Performance Measurement for Raw Material Utilization in Blanking

Abstract

Productivity measures have been widely used in manufacturing industry in order to indicate how well resources like materials, energy and labour are used. The study was carried out on raw material utilization at blanking stage for firms that process sheet metal into round blanks for subsequent operations like drawing into finished products. Blanking data was obtained from selected companies involved in making of aluminium and steel blanks. From this data a mathematical model and FORTRAN code was developed to simulate expected material utilization for various blank sizes. The findings of the study present model utilization results that are comparable to actual utilization. The results can thus be used by firms to bench mark expected actual utilization and continuously improve to attain the set standards.