Search results

This paper proposes an integrated value stream mapping (VSM) for a complex assembly line to improve the leanness of a complex automotive component manufacturing organization.

This study depicts the application of VSM at the case organization, where top management is concerned about the challenges of higher cycle time and lower productivity. Gemba walks were conducted to establish the concept of “walk the flow, create the flow” along the assembly line. The multi-hierarchical cross-functional team developed the current value stream map to know the “as-is” state. Then, the team analysed the current VSM and proposed the future VSM for the “to-be” state.

The integrated VSM shows different processes and work cells, various wastes, non-value-added activities, cycle time, uptime and the material and information flows for both products of the assembly line on the same map. The integrated VSM reduced cycle time, non-value-added activities, work in process inventory and improved line efficiency and production per labour hour for both the products, simultaneously.

The limitation of the study is that the study focussed only on the application of VSM for one complex assembly only. Future research may be conducted using the developed integrated VSM approach in other complex production environments.

Managers can identify and reduce system waste by incorporating the concept of integrated VSM in a complex production or assembly environment where two or more products are being manufactured/assembled with low similarity.

The application of VSM for assembly lines is highly challenging because of merging flows, a large number of child parts in the lines and assembly of more than one product on the same line.

This paper uses dialectical inquiry to explore tensions that arise when adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system and their reconciliation mechanisms.

We conducted an in-depth qualitative case study over a 3-year period on an Italian division of an international electrotechnical organisation that produces electrical switches. This organisation successfully adopted Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system. The study is based on primary data such as observations and semi-structured interviews, along with secondary data.

We identify four empirically validated dialectic tensions arising across different Industry 4.0 adoption stages due to managers’ and workers’ contrasting interpretations of technologies. Consequently, we define the related reconciliation mechanisms that allow the effective adoption of various Industry 4.0 technologies to support a lean production system.

This is the first empirical investigation of tensions in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system. Furthermore, the paper presents four theoretical propositions and a conceptual model describing which tensions arise during the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system and the reconciliation mechanisms that prevent lean production system deterioration.

The management of materials consists of an important analysis for industries as there are factors in several areas that should be considered. For this, it should take into account logistical factors, quality and production, because one piece delivered in a large lead time or outside the technical quality standards, imply delays in the project or rework. In this context, the importance of creating a control method of input and output of tools in an aviation industry in the city of Toulouse, France, was seen due to the amount of many incomplete arrivals or inappropriate material for use. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This study used a philosophy of lean manufacturing tools and visual management (VM). A VM panel with information documents of all tools used in an assembly station of a model airplane was applied. With all data collected to carry out the project, the panel was created with the most relevant information of each tool and applied to an assembly station. That done, the production supervisors, mechanical and electrical supervisors were trained in the operation. Despite a change of management, it was realized that all supported the change due to the ease of understanding of the method and a good VM.

At the end of the work, materials management became more simplified, operators were more satisfied because of the non-occurrence of tools mistakes and the control time decreased from 120 to 15 minutes.

The application of this project has begun in an assembly station; however, it has been validated to be applied throughout the facility and its applications are being studied for other industries with different models.

This project developed a visual panel for support visual communication of the airplane assembly line. Its usage eliminates tools lost, inefficiencies and decreases lost time with tools selection.

This work proposes a way to simplify the management tools for assembly station plane using a VM panel based on the lean philosophy. The study was conducted at the Final Assembly Line of an aircraft model from a unit of an aircraft company.

Continuous process flow is a prerequisite of lean systems as it helps to reduce throughput times, improve quality, minimize operational costs, and shorten delivery times. The purpose of this paper is to empirically demonstrate the application of a methodology that combines a time‐based study, discrete‐event simulation and the trial and error method to enable a leaner process through more efficient line balancing and more effective flow for a park homes production process. This method is replicable across other contexts and industry settings.

