BOSCH

Success Story of Automotive Sector
Production Simulations

Bosch Turkey encompasses five separate companies operating in the fields of 'Mobility Solutions', 'Energy and Building Technologies', 'Industrial Technologies', and 'Consumer Goods'. As of April 2015, Bosch Turkey operates as one of the leading suppliers in technology and services with 16,600 employees, a turnover of 3.4 billion euros, and exports worth 2.1 billion euros.

The Bosch Diesel Systems Factory, where the project was implemented, develops, manufactures, and implements diesel systems that contribute to making vehicles more efficient and economical. As a leading manufacturer of diesel injection systems worldwide, Bosch offers systems tailored to each customer and vehicle.

Why were the projects needed?

In 2008, Bosch's process improvement department identified idle time among operators on a production line through analysis and planned an improvement to utilize this potential. However, the production department was not convinced about the changes and their benefits. As the two departments could not agree on a common idea, simulation consultancy was sought from Dijitalis. Initially, the current situation was simulated. Upon ensuring that the simulation results matched the actual production figures, the accuracy of the model was confirmed. Subsequently, the recommended new scenario was modeled. Indeed, productivity was increasing, and gains were being made. Once the results were presented, the production department was confident in the success of the project, and a pilot implementation was swiftly initiated. As a result, all processes transitioned to the new scenario, and the simulation played a crucial role in implementing a project with calculable outcomes.

Following the success of the consultancy services from Dijitalis, the Bosch Diesel Injection factory decided to develop all types of improvement projects with simulation support.

"As Bosch Diesel Injection factory, we decided to develop all types of improvement projects with simulation support. The results we achieved after working with Dijitalis were tremendous."

Cem Tangil
Burak Can ÇİÇEK
Tef6\RBTR\BOSCH

What solution was provided?

After deciding to develop all types of improvement projects with simulation support, the Bosch Diesel Injection factory chose the simulation software with Dijitalis' support after extensive testing and evaluations.

Describing the subsequent events, the Bosch process improvement team states;

"The encouraging aspect of using simulation in the production field emerged after receiving simulation training from Dijitalis. With the additional support and training we received, we developed ourselves to carry out larger simulation projects. In our second project, after modeling the current situation, we identified potentials, determined alternatives, and presented alternative models for production. We created various alternative systems for production to achieve production goals. As a result, some of the systems we found were tried in production but could not be organized systematically. Production was aware of the potentials but did not know exactly where and how to start. At this point, simulation had an encouraging effect as it showed how alternative production systems would perform beforehand, encouraging the selection and implementation of the optimal alternative."

Another contribution of simulation was to stimulate changes in production. In one of our departments, production was in a pool type, and the layout was very complex. Modeling the flow of parts on the layout we simulated and the spaghetti diagram clearly showed the chaos in production. This situation greatly impressed the area manager, who immediately stated that a solution needed to be produced as a result of this study. It was a known fact that production needed a change, but the simulation results showed how serious the situation was and encouraged the change. Following the simulation, production cells with pilot applications were immediately initiated, and then the entire department switched to production according to this model."

Finally, we would like to mention the importance of simulation in achieving productivity goals. In our factory's lines, it was desired to see how many daily deliveries could be made with any decrease in quantity and what the workloads of the employees and machine utilization rates would be in this case. The results obtained from the simulation model were tremendous. We enabled obtaining visual outputs in situations where manual calculation was almost impossible thanks to the simulation. The simulation model was both guiding in achieving productivity goals and useful in determining job assignments and standard work for achieving these goals."

What benefits were achieved at the end of the project?

The Bosch Diesel Systems Factory quickly confirmed how important a tool simulation was. According to the Bosch project team, simulation is a powerful and useful method because it serves as proof for almost certain projects, provides guidance and encouragement in identifying and implementing alternatives that operators have applied but not connected to any systematics, encourages change by presenting striking results with visual outputs, provides ideas in identifying alternatives, facilitates the creation of standard work for transitioning to leaner production, and guides in achieving productivity goals."

"Simulation;

Is proof for critical projects to be implemented,
serves as a guide and encouragement in identifying and implementing alternatives applied by operators but not connected to any systematics,
encourages change by presenting striking results with visual outputs,
provides ideas in identifying alternatives,
guides in creating standard work for transitioning to leaner production and achieving productivity goals, hence being a powerful and useful method."

Cem Tangil
Burak Can ÇİÇEK
Tef6\RBTR\BOSCH