Abstract—Demand for data storage devices such as hard disk is rapidly increasing as almost every aspect of modern life has been digitized. Presently, one of the main challenges for storage manufacturers is to reduce operational cost while increasing the customer satisfaction so that the company can survive in the fierce competition. Recognizing the necessity of continuous functional improvement, this paper has adopted a Value Engineering (VE)-based methodology for product cost reduction in the manufacturing process of hard disk components. Value Engineering has been recognized as a powerful technique to achieve value enhancement and cost reduction. Toward this, the 7-phase work plans were developed within the framework of the VE methodology. This proposed approach has been implemented and validated in a case study, which focused on head stack assembly (has) process to reduce cost and improve quality. Application results showed that the indirect materials product cost significantly decreased by 30% while the targets of main functionalities have been achieved.
Index Terms—Value engineering, head stack assembly, cost reduction.
P. Pimpanont is with the Department of Industrial Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (e-mail: aom_pimpanont@hotmail.com).
P. Chutima is with the Industrial Engineering Department, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He is also with the Regional Centre of Manufacturing System Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (e-mail: cparames@chula.ac.th).
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Cite: P. Pimpanont and P. Chutima, "Application of Value Engineering in Head Stack Assembly Process: A Case Study," International Journal of Materials, Mechanics and Manufacturing vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 46-51, 2016.
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