The paper reviews the UK park homes production industry and, specifically, a major factory that builds these homes. It compares the factory method to traditional on‐site construction methods. An empirical study of production times was carried out to collect data in order to analyse the current workload distribution and the process flow performance of the park homes production process. Finally, seven discrete‐event simulation models were developed in order to test different scenarios and define the optimum line balance for every section of the production process.

By combining time study, discrete‐event simulation and trial and error methods, the workload distribution and process flow performance of the park homes production line were analysed and improved. A reduction of between 1.82 and 36.32 percent in balancing losses in some sections of the process was achieved.

This paper supports current knowledge on process flow improvement and line balancing by exploring and analysing these issues in a real‐life context. It can be used to guide production management practitioners in their selection of methods and demonstrates how they are exploited when seeking to improve process flow, efficiency and line balancing of production operations.

The study uses a real industrial application to demonstrate how the methodological combination and deployment of process flow improvement strategies, such as time study, simulation, and trial and error, can help organisations achieve process flow improvements and, as a consequence, a leaner production process.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new Lean metric named Overall Task Effectiveness (OTE), which can help analyst to define target task times and to identify the hidden losses that account for most of the recorded time of manual assembly activities.

An alternative classification structure of the losses is developed to divide them in two classes. In the first one the losses that are external to the project order are included, and in the other one those due to inefficiencies directly ascribable to the project order are considered. Starting from this classification structure of the losses, a novel Lean metric, inspired from the well-known Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), is developed to evaluate the effectiveness of a manual assembly task. A case study, which briefly explains the methodology and illustrates the capability of the corresponding metric, is provided.

This tool can be considered a suitable method to achieve simultaneously a dual purpose to establish time standards and to identify the hidden losses that account for most of the recorded time of manual assembly activities, estimating the impacts of potential corrective actions in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness.

OTE provides practitioners with an operative tool useful to highlight the points where the major inefficiencies take place in industries producing large complex items via manual assembly lines. Its practical application is demonstrated using a case study concerning a manufacturer of train wagons.

One distinctive, and contemporarily appealing, feature of OTE with respect to other analogous KPIs is that it provides a breakdown structure for process losses that simplifies the task of evaluating the current performances and, at the same time, individuates both the source of losses and the corresponding corrective actions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process optimization of a precast concrete component production line by using value stream mapping.

This paper is an empirical focused on of lean production theory and value stream mapping. The data in the case study were collected in real time on-site for each process during the production process of a prefabricated exterior wall.

The results of the current value stream map indicate that the main problems of the current production process are related to equipment, technology and organization. The equipment problems include simple demolding and cleaning tools and the lack of professional transfer channels. The technology problems include the lack of a marking mechanism and pipeline exit mechanism. There is a lack of standard operating procedures and incomplete process convergence. A comparison and analysis of the current value stream and the future value flow indicate that optimizations of the process flow, the production line layout, and the standard operating procedures have shortened the delivery cycle, reduced the number of workers, improved the operator’s operating level and balanced the production line.

The results of this study provide practitioners with a clear understanding of the optimization of the precast concrete component production and represent a method and basis for the process optimization of a factory production line; the approach is suitable for process optimization in other areas.

This research represents an innovative application of lean production theory and value stream mapping in a complex production line of precast concrete components and thereby fills the gap between the theory and practice of the optimization of a precast concrete component production line.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, a case study on applying lean principles in manufacturing operations to redesign and optimize an electronic device assembly process and its impact on performance and second, introducing cardboard prototyping as a Kaizen tool offering a novel approach to testing and simulating improvement scenarios.

The study employs value stream mapping, root cause analysis, and brainstorming tools to identify root causes of poor performance, followed by deploying a Kaizen event to redesign and optimize an electronic device assembly process. Using physical models, bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement were identified by the Kaizen approach at the workstations and assembly lines, enabling the testing of various scenarios and ideas. Changes in lead times, throughput, work in process inventory and assembly performance were analyzed and documented.

