ITMT 186 Manufacturing and Fab

Shane Holbrook

Pen Production Factory Sim

Date: 11/29/2014

OVERVIEW
The general goal of this lab project was familiarization with machines, processes, and generally a simulation of what we would be
exposed to in industry. We covered many things in this lab in which we have studied in the Fundamentals of Manufacturing, Phillip D.
Rufe book. Such as:

Takt Time (pgs. 352)

Lathe (pgs. 227-228)

Process Layout (pgs. 369)

Process Planning (pgs. 357-361)

Process Flow Chart (pgs. 359-360)

Quality Control (pgs. 461-475)

Lean Production (pgs. 351-356)

Kaizen (pgs. 352)

Toyota Production System (pgs. 351-352 and also once again in 531)
Although these were the concepts being utilized, along many other machinery which was not covered in the book. We were able to
learn how to adapt in a realistic manner in which the Work in Progress, (WIP) was fully utilized by structuring our surrounding
machinery, our process, our level of communication, and sometimes by trial and error. Although each machine only took one person to
run, and the process went by rather quickly. We still all got the chance to work one on one with a machine, the lathe, in the span of the
entire project. This experience was a great learning chance for many of us. It did take initiative on the part of the student to immerse
themselves in the project at first. Although after once committed, I found this project to be a great introduction to machinery and the
processes in which we will face in industry.

Procedure/ Steps
Beginning

Given instructions of assignment and work order:

Given detailed assembly instructions:

ITMT 186 Manufacturing and Fab

Shane Holbrook

Pen Production Factory Sim

Date: 11/29/2014

ITMT 186 Manufacturing and Fab

Shane Holbrook

Pen Production Factory Sim

Date: 11/29/2014

Daily Procedure

Put on safety glasses

o The next two steps were done synonymously
Find current Takt Time
Locate Work order, and if available, Work in Progress(WIP)
(If WIP not available) Find wood and pen kit which satisfied customer standards.
(If wood piece too big one of three steps would then have to be performed in order to alter the
wood.)
Table Saw (If wood is very large)
Miter Saw (If wood is medium sized)
Band saw (If wood is smaller)
From this point we had a manageable piece of wood which we would check through quality
control station, in which we would verify the dimensions of the wood piece were to 5/8
square. Before passing it along to the next station.
Once Dimensions were confirmed, we then passed the WIP onto the Drill Press. In which a 7mm
hole was then drilled into the center of the WIP. (It is to be noted that before the drill press was
even operated there was a stop piece structured in order to have easy repeatability with the
machine and in order to constrain the WIP easily.)
Once the hole had been drilled, the WIP was passed along to the glue station. In which the front
tube was then glued into one of the WIP pieces.
The WIP was then allowed to dry shortly before passing along to the next station.
The WIP then passed along to the grinding station, in which the ends were grinded down to the
brass tube on all sides and made smooth.
From here the WIP and the work order have passed through many stations and was placed in
chronological order from the first finished to last, in which then they would wait until the
bottleneck station of the project would then commence.
The next stage would involve the customer of the pen itself and using the lathe in order to turn
their own pen.
From here the customer would also move onto the next station which would be assembly of the
pen. Following the instructions given for assembly from the assembly sheet.

Data Collection

The overall goal was indeed accomplished in accordance to the overall design goal.
The only flaw that was seen was the shoulder near the tip of the pen. If redone, it would simply need to be cut down a little
more near the bushing of the lathe.
The wood used as can been seen from my work order above (pg. 2), is red oak, and the pen kit is black chrome. The finish
was simply a wax, and the grooves were done with a detailing cutting tool, and wire to form a burn in the wood itself.

Conclusion
3

ITMT 186 Manufacturing and Fab

Shane Holbrook

Pen Production Factory Sim

Date: 11/29/2014

Overall there was a vast amount of things in which I have learned from this experience. Until now the processes in
which I have learned about from ITMT 186 and IET 330 were only theory. In this exercise I was allowed to utilize
these concepts and portray how they are actually applied in industry. Process layouts, Takt time, Lean
manufacturing, Poka-yoke, kaizen, all of these are just a few in which were or could have been utilized in one form
or another throughout this project. This simulation gave me a realistic approach to how industry handles projects and
how these things are used in context. The only thing that I would have changed would have been the machinery.
Although one person is all that is needed for a machine, I think it would have been ideal to have run mock shifts
on each machine. Such as the table saw, if only four pieces of wood were needed to be cut on the table saw, then two
people could have cut two pieces each, in order to give everyone a more hands on feeling in the process.
Technical Article Correlation
o Ramachandran, J., & Prasad, P. S. (2014). Facility Layout Selection Guideline under Dynamic Demand and
Part Variety. Journal Of Engineering & Technology, 4(1), 55-64. doi:10.4103/0976-8580.123806
o The correlation of this article with our own project seemed to me to be the main asset of the entire project.
Without proper layout, the whole project, no matter how little the task may have been, would have seemed
like so much more without the proper layout. When taking on any project one of the most important steps is
the process layout of the entire building/facility. With a horrible design, there is waste, with this waste we
are no longer following lean production or TPS. This article seems to correlate best with this project
because it touches on so many of these. It is a study of the differences in layout.