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FABRICATION OF MODULAR PALLET RACK

FOR STORAGE OF COMPLETELY BUILT-UP MOTORCYCLES.

AUTHORS

ALUKO ADEDEJI

AYANKOSO SAMUEL

SUPERVISOR

ENGR OLUSEGUN ADEKOYA

(QUALITY, R&D MANAGER BOULOS ENTERPRISE LIMITED)

February, 2016.

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ABSTRACT

With the aim of efficiently utilizing storage floor space, the need to design and implement the use of

pallet racking structures constructed using steel material (Hot Rolled High Tensile Steel) which are

commonly used to store large variety of materials came into play.

The design of such structure is critically influenced by the total number of palletized inventory to be

stored, rotation-of-stock (F.I.F.O.) requirements, production policy, methods by which product

selection and replenishment will occur, maximum expected weight and other parameters. This

Report attempts to describe the fabrication process of the designed motorcycle pallet rack.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Pages

1.0 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..4-6

2.0 PROJECT MANAGEMENT…………………………………………………….7-11

2.1 Initial Implementation Phase……………………………………………………….7

2.2 Project Implementation 2nd Phase…………………………………………………..8-11

3.0 PROJECT WORKFLOW………………………………………………………...12-20

3.1 Project Preparation…………………………………………………………………14

3.2 Project Proposal. …………………………………………………………………..14-15

3.3 Material Selection and Procurement…………………………………………..……15

3.4 Tools and Equipment……………………………………………….………………16

3.5 Work Place Preparation……………………………………………………………16

3.6 Project Work Plan……………………………………………………….…………17

3.7 Material Preparation…………………………………………………………….…17

3.8 Work Breakdown Structure………………………………………………………..17-20

4.0 PROJECT SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS……………………..………………21

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Boulos Enterprises Limited (BEL) is a leading distribution and trading company for commercial

motorcycle, power bikes, tricycle and outboard motors in Nigeria. This position has been earned and

achieved by offering the public high quality products carefully made to suit the Nigerian climatic and

road conditions through proper coordination of activities carried out by all departments in Boulos’s

manufacturing and assembly plant.

There are majorly two categories of finished product from the Boulos’s manufacturing and assembly

plant;

Motorcycles

Tricycles

With each category having their respective product realization path, that for motorcycle is given

below in fig 1.0.

Like any typical manufacturing plant, three types of inventories are maintained in Boulos assembly

plant and they are;

a. Raw Material: This includes all unit components needed for complete assembling of

respective motorcycle product.

b. Work in Process: This class of inventory includes all component already supplied to the

assembly line and unfinished motorcycle still on the production line.

c. Finished Goods Stock: This includes all varieties of completely assembled motorcycle.

Boulos Manufacturing and Assembly Plant has certain constrains among which includes;

1. Limited Storage Space.

2. Increasing Product Variety.

3. Increasing Demand.

4. Increasing Cost of Real Estate.

That been said, keeping high quantity of motorcycle (different varieties) as finished goods inventory

is not economical (high investment into real estate for storage space) and cannot be achieved with the

present limited storage space so therefore, a balance is required to be reached between the different

manufacturing policies.

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Fig 1.0 Boulos QRD Department

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These policies include;

Make to Stock.

Make to Order.

o MTS (Make to Stock) literally means to manufacture products for stock based on demand

forecasts, which can be regarded as push-type production. MTS has been required to prevent

opportunity loss due to stock out and minimize excess inventory using accurate forecasts (1).

o MTO (Make to Order) is a manufacturing process in which manufacturing starts only after a

customer's order is received. Forms of MTO vary, for example, an assembly process starts when

demand actually occurs or manufacturing starts with development planning (1).

In Boulos’s manufacturing and assembly plant, but policies are used since proper balance

between both will ensure the best efficiency of the assemble line.

Given that make to stock policy requires storage space, investment already has been made in the

proper storage facilities for raw materials inventory (unit components and part sub assembly

storage). This project therefore addresses the investment in storage facilities for finished goods

inventory as this report highlights the implementation stage of the project (fabrication of pallet

racks for motorcycle CBU storage).

