Project Summary

Alstom, a company specializing in designing and manufacturing Automated People Movers, operates one of its largest manufacturing facilities in Pittsburgh, PA. This site is currently facing significant warehousing challenges due to the closure of an offsite warehouse, resulting in a large influx of bulk inventory with no available storage space.

As a temporary solution to the increased inventory, Alstom engineers rented storage containers to accommodate the excess parts. Over time, 60 storage containers have accumulated in the parking lot, leading to high rental costs, material damage, and inefficient pick times, contributing to approximately $15K in monthly losses.

To address this issue, Alstom planned to construct a new semi-permanent warehouse to eliminate the need for storage containers, protect inventory from damage, and improve pick efficiency. The senior design team was tasked with designing the facility layout for the new warehouse and providing Alstom with an implementation plan.

The team began by conducting in-person site visits to understand the existing warehouse material handling and picking processes. Through time studies, measurements, and interviews, the team quantified the inefficiencies and calculated the current cost-per-part. The team also mapped the existing storage container layout to visualize part flow and distance.

Using the collected data, the team developed three alternative layouts by splitting them into sub-teams, each employing different methodologies: organizing by production line, part size, and part weight. Each layout was treated as an optimization problem, aiming to minimize part movement while adhering to constraints and standards. Iterative enhancements were made until an optimal balance between efficiency and compliance was achieved.

After completing the enhanced layouts, the team conducted a trade study (analysis of alternatives) to determine the most viable option. The five key criteria, as decided by the client, were accessibility, travel cost, extra space, sustainability, and first-in-first-out (FIFO) capabilities. The analysis revealed that the layout organized by process step was the most viable solution, a decision confirmed with the client.

After identifying the most viable layout, the team developed a comprehensive implementation plan, detailing the necessary steps and assigning task responsibilities. The team collaborated closely with the client to determine the required actions and designated accountable parties for each task. Utilizing the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), the team estimated task durations, identified the critical path, and visualized the project timeline. This information was then used to create a dynamic Gantt chart, providing Alstom engineers with a clear and actionable roadmap for implementing the new warehouse layout. 

The team then calculated the improvements between the existing state and the proposed layout. The new layout resulted in a 38% reduction in travel distance and a 71% reduction in non-value-adding time, contributing to annual savings of approximately $190K. Considering the initial investment of $513K, the fiveyear return on investment for the project is 85%.

In addition to the significant cost savings, the project yielded several other benefits for Alstom. The new warehouse layout allowed Alstom to reclaim over 100 parking spaces, significantly increasing parking lot usage. The improved organization and storage conditions led to safer operating environments and extended the lifespan of machinery. Enhanced climate control within the new warehouse ensured better preservation of materials, while improved security measures safeguarded inventory. Additionally, the new layout contributed to a more aesthetically pleasing and professional appearance of the facility.

In conclusion, the implementation of the new warehouse layout at Alstom's Pittsburgh facility is set to resolve significant warehousing challenges, reduce costs, and enhance operational efficiency. The project not only addresses immediate storage issues but also provides long-term benefits such as increased parking space, improved safety, and better material preservation. With the new warehouse and layout scheduled for completion by the spring of 2025, Alstom is wellpositioned to meet its production goals and drive profitability. 

Project Summary

This project involves the design and optimization of a facility layout for preprocessing gun propulsion charges for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). The primary objective is to create a safe, efficient, and cost-effective design for the preprocessing steps—synthesis, material preparation, and mixing—using additive manufacturing to scale up production. Building on previous work, we aim to meet a daily demand of 20,000 pounds while adhering to stringent safety standards.

The project employs the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC framework to guide the design process. In the Define phase, we established clear project goals and safety requirements. The Measure phase involved collecting data on current operations and equipment specifications. We determined the necessary equipment and spatial requirements during the Analyze phase to meet production goals. The Improve phase focused on refining the facility layout to optimize space utilization and cost efficiency. Finally, the Control phase ensures the sustainability of the design through a dynamic Excel tool for future adjustments.

Key challenges included adhering to safety standards set by the Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board (DDESB) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and managing the conceptual nature of scaling lab-scale production to a pilot scale. Our proposed solution features a process layout that allows each stage to operate independently, ensuring safety and operational efficiency. The final deliverables include detailed AutoCAD drawings and a dynamic Excel file to assist DEVCOM in making informed decisions as production needs evolve. Our provided recommendations will support DEVCOM in advancing its mission and enhancing operational readiness.

Project Summary

Over the next 30 years, millions of solar panels are expected to reach their end of life. During this time, many solar panel manufacturers will be looking for ways to expand their recycling operations. For this semester, the Student Team at Pitt worked with solar panel manufacturing company First Solar to redesign the first part of a two-step process needed to recycle each solar panel as it reaches its end of life. The constraints given to the team included a budget of $5 million and a target throughput for the facility of 30 metric tons of recycled material every day. To execute this, the students focused on three primary tasks.  

