 7 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf /20192900 700 7
MSE 2019

Bjørge Timenes Laugen et all, highlights the fact that best practices are implemented in
the top of the manufacturing companies. [3]. In order to continuous improvement of
processes. the manufacturing companies implement different production systems and
methods for optimization and elimination of waste within the processes. Lean
manufacturing is one of the best-known and successful techniques (recognized as one of the
best practices in manufacturing companies), that contributes to continuous process
improvement by identifying and eliminating losses using Lean-specific manufacturing
methods [4]. Lean manufacturing is a production system developed by Toyota, and the
main techniques for identifying and eliminating losses (Japanese muda) are Value Stream
Mapping, Poka Yoke, 5 S, Single Minute Exchange of Die, Kanban, Just in Time, Pull
System, etc [5- 7]. Following research conducted best practices have been identified in the
manufacturing companies, which are presented in the figure below.

Fig. 1. Best practice from manufacturing companies (own source).

According to the best practices identified, improving productivity through
reengineering plays an important role in manufacturing companies, because adopts a
number of new technologies, including the introduction of CNC machining centers in the
manufacturing process.
Improving productivity is a continuous challenge for each company. Improving
productivity through reengineering involves a number of changes and optimizations in the
production process that aims to achieve products that correspond to the customer's
expectations in terms of quality and also to eliminate those non-conformities of the product
(scrap) that can occur after the technological process, this eliminates certain production
costs.
According to Özge Akbaba and Erkut Altındağ, the reengineering concept was
introduced in companies together with the development of technology in the early 1990s,
increasing company performance by reducing production costs, increasing product quality,
reducing production time and reducing product delivery time [8]. The manufacturing
companies that have adopted this concept of reengineering, have begun to change their old
technologies with the newest and also more advanced ones, so they have acquired CNC
machining centers. According to Abdul Hadi Jalaludin et all, CNC machining centers have
been built to increase machining precision, which has a major impact on the final product
quality, and have also been built to increase the capacity production [9]. Nowadays, the

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manufacturing industry produces various high complexity pieces due to the use of CNC
machining centers and industrial robots, both has an important role in increasing production
efficiency and increasing production flexibility [10].
The manufacturing proces of parts that require the machining of complex curved
surfaces, the reduction of contour errors has significantly contributed to the performance of
CNC machining centers, while the parts are made with high precision and high working
speeds, while also ensuring the quality of product surfaces [11]. According to Tufan Ko
and Erhan Bozdag, the CNC machining centers have become the most popular production
equipment used in SMEs, especially due to the problem solving in the production,
increasing the flexibility of the production and reducing the downtime [12]. The CNC
machining centers have come to play an important role in the manufacturing industry due
to increased of productivity but also due to increase of quality, aiming at eliminating
operational costs, while producing products with a high roughness and a longer life of the
tool [13]. According to R. Ramesh et all, in terms of production on CNC machining
centers, an automated intelligent manufacturing system was developed to estimate and
control surface finishing using support vector machines (SVM) which have contributed
significantly to reducing production time (lead time), increasing automation and to control
the manufacturing process [14]. Another very important aspect in the operation of CNC
machining centers is the energy consumption. Lingling L, et al., in the paper "Influence
factors and operational strategies for energy efficiency improvement of CNC machining"
shows the prodution on CNC machining centers as the most important activity in the
manufacturing industry, underlining that in the United States 31% of the total energy
consumed is destined for this industry [15].

2 CNC technology analysis

Both production on CNC machining centers and classic production using conventional
machine tools, have their advantages and disadvantages.
The main advantages and disadvantages of production on CNC machining centers are
presented in the figure below.

Fig. 2. CNC advantages vs disadvantages (own source).

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MATEC Web of Conferences 290, 070 0 7 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf /20192900 700 7
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The company that undertook this research, currently adopts two methods of launching
incoming orders, the first method being the classic one in which each phase is carried out in
different working cells, and the second is production on CNC machining center in which
most of the operations are carried out to obtain the finished product.
The main reason that the company has adopted production on CNC machining centers
is to obtain high quality products, eliminating certain mistakes caused by certain human
errors.

3 Application of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) - a case study

In the below figure are presented the execution drawing of a plastic injection nozzle, which
was executed on a CNC machining center and classic method of execution using
conventional machine tool.
The number of pieces from batch is 100 pieces.

Fig. 3. 2 D plastic injection nozzle view (own source).

Fig. 4. 3 D plastic injection nozzle view (own source).

In order to get an overview of both production methods analyzed, the VSM was built to
exemplifies all of the operations executed, the operational times, but also the downtimes of
the production process.
VSM is a Lean manufacturing method that helps to visualize the entire technological
process, identifying quickly the existing losses and eliminating them, achieving a
continuous flow of raw material in the manufacturing process and eliminating the
downtimes and the waiting times within the technological flow.

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3.1 Classic production

In order to munufacturing the plastics injection nozzle using the classic production method,
will be use hexagon bar 24, X11CrMo5 material with a length of 6000 mm. In order to be
processed, the following operations will be performed as shown in Table 1. Considering
that the analysis of the manufacturing process is performed for a single piece, both the
operational times of the manufacturing process and the thermal treatment of the parts are
analyzed for a single the piece (even if in the case of heat treatment the whole 100 pieces
are treated once within 2 hours, which represents 72 seconds per piece).
Table 1. The production process of the plastic injection nozzle - classic production.
No. Machinery Measuring Operations time
Operation
crt device
Band Saw Tape measure 40 s - processing
Machine Pilous 5 s - measuring
1 Cutting 24x600
ARG 300 Plus 10 s - handling parts
S.A.F.
SNA 400 turning Caliper 550 s - processing
Turning right side:
machine Roughness 30 s – measuring
radius12.5 mm
2 tester 115 s - handling parts
Diameter Φ22
Radius gages and time for cutting
L= 55 mm
tool positioning
SNA 400 turning Caliper 20 s - processing
machine 5 s - measuring
3 Cutting at L= 90 mm
7 s - time for cutting
tool positioning
SNA 400 turning Caliper 320 s - processing
Turning left side: machine Metric Thread 40 s – measuring
Diameter Φ24, Φ19 Gauges 90 s – polishing with
4 Chamfering 2.5x450 sandpaper
Drilling Φ10, Φ6 80 s - handling parts
Filleting M24x1.5 and time for cutting
tool positioning
Heat treatment hardness tester 72 s – processing
oven 90 s – polishing
Thermal treatment - radius 12.5 mm +
5
hardening cleaning with wire
brush

