Automated assembly of small hand valve stems
Problem statement
Handvalve stem assembly at Parker is carried out by hand, wasting a total of 440 hours and $25,000 per year [1]. Automation is becoming more important as the current assembly workforce is aging out, and the newer generation is less interested in manual labor due to the monotonous nature of the job. Automating the assembly process would decrease the time to produce a handvalve stem from 2 minutes to roughly 40 seconds [1]. Therefore, overall production costs would decrease. According to Arnold Machine Inc., a company that specializes in automation, they automated their assembly process and decreased overall production costs by $360,000 in two years [2]. Furthermore, automation would also eliminate human intervention, thereby allowing the machines to run all day and increase production rates. However, automating this assembly process might increase the overall complexity associated with the manufacturing process. If the one component of the process were to fail, the entire production line would be halted until technicians familiar with the technology could fix it, which would waste production time and increase maintenance costs. However, the benefits outweigh the cons because Parker will be able to apply this automation process to their other valve operations. Overall, this system will offer significantly lower costs, increased production, and allow the company to be less reliant on manual labor.
Team members
Hannah Fibikar – leader
Ahmed Kahlil – communicator
Megan Sindelar – accountant
Erik Svetin – admin
Client
Steve Schuster, Parker