The Toyota Production Systems Laboratory at RIT

Transcription

1 The Toyota Production Systems Laboratory at RIT The Toyota Production Systems Laboratory at the Rochester Institute of Technology is a nationally recognized facility that supports teaching and research in the areas of lean, problem solving and modern production systems. This facility traces its roots back to 2001, when a basic assembly line was first installed in a temporary facility. This setup was mainly used to introduce the concepts of production line behavior within an undergraduate course. In 2006, an important endorsement from Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America provided funds to support and name the lab. Over the years, and in response to student and industry feedback, this facility was progressively expanded and further integrated throughout the Industrial Engineering curriculum, across other departments in engineering and the institute, as well as into some state-funded workforce development programs. More recently, support from the National Science Foundation and the Toyota Foundation USA has supported development and expansion of the lab activities into the K-12 domain and the deaf and hard-of-hearing engineering student populations. The five faculty associated with the lab have worked over the last decade to develop over 40 hands-on activities that emphasize various concepts in production systems with activities that take place in assembly lines, warehouse picking areas, kitting areas, etc. As part of the partnership with Toyota, the faculty have also gained ample access to Toyota facilities in the USA and Japan, as well as to selected training. Today, the Toyota Production Systems Laboratory serves as a platform for delivery of experiential education in the topics of Lean, Problem Solving and production systems behavior in 5 courses in the Industrial engineering curriculum, 1 course in mechanical engineering and 2 courses in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Every year, over 350 K-12 students participate in hands-on problem solving exercises conducted in assembly lines and warehouse order picking systems. During the summer, groups of international students from universities in Korea, Turkey and South America complement their education in this facility. Description of the Facility: The Toyota Production Systems Laboratory currently resides on a 2500 sq. ft. facility in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering building. It contains two modular assembly lines, a warehouse as well as a storage area that contains parts, assemblies and structural components. The facility can be reconfigured to stage assembly, kitting, storage, and warehousing scenarios. Some combinations of these operations are also possible. Within each scenario, it is possible to represent larger systems (e.g. an assembly line fed by a supplier and that delivers to customers) or to isolate specific parts of the operation to focus on a certain aspect of interest (e.g. the ergonomics of a workstation, the conveyance from a supplier, the heijunka-based leveling of the line, etc). The lab is surrounded by white boards and A3 poster display areas for both

2 student work and documents related to the management of the lab. An area for displaying problem-solving approaches is also provided. A section of the lab reserved for teamwork contains tables and mobile white boards. The audiovisuals include a ceiling-mounted projector that swivels for displays in different walls. This is used for both lecturing and for displaying line status and production run time. Figure 1: Lower floor (assembly area) of the laboratory The entire system is modular and very easy to reconfigure in less than one-half hour. The line can be laid out and connected and the workstations can be modified (i.e. type and location of bins, tools, etc.) in little time. Each station is equipped with barcode readers and flat screen monitors which, in conjunction with a database, allow for work instruction display and mixed production runs. Custom-developed software allows for monitoring of the line status and students are able to track metrics such as: job location and cycle time, throughput, WIP accumulation, queue size per station, idle time, station utilization, etc.

3 Figure 2: Students working on production Line # 2 Parts and components: The majority of the parts being assembled in the lab are actual components from existing products. Most of the parts and components have been provided by either Toyota Motor or first-tier automotive suppliers. The lab keeps an inventory of dozens of parts and components for academic assembly case development. Each component is carefully scouted by faculty during their trips to Toyota plants then brought to the lab where it is dissected for retrofitting (most assemblies are only meant to be assembled once) and fixture design and prototyping. After development of the base assembly case, the faculty spend about a year developing curriculum around it. Currently, there are several fully developed assembly cases: a radiator fan assembly, a minivan glove compartment door, an ABS brake module assembly, a water pump, among others.

4 Figure 3: Assembly cases: radiator fan and ABS brake module A warehouse area has been developed to support the order fulfillment capabilities of the lab. It currently contains a fully capable WMS system, a pick-and-pass area for putaway and order picking (supported with pick to light technologies), and two kitting stations. Figure 4: Light-directed pick to light system

5 Figure 5: Women-in-Engineering camper participating in a kitting exercise The future plans in the Toyota Production Systems lab include the development of exercises in a new paced assembly line with andon capabilities among other plans currently underway. Newsletters and additional information can be obtained by visiting the laboratory website at or by contacting Professor Andres Carrano (Lab director) at alceie@rit.edu or Professor John Kaemmerlen (Associate Lab Director) at jxkpdm@rit.edu.

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