DownloadedfromSAEInternationalbyGuangxiUniversityofTech,Sunday,March01,2015TheNewApproachtoAutomotiveVehicleAssemblyProcess2015-26-0061Published01/14/2015SanjayNibandheMahindraMahindra,Ltd.CITATION:Nibandhe,S.,"TheNewApproachtoAutomotiveVehicleAssemblyProcess,"SAETechnicalPaper2015-26-0061,2015,doi:10.4271/2015-26-0061.Copyright©2015SAEInternationalandCopyright©SAEINDIAAbstractThepaperpresentsintegratedapproachtoAutomobileAssemblyProcess.Theapproachdescribesabout“ProductionProcessSimulations”forNewProductsunderdevelopment.Thisleadstowardsdesignverificationduringearlyprototypeassemblyprocessestablishmentfornewlydevelopedautomobilevehiclesanditscontrolplanwhichregulatestofinalproductionpractice.InrecentyearstheIndianautomotivebusinessisexpandingandwithgrowingneedsoffasternewproductdevelopment,thecycletimereductionbecomesverycrucialforenvironmentalandeconomicreasons.TheLeanproductionassemblyandrobustengineeringprocessesareoptimizedinthisapproach.It'sanadvancedmechanismtoidentifyprocessfailuresduringfinalproductionsetup.Theexperimentationhasresultedtowardsestablishingmicrolevelstudyandcriticalstagestobecapturedwellinadvanceforbetterplanning.TheactualverificationofdesignatearlystagebuildsconfidenceinNewProductDevelopment.Thisapproachcoversofalltypesofvehiclemanufacturing,productmix,anddeliverablesofvehiclequality.Thekeyachievementisbyensuringofsignificant&criticaldesignparameters,engineeringspecifications,qualitytargetsandcustomerperceivedquality.Therobustplanninganddecisionmakingresultsineasinessoffinalproductassemblyline.ThispaperisanapproachtocreateanintegratedvehicleassemblyprocessforNewProductDevelopment(NPD),incomparisonwithexistingproductionprocessofvehicleassembly.IntroductionAtpresentwehave11manufacturingfacilitiesinIndia&abroad.AsourProductDevelopmentcenter&manufacturingplantsatdistantlocations.Itisnotsoeasytoassemblevehiclesatmanufacturingplantswithoutanypreparation.Similarlymanufacturingfacilities&Productdevelopmentcenterarenotclosedtoeachother's,thereforeitbecomesverydifficulttoestablishnewproductsatearlystage.Inviewofthisweproposed&establishedminiaturepilotlineonwhichalltheexperimentationscanbecarriedout.Thepresentpracticeneedstomodifyinagreaterwayforfastproductdevelopmentswithmultipleprojects&variants.Oneproduct-oneproductionlineisaconventionalpracticeovertheyears.FollowingprocessflowchartdescribesaboutexistingvehiclemanufacturingprocessusedbyOEM's.Fig.1.Existingvehiclemanufacturingprocess.TohaveaninnovativeapproachinProductdevelopmentcenterforvehicleassemblyonehastosimulatefutureproductionpracticestobedeployed.[3]Thereisneedtoinjecttheadvancedmanufacturingqualityaspectsinit.TheindependentPilotproductionfacilityforbatchproductionsofprototypevehiclesbecomesvital.Allexperimentationsneedtotryoutbeforetakeupfinalprocesssettings.Nowadays“Productlifecycle”spanisreduceddrasticallyandhencetheOriginalEquipmentManufacturer(OEM)needtointroducenewproductsquiteoften.Theperiodicnewproductintroductionbecomesnecessitytobesuccessfulinthebusiness.Nowthatdifferentmodelsandvariantsthereofarerequiredinmultiplenumbers,toprovedynamicneedofcustomer'sperspective.Thebaseplatformsarecommonforthesevariantsandhence,needtoaccommodateonsameproductionline.i.e.Basemodelis‘Swift’&newvariants‘SwiftDesire’,‘Eartiga’etc.areproducedononeproductionline.Thishascreatedneedforanappropriate...