1002 s - production
lead time
Total time
382 s -
Value added time

Notifications:
At second operation, turning right side, will be used 2 types of cutting tools (turn tool
holder for external machining, external shaped turning tools R 12.5), then will perform
grinding operations to obtain roughness (sandpaper with different grits). At fourth
operation, turning left side, will be used the same both cutting tools, only at angles the turn
tool holder for external machining should be inclined, will be measured interphase more
than once until the indicated odds are obtained.
The thread will be obtained from several passes (will be used external threading turning
tool as with CNC machining centers, but with a much lower cutting speed.

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At classic production each nozzle from the batch (100 pieces) will be measured, while
in the case of processing on the CNC machinig center will be measure the first and possibly
another 2 or 3 pieces for checking the wear of the cutting tools, ensuring the quality of the
parts executed.
Based on the data from table 1, in which the operations necessary for the execution of
the piece were listed, was built the VSM, exemplifying the entire technological process,
respectively the operational flow.

Fig. 5. The VSM of classic production (own source).

3.2 CNC production

In order to manufacturing the plastic injection nozzle on the CNC machining center, in the
below table are presented the operations performed during the manufacturing process.
Table 2. The production process of the performed piece - CNC production.
No. Machinery Measuring Operations time
Operation
crt device
Band Saw Machine Tape measure 40 s - processing
1 Cutting 24x600 Pilous ARG 300 Plus 5 s - measuring
S.A.F. 10 s - handling parts
Turning right Fanuc 0i-tc Caliper 120 s - processing
side: radius12.5 Roughness 30 s - measuring
2 mm tester 15 s - handling parts
Diameter Φ22 Radius gages and time for cutting
L= 55 mm tool positioning
Fanuc 0i Caliper 15 s - processing
Cutting at L= 90 5 s - measuring
3
mm 7 s - time for cutting
tool positioning
Turning left side: Fanuc 0i Caliper 100 s - processing
Diameter Φ24, Metric Thread 10 s - measuring
4
Φ19 Gauges 30 s - handling parts
Chamfering and time for cutting

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2.5x450 tool positioning

Drilling Φ10, Φ6
Filleting M24x1.5
Heat treatment oven hardness tester 72 s – processing
Thermal treatment 90 s – polishing radius
5
- hardening 12.5 mm + cleaning
with wire brush
347 s - Production lead
time
Total time
382 s -
Value added time

Based on the data from table 2, in which the operations necessary for the execution of
the piece were listed, was built the VSM, exemplifying the entire technological process,
respectively the operational flow.

Fig. 6. The VSM of CNC machine (own source).

4. Results and discussions of case study

Based on the information from table 1 and 2, and also from both VSM based on the
information in the two, the value-creating activities and those that do not create value have
been identified.
In the case of classical production, by realizing VSM, the 5 operations in the
production process of the performed piece were identified.
The total manufacturing cycle time is 1384 seconds for a single piece, of which the
profitable time (value-added time) is 382 seconds, representing 27.6% of the entire
manufacturing cycle, and 72.4% representing the non-value added time, which in the Lean
production are identified as waste (muda in japanese).
In the case of production on CNC machining center, by realizing VSM, the 5
operations in the production process of the performed piece were identified.

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The total manufacturing cycle time for a single piece is 729 seconds, of which the
profitable time (value creation activities) is 382 seconds, which represents 52.40% of the
entire production cycle, and 47, 60% representing non-value activities.
The fundamental purpose of Lean production is to eliminate those activities that do not
create value, which will lead to lead time reduction.
After analyzing the both production methods, can be observe the benefits of production
on the CNC machining center, respectively increasing productivity by reducing lead time
and increasing the percentage of activities that create value in the analyzed manufacturing
cycle (according to the diagram below).

CNC production 52,4 47,6

VAT
NVAT
Classic production 27,6 72,4

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Fig. 7. VAT from classic production versus CNC production (own source). Where: VAT – value
added time; NVAT – non value added time

5 Conclusion
According to the obtained results, by applying the CNC machining centers production, the
productivity increased by 24.8% compared to the application of the classical production
method.
To produce 100 pieces in the case of classic production, 138400 seconds are required,
respectively 38.44 hours without interfering with some additional changes in the
manufacturing process. To produce 100 pieces in the case of CNC machining center
production, 72900 seconds are required, respectively 20.25 hours without interfering with
some additional changes in the manufacturing process.
Therefore, to produce 100 pieces on CNC machining center production, has decreased
the production time by 18.19 hours, respectively increasing the productive efficiency by
89.82% more than the classic production.
Increasing productive efficiency using CNC processing centers has a significant impact
on both investment costs and the investment return (break even), wich is significantly
higher.
Reengineering has proven to be one of the best practices for increasing manufacturing
productivity because it adopts new technologies that contribute significantly to reduce the
production costs and production time, while increasing the productivity and the profit.

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