Heavy Manufacturing Industry
Fabrication Layout & Lead Time Optimisation
Primary Outcome30% Lead Time Compression
Business Challenge
Heavy structural fabrication facility suffered from crisscrossing overhead crane movements, beam backtracking, and congested welding bays.
Client Situation & Operational Bottlenecks:
- •Structural steel traveling 3.2 km inside the plant during fabrication
- •Crisscrossing overhead crane movements creating severe material handling delays
- •Congested welding bays blocking structural assembly throughput
- •Long manufacturing lead times tying up working capital in heavy WIP inventory
Our Approach
- Created detailed Spaghetti Diagrams tracking overhead crane and plate movement
- Analyzed structural steel fabrication steps from cutting to final welding
- Designed a unidirectional linear flow layout from plate cutting to dispatch
- Established visual WIP buffer bays to regulate material flow between processes
- Simulated crane utilization to eliminate crane travel bottlenecks
Key Improvement Initiatives
- 1Relocated plate cutting machines and welding bays into a linear product bay
- 2Created marked supermarket buffer zones for WIP beam storage
- 3Implemented Kanban signaling for plate movement to welding bays
- 4Trained bay supervisors on visual queue management and daily dispatch targets
Before vs. After Operational Metrics
| Metric | Before Transformation | After Transformation | Quantified Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Lead Time | 21 days | 14.7 days | -30% |
| Material Travel Distance | 3.2 km | 1.7 km | -47% |
| Floor Space Utilization | 58% | 84% | +26% |
“
The redesigned layout significantly improved production flow and reduced unnecessary movement across the shopfloor. Lead time dropped from 21 to 14.7 days.
— Operations Head, Heavy Structural Fabrication Plant
KEY RESULTS
30%Lead Time Compression
45%Crane Movement Cut
7,000 sq.ftFloor Space Freed
Services Delivered
- Plant Layout Optimisation
- Material Flow Analysis
- Industrial Engineering
- WIP Inventory Control
- Lean Manufacturing
- Spaghetti Mapping
Methodologies Used
Factory Layout OptimisationSpaghetti DiagramsMaterial FlowKanban5S
Service Capability
Factory Layout Optimisation
Design lean, continuous-flow plant layouts that eliminate travel waste and maximize space.
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