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2.0 PROJECT MANAGEMENT2.1.Initial Implementation Phase

The first rack was fabricated without major management tools in place. Material for each unit

parts were prepared as at when needed and not beforehand therefore resulting in a lot of

dimensional inaccuracy while cutting. Although the quality of weld and alignment were good,

lack of proper management lead to major error induced by nature of the material itself and also

during preparation.

The resulting motorcycle rack was observed to be a little bit slanted as shown in fig *** and

therefore was below the intended quality standard.

In order complete the production of the rack, other actions had to be carried out to help correct

the error. As a member of the fabrication team (where I acquired major experience needed to

complete those I have acquired unset either through action or observation) I was able to articulate

all activities carried out in their sequence of relevance and this helped me to put into perspective

the planning of the next phase of the project.

Fig 2.0

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2.2. Project Implementation (2nd Phase)

In the second phase of fabrication, project management tool and techniques were invoked via

proper planning, directing, supervision and control of all activities taking place and resources

required for the project execution. In order to avoid the errors made during the fabrication of the

Pilot model (both measurement and material induced), concept of modularization was

introduced.

Modularization is a design approach that subdivides a system into smaller parts called modules

or skids that can be independently created and then used in different systems. This was achieved

by breaking up major parts of the design into modules (Modules A, Module B and Add-ons) and

designing of welding fixture for the fabrication of each module as shown in fig ***** and fig

****. The introduction of modularization and welding fixture helped in achieving the following;

Helped to correct the inherent error of the work material

Ensure dimensional accuracy

reduce production time

Argumentation

With this concept in place, the resulting outputs were consistent, dimensionally accurate and

of a better quality than that fabricated in the first phase as shown in fig 2.3.

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Fig 2.1

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Fig 2.2

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Fig 2.3

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3.0 PROJECT WORKFLOW

As projects needs to be managed in order to achieve execution which meets the project expectations

and client’s (CKD Department) requirement, this project was designed to follow a structured flow of

activities. As given below in fig 3.0, the project workflow includes the following;

A. Project Preparation

B. Project Proposal.

C. Project Approval

D. Material Procurement

E. Work Place Preparation

F. Project Work Plan

G. Material Preparation

H. Commencement of Design Fabrication.

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Fig 3.0

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3.1. Project Preparation:

At the stage, the proper understanding of the customer’s need was established before the

initiation of the designing stage. Among the things considered includes;

Design Methodology

Structural Analysis

Bill Of Material

Pallet Rack Operational Requirements

Pallet Rack Safety Considerations

Storage Capacity And Space Calculations

Modular Pallet Racking System Layout

Design Benefits And Value

3.2 Project Proposal:

At this stage, all enquiries gotten from the document generated from the project preparation in

addition with information such as;

Storage Capacity And Space Calculations

Modular Pallet Racking System Layout

Design Benefits And Value

Detailed Engineering drawings of the designs for the purpose of fabrication (fig 3.1)

formed for the proposal for the implementation of the project.

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Fig 3.1

3.3. Material Selection and Procurement:

The selection was carried out after different materials have been tested and simulated with the

maximum load possible using a CAD software (Autodesk Inventor). This helped in analyzing

the stress signatures of each materials and thus picking the one which meets the load

requirement plus economical advantage.

After the approval of the pallet rack project, procurement of the required materials was

carried out after which, implementation of the project work plan commenced.

Since the initial purpose of the project was to design industrial grade pallet racks using

locally available material, the materials selected include;

o Angle Iron 70X70x5

o Angle Iron 50x50x5

Procurement of the required quantity of steel materials were there for carried out locally as

local steel material were used.

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3.4. Tools and Equipment:During the implementation of the project, the following tools and equipment were used;

1. Scriber

2. Tri-square

3. Meter Rule

4. Hand Cutting/Grinding Machine

5. Cut-off/Fixed Cutting Machine

6. Industrial Grade Welding Machine

3.5. Workplace Preparation:

This was carried out by deliberately allocating resources (workplace, machinery and man

power) for the commencement of the clearing process.

The allocated section was cleared and arranged in other to accommodate the size of the

project.

