APPLICATION OF TAGUCHI TECHNIQUE TO OPTIMIZE THE PERFORMANCE OF A VIBRATORY BOWL FEEDER

Abstract

Rapid industrialisation and technological advancements in assembly processes and the demand for feeding the components in assembly lines has grown significantly. It, therefore, becomes essential to optimize the assembly process. Automated or mechanized assembly can be achieved by the use of feeders. Taguchi technique is used to optimize the process parameters such as part population, part size and vibration frequency. The analysis of variance and signal-to-noise ratio with the Taguchi method were also used to understand the influence of the input parameters on feed rate. The mathematical model so developed would prove to be useful to establish quantitative relationship between the response parameter and the process parameters.