Derivation and application of the stream of variation model to the manufacture of ceramic floor tiles

ABSTRACT

One of the main problems in the manufacture of floor tiles is the dimensional variability of the ceramic product, which leads to the product having to be classified into different dimensional qualities with an increase in cost. In this article we propose a novel way of modelling the dimensional variability of ceramic floor tiles by the adaptation of the Stream of Variation model. The proposed methodology and its potential applicability contribute to the integration of process knowledge in the ceramic tile industry and allow tile manufacturers have a new methodology for process improvement, variation reduction and dimensional control.

KEYWORDS:

• ceramic tiles
• dimensional variability
• multi-stage manufacturing systems
• stream-of-variation

About the author

José V. Abellán-Nebot is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering & Design at Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (Spain). He received his M.S. in Industrial Engineering and his Ph.D. in Technological Innovation Projects in Product and Process Engineering from the Universitat Jaume I in 2003 and 2011, respectively. He was a Visiting Scholar at Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico, 2005), at University of Michigan (USA, 2007), at University of Arizona (USA, 2009 and 2012) and at Georgia Institute of Technology (USA, 2014). His research interests focus on analysis of product quality due to the stream of variation in manufacturing systems and intelligent machining systems.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Mr. Vicent Arnau and the floor tile manufacturing company Stylnul s.a. for their support and assistance with this project.

Funding

This study was funded by the Generalitat Valenciana under the Research and Development Programme for Emerging Research Groups 2015, project GV/2015/091.