Analysis and improvement of valve gearbox manufacturing process using simulation modeling

In today's competitive markets, companies make great efforts to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain their market share. The most important factors in gaining competitive advantage are meeting delivery deadlines and ensuring the desired product quality. In this context, companies should analyze their manufacturing processes and develop production plans in which they can use their resources efficiently and meet customer expectations. Industrial valves are critical elements used to control the flow of liquids, gases or vapors in industrial facilities and infrastructure systems. The gearboxes in these valves are very important components that optimize power transmission and control. For this reason, the design and quality of gearboxes have a significant impact on the efficiency, durability and safety features of industrial valves. Therefore, analyzing gearbox manufacturing processes and carrying out process improvement studies will provide advantages to companies in terms of time, cost and quality. In this dissertation, it is aimed to improve the gearbox manufacturing process of an industrial valve manufacturer and for this purpose, alternative production scenarios were developed to produce gearboxes in a shorter time, at lower cost and with higher quality. In this context, firstly gearbox model was decided by using the analytical hierarchy process and TOPSIS methods. Then, the current manufacturing process was simulated and the bottleneck station was identified. Alternatives such as contract manufacturing and new machine investment were generated for the bottleneck station. Then, simulation models for alternative scenarios were developed. In the developed models, quality problems that may occur in alternative scenarios and the machine speed and investment cost related to the new machine investment were taken into account. Predefined alternatives were compared in terms of production quantities, makespan, profit and quality. The obtained results showed that it is more profitable for the company to invest in a new machine than to have contract manufacturing.