Pre- and post-improvement measures are provided to demonstrate the impact of the Kaizen event on the performance of the assembly cell. The study reveals that implementing lean tools and techniques reduced costs and increased throughput by reducing assembly cycle times, manufacturing lead time, space utilization, labor overtime and work-in-process inventory requirements.

This paper adds a new dimension to applying the Kaizen methodology in manufacturing processes by introducing cardboard prototyping, which offers a novel way of testing and simulating different scenarios for improvement. The paper describes the process implementation in detail, including the techniques and data utilized to improve the process.

With hybrid simulation techniques getting popular for systems improvement in multiple fields, this study aims to provide insight on the use of hybrid simulation to assess the effect of lean manufacturing (LM) techniques on manufacturing facilities and the transition of a mass production (MP) facility to incorporating LM techniques.

In this paper, the authors apply a hybrid simulation approach to improve an educational automotive assembly line and provide guidelines for implementing different LM techniques. Specifically, the authors describe the design, development, verification and validation of a hybrid discrete-event and agent-based simulation model of a LEGO® car assembly line to analyze, improve and assess the system’s performance. The simulation approach examines the base model (MP) and an alternative scenario (just-in-time [JIT] with Heijunka).

The hybrid simulation approach effectively models the facility. The alternative simulation scenario (implementing JIT and Heijunka LM techniques) improved all examined performance metrics. In more detail, the system’s lead time was reduced by 47.37%, the throughput increased by 5.99% and the work-in-progress for workstations decreased by up to 56.73%.

This novel hybrid simulation approach provides insight and can be potentially extrapolated to model other manufacturing facilities and evaluate transition scenarios from MP to LM.

This paper seeks to analyse the internal materials flow in lean manufacturing in an assembly line of the Bosch factory, located in Spain. The objective is to develop a handling system in a small space, capable of solving the problems of accumulated intermediate stocks of parts. An improvement is proposed adopting the milkrun handling system, while verifying the advances by means of lean metrics.

Based on this case study, the paper identifies data from value stream mapping and uses lean metrics, such as dock‐to‐dock time and lean rate. The case study develops a timetable and routing analysis for the milkrun to improve materials flow.

The proposed logistics allows an improvement of lean metrics, without modifying the layout and production planning. The routing flexibility of the milkrun reduced stocks, work‐in‐process and dock‐to‐dock time, while increasing lean rate.

The findings are limited due to the focused nature of the case study. Although the solution is designed for a particular plant, the methodology is fully exportable.

The paper shows a real case study illustrative for systems management. This research shows significant benefit associated with the implementation of lean programs.

It details how the application of lean manufacturing tools could necessitate a study of materials handling to improve lean metrics.

The purpose of this paper is to address the adoption of Lean-Kaizen approach to process improvement by the largest manufacturer of steering systems for passenger car and utility vehicle market in India. The company was facing severe liquidity crunch due to falling customer demand (25 percent lower than forecasted), rising cost of raw material and bank borrowing rates. In order to survive in such stiff scenario, the company systematically deployed Kaizen events and drastically improved their internal efficiency.

The study categorically illustrates the employment of value stream mapping (VSM) to target the areas for Kaizen improvement events. Current state VSM was developed to display the non-value-added activities in the existing assembly process. Future state VSM was proposed. After identifying root cause of wastes using 5 Why, three Kaizen events were proposed.

The current state VSM revealed cumulative inventory of 61 days in the entire process, long distances travelled by subassembly for final assembly (294 meters) and a high defect rate (879 parts per million). After modifying the assembly line using lean strategies, the company reduced its inventory levels by 66 percent, defect rate reduced by 32 percent and achieved other benefits such as reduced equipment, production staff and storage space. These reductions helped the company in saving the working capital and also contributed significantly to its profitability.

The study exhibits implementation of Lean-Kaizen approach for redesigning assembly line in an auto component manufacturing unit. The proposed lean strategies are considered to be highly valuable for manufacturer of steering for passenger cars and utility vehicles market.