First, the team researched facilities currently on the market that could accommodate such a production. After choosing three viable facilities, the students researched and selected machinery to accomplish the front-end material breakdown and designed facility layouts incorporating the machinery. With each of these proposed layouts, the students investigated material handling methods that could safely and effectively move the broken-down material throughout the facility. After completing machine and material handling, CAD models were built to represent the facility and the material flow through each. With each facility laid out, the students were able to analyze each. The primary components measured were the cost and throughput capacity. A full cost breakdown was calculated for each facility consisting of the building itself, machinery, material handling, and staffing costs. A final throughput capacity was also calculated for each facility.  

After the analysis was complete, facility #3 did the best job of accommodating the expected growth in demand for solar panel recycling. This facility features an extra storage component that can be used to house the recycled material or panels waiting to be broken down. This ensures the facility does not need to stop operations because there is nowhere to store the processed material. Facility #2 was the most cost-effective option however and still meets the target output goal of 30 metric tons of material per day. Facility #1 is the most highly automated of the options, which is a benefit in terms of safety, fewer staff are required to be in the production area. All three facilities came under budget and met the target output, thus creating a sound launching point for First Solar to expand its operation in the coming years.   

Project Summary

The central telemetry unit at UPMC Shadyside UPMC Shadyside has a Central Telemetry unit, or CTU, responsible for monitoring the heart rhythms of patients and making emergency phone calls to nurses. When a patient at Shadyside is in need of monitoring due to heart concerns, the nurse makes a call to the CTU. A CTU technician, in a process known as running, goes to their room and attaches a Telepak, a small device for detecting heart rhythms, to the patient. They return to remove the Telepak when the nurse deems the patient in good enough condition to stop monitoring. The CTU then has the ability to look at the rhythms and other crucial cardiac information tracked by that Telepak on computer monitors.  

The CTU in its current state has 8 pods with several monitors, and each pod has 1 technician operating it at any given time. There are 18 hospital units with specific functions, and all the heart monitors in each unit are assigned to a singular pod for more streamlined communication with the nurse in that unit. When an alarm sounds on the computer monitors, the CTU technicians call the nurse of that unit to inform them of a potential emergency. The CTU technicians rotate every four hours which of them is in charge of running, and another technician observes their pod when they leave.  

However, the CTU unit does not meet the productivity standards of other UPMC locations. Each pod tends to be responsible for a max of 20 patient Telepaks at any given time, while other UPMC locations are capable of averaging 40 and having up to 56 at busy times in each pod. As a result, labor utilization is very low and costs are high. In addition, technicians at UPMC Shadyside are not trained to read heart rhythms. Nurses have complained to CTU managers about this lack of expertise, saying they are often overwhelmed during their busy shifts and are unable to determine which patients are of the highest priority. Furthermore, the Shadyside CTU uses a much larger space than necessary, and hopes to relocate so that the current room can be used by other crucial hospital departments with need for more space.  

The goal of this analysis was simple: increase labor utilization and decrease costs by reallocating hospital units to less pods, implement better worker training and communication, and determine space requirements for the CTU. This was done by conducting technician interviews, recording observations of the CTU at Shadyside and other UPMC locations, and analyzing data taken by both CTU workers and the student team.  

In the end, an integer programming analysis was done with the objective to minimize the number of pods in the CTU. This was done with the constraints that number of Telepaks should exceed 40 on average but not exceed 56 on a 98th percentile day for Telepak activity. There were also limits placed on the average number of calls a day at each pod, three pods were separated due to a higher proportion of critical calls, and each hospital unit must have all Telepaks in one pod. Historical data was used from the call log and Telepak inventory log to estimate these numbers. It was found that only 4 pods were needed in the CTU, with each of them averaging 40 Telepaks and 50 daily calls. The allocation of hospital units to pods was also determined. With the new pod layout 4 and measurements of CTU equipment and inventory requirements, it was found that only 384 square feet of space(in a 24x16 layout) were required for the CTU, as opposed to the current area of 3125 square feet. This gave UPMC Shadyside direction for how to relocated their CTU.  

It was found that this increased workload may lead to excessive utilization for the workers. So, it was determined through this analysis that there would be a fifth worker in the CTU, a designated runner who is responsible for receiving all calls related to admissions, transfers and discharges, putting Telepaks on patients, and communicating all patient information to the technicians. The new runner responsibilities were outlined in a manual, and colored cards were created for the runner to clearly provide crucial information to the technician for logging. It was found that average call time per day in this new layout increases to 10 minutes an hour per technician and 18 for the runner, from the 4 minute average previously. All these labor changes also reduced CTU costs from $1.8 million a year to $1.1 million, and the required workforce decreased from about 36 to 23 full-time employees.  

Finally, a plan was put in place to ensure that all CTU workers could receive arrhythmia and runner training while on the job. A 36 day work schedule was prepared that allows them to do this while also practicing with an increased workload. This was part of a larger 56-day plan that involves moving to the new CTU and taking observations on the effectiveness of the updated layout.