Application of a Lean Cellular Design Decomposition to Automotive Component Manufacturing System Design

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management

2008

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207

115

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the adaptation of lean production and assess its current state of practice in selected plants in electronics, telecommunication, wireless, computer, food/beverage, garment, pharmaceutical, chemical, petroleum, printing, A/C and heating, and a few others in China.Design/methodology/approachAn assessment tool is used to evaluate actual manufacturing practice related to key areas of inventory; team approach; processes; maintenance; layout/handling; suppliers; setups; quality; and scheduling and control. Manufacturing executives at manufacturing plants answered 40 questions in the assessment. Each response in the assessment is scored and a total score for each plant is recorded by adding average scores for all areas.FindingsApplication of lean production in China started in the late 1970s in the automotive industry, much earlier than by American and European manufacturers. The results of assessments show that the petroleum industry is in lead among all industries, followed by computer, telecommunication/wireless, and electronics industries. The findings from lean production system design‐related questions show low scores in layout design, volume/mix flexibility, setup, visual factory, and point‐of‐use delivery. However, plants earned high scores in materials flow, scheduling/control, on‐time delivery of finished goods, and overall defect rate. The findings have some similarity with recent studies about Chinese manufacturing firms' performance and competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsResearch findings are from some selected manufacturing plants in China and they should not be interpreted as an indicator of that particular sector in China.Originality/valueThis study investigates actual lean manufacturing practice and performance in Chinese plants.

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lean manufacturing performance in China: assessment of 65 manufacturing plants

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management

2008

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207

115

“…Many companies either transformed or created new cellular production system. For some actual and practical applications see Ellegood et al (2000), Duda et al (1999), Taj et al (1998), Cochran et al (1998). There are also examples of how a complete factory could be designed in lean principles.…”

Section: Lean Production Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of constrained management and lean manufacturing in developing best practices for productivity improvement in an auto‐assembly plant

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management

Berro

2006

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To increase productivity in an automotive assembly plant to satisfy customer demand and also develop best practices for productivity improvement for robotic welding operation lines. Design/methodology/approach -Principles of lean manufacturing and constrained management have been applied to increase the plant's output in order. Constrained management was used to identify bottlenecks in the plant that limits the throughput and lean manufacturing helped to identify waste (muda) in the constrained production areas. Analytical tools such as matrices are used for mapping sequence of robotics movements to identify interference and desired path for welding line. Findings -Results of applying constrained management and lean manufacturing in tandem have revealed the plant's overall bottlenecks and means of increasing the throughput.Research limitations/implications -The research findings are from an automotive assembly plant in a mass production industry, and the results may not be applicable to other types of industry. Practical implications -A very useful best practice for the productivity improvement that is easy to use by plants' management to help them identify and manage bottlenecks, and to eliminate waste from the production system. Originality/value -This paper offers practical and easy-to-use productivity improvement tools based on lean and constrained management principles to help manufacturing managers to make their operations more productive.

“…Many companies either transformed or created new cellular production system. For some actual and practical applications see Ellegood et al (2000), Duda et al (1999), Taj et al (1998) and Cochran et al (1998). There are also examples of how a complete factory could be designed in lean principles.…”

Section: Applying Lean Assessment Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying lean assessment tools in Chinese hi‐tech industries

2005

Management Decision

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To evaluate the current state of manufacturing in some selected plants in electronics, telecommunication/wireless, and computer industries in the Republic of China. Design/methodology/approach -A spreadsheet-based assessment tool is used to evaluate nine key areas of manufacturing. Participants are asked to answer questions for each area, namely inventory; team approach; processes; maintenance; layout/handling; suppliers; setups; quality; and scheduling/control. A score is given for each response in the assessment. Scores are then totaled for each of the nine areas. The results are then displayed in the score worksheet and finally a lean profile chart is created to display the current status of the plant and the gap from their specific lean targets. Findings -Results of the lean assessment tool have revealed a somewhat significant gap from the lean manufacturing target, but have also identified opportunities for improvement.Research limitations/implications -The research findings are from some selected manufacturing plants in Chinese hi-tech industries and they should not be interpreted as an indicator of that particular sector in China. Practical implications -A very useful lean assessment tool that is easy to use by plants' management to help them identify their current state of manufacturing and the gaps from ideal lean targets. Originality/value -This paper offers a practical and easy to use assessment tool to help manufacturing managers to make their manufacturing operations more productive.