Impact of part proliferation on a high mix low volume manufacturing environment

This project set out to create a framework for conducting a cost benefit analysis of part proliferation looking into first, second and third order effects of part specialization within the entire Caterpillar enterprise. This project builds on previous internal efforts to reduce complexity by evaluating the impact of increasing part count on design, procurement, inventory, production and both internal and external quality. Part proliferation occurs as parts are designed or redesigned to increase safety, comply with changing regulatory rules, improve profitability, serve niche customer demands and increase percentage of industry sales (PINS). The main driver for creating unique parts instead of common components comes from the incentivization to optimize designs for individual models and applications with a relatively narrow perspective on the cost function underlying parts proliferation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Youngerman, Paige Denise.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Warren Seering and Nikos Trichakis.

• Mechanical Engineering.
• Sloan School of Management.
• Leaders for Global Operations Program.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127103

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/127103