Analysis of Fault Conditions in the Production of Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

Abstract

Industries demand that their products are high quality with the least number of defects due to the rapid improvement in manufacturing technology. Quality is a critical criterion for evaluation in manufacturing firms. The production of a final product that can meet customer requirements is essential in a sustainable supply chain system to reduce costs, increase productivity and provide high-quality products. The aim of the study is to identify the root cause of defects emerging in the production process of prestressed railway concrete sleepers. Ishikawa diagram and Pareto analysis were used to identify the root cause. The results showed that the cause of the faulty concrete sleeper is the breaking of the bolts, which are supplied by the external provider. Since the supplier refused to accept the complaint, chemical analysis and measuring of hardness and microhardness of bolts were realized. It showed that the hardness of the bolts does not achieve the values, which should be achieved after the declared heat-treatment. As a corrective action, the input control of bolts hardness was proposed as well as establishing the team cooperating with the supplier to improve the heat treatment process, which will be the objective of further study.