Lean implementation and its benefits to production industry

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the lean implementation process and its quantified benefits for the production industry with the help of value stream mapping (VSM). Both current and future state maps of the organization's shop floor scenarios are discussed using VSM techniques in order to highlight improvement areas and to bridge the gap between the existing state and the proposed state of shop floor of the selected industry.Design/methodology/approachVSM process symbols are used to discuss lean implementation process in the production industry. The existing status of the selected manufacturing industry is prepared with the help of VSM symbols and improvement areas are identified. Some modifications in current state map are suggested and with these modifications a future state map is prepared.FindingsAfter comparison of the current and future state of shop floor of the selected industry it is found that reduction in lead time was 83.14 percent, reduction in processing time was 12.62 percent, reduction in work‐in‐process inventory was 89.47 percent, and reduction in manpower requirement was 30 percent. The rise in productivity per operator was 42.86 percent.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are limited due to the focused nature of the case study and further cost‐benefit analysis can be carried out.Practical implicationsThis paper will be very useful for the researchers and practitioners for understanding lean implementations and its derived benefits.Originality/valueThe paper is a real case study showing lean implementation and its benefits for the production industry.

Measuring lean implementation for maintenance service companies

“…Bhasin (2011) and Singh et al (2010) reported about lean implementation for production companies however the cost benefit or financial aspects are still missing. Lu et al(2011) remarked the difficulty to compare future value chain structures on effectiveness indicating it would be of interest to have methods and tools to test these future value chain structures.…”

Lean Philosophy for Global Competitiveness in Ethiopia Chemical Industries: Review

“…Kaizen is a Japanese word that essentially means "change for the better" or "good change" [3,5,7,8,13]. The goal is to provide the customer with a defect free product or service when it is needed and in the quantity it is needed.…”

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“…So, the use of this approach was widely accepted by the firms who were already employed the TPS (Liker, 2004). Lean Principles were developed for imparting the flexibility in the mass production by eliminating the wastages (Sohal, 1996;Guliyani, 2001;Shah & Ward, 2003;Singh et al, 2010). The identification of wastages (refers to non-value added activities) and eliminating them are the tough tasks for all the organizations (Karlsson & Ahlstrom, 1996;Sanchez & Perez, 2001;Hines et al, 2004;Moayad & Shell, 2009).…”