One industrial arc-welding machine was allocated.

Between 2-5 manpower were used for the clearing of the project workplace.

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3.6. The Work Plan:

Given below in Fig *** is the fabrication work plan for motorcycle pallet rack.

Fig 3.2

3.7. Material Preparation:

Engineering Dimensioning and Marking out operation on the respective pallet rack

component material

Cutting to size of already marked out pallet rack component material

Arrangement of prepared materials on worksite

3.8. Work Breakdown Structure for the Fabrication Processes

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of a project into

smaller components thereby organizing the team's work into manageable sections.

As the stated definition implies, the WBS for the pallet rack project is given bellow;

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Work Breakdown Structure

A. Fixture Fabrication

A1. Design of welding fixture X and Y

A2. Preparation of material for welding fixture X

A3. Fabrication of welding fixture X for module A&B

A4. Preparation of material for welding Fixture Y

A5. Fabrication of welding fixture Y for module C, D, E, F

B. Module A&B Fabrication

B1. Arrangement of unit component for module A on the welding fixture X

B2. Welding of the joints of the arranged module

B3. Turning over of the welded module to complete the welding operation

B4. Arrangement of unit component for module B on the welding fixture X

B5. Welding of the joints of the arranged module

B6. Turning over of the welded module to complete the welding operation

C. Module C, D, E, F Fabrication

C1. Arrangement of unit component for module C and welding of joints

C2. Welding of the joints of the arranged module

C3.Turning over of the welded module to complete the welding operation

C4. Arrangement of unit component for module F and welding of joints

C5. Welding of the joints of the arranged module

C6.Turning over of the welded module to complete the welding operation

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C7. Arrangement of unit component for module D and welding of joints

C8. Welding of the joints of the arranged module

C9.Turning over of the welded module to complete the welding operation

C10.Arrangement of unit component for module E and welding of joints

C11.Welding of the joints of the arranged module

C12.Turning over of the welded module to complete the welding operation

D. Assemble of All Modules

D1. Transfer of the welded modules to the assembly site

D2. Support of both Modules A&B with the a standing medium to ensure proper vertical

alignment

D3 Placement, alignment of module C in its designated position and welding of contact

points with modules A&B

D4 Placement, alignment of module F in its designated position and welding of contact

points with modules A&B

D5.Placement, alignment of module D in its designated position and welding of contact

points with modules A&B

D6. Placement, alignment of module E in its designated position and welding of contact

points with modules A&B

E. Addition of Add-On Components

E1. Positioning, alignment and welding of add-on components

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F. Finishing Touches

F1. Grinding of rough edges

F2. Painting of the rack

Given below in fig ** is the Gantt chart for the fabrication process of the motorcycle pallet

rack.

Fig 3.3

Processes WBDS Modules

Type of Jig

1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

A1A2A3A4A5B1 A XB2 A XB3 A XB4 B XB5 B XB6 B XC1 C YC2 C YC3 C YC4 D YC5 D YC6 D YC7 E YC8 E YC9 E Y

C10 F YC11 F YC12 F YD1D2D3D4D5D6

E E1

F1F2

Document Number

Approval Date3/12/2015 4/12/2015 4/12/2015

DocumentDescription

GANG CHART FOR FABRICATIONPROCESS OF MOTORCYCLE PALLET RACK

Author Issued by Approved byAluko Adedeji Olusegun Adekoya Olusegun AdekoyaAuthor Date Issuance Date

BEL/16/005/FAB-GC/310/AA/000

GANTT CHART FOR FABRICATION Process OF MOTORCYCLE PALLET RACK

A

B

C

D

F

2 3 4 8 9 10 11Days

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4.0 PROJECT SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

In any operation, safety of the workers and other resources is of paramount interest and

consideration. Therefore, apart from the fact that safety in terms of allowance for excess loading

conditions has been built into the design, other safety precautions and ethics were used and

encouraged during the fabrication process.

Some of the safety considerations are;

1. Use of PPE such as

a. Safety Google

b. Helmet and Shield

c. Protective clothing

2. Proper ventilation of welding environment

3. Use of appropriate equipment by authorized personals