Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH
Volume 48, Issue 4, Pages 1069-1086Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/00207540802484911
Keywords
value-stream mapping; lean manufacturing; Taguchi experiment design; rabbit chasing; kaizen; quality improvement
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Though lean manufacturing has been widely recognised for its effectiveness in continuously improving productivity, product quality, and on-time delivery to customers, the cost for hiring a full-time lean manufacturing engineer has kept many small businesses from implementing lean in their facilities. This paper presents a case study of lean implementation at a small manufacturer in the United States. Starting with collecting process information, a current value-stream map was created that reflected the current operation status. A future value stream map was then proposed to serve as a guide for future lean activities. Next, hurdles that kept the company from moving towards future state were identified. The '5 whys' method was employed to reveal the root cause for each hurdle, followed by kaizen events proposed as solutions. In this case study, two kaizen events were proposed. For the first kaizen event, Taguchi experiment design was used to find the optimal machining parameters that reduced variation in a plasma cutting process. It consequently eliminated rework time and improved productivity. In the second kaizen event, implementation of rabbit chasing increased the system flexibility and consequently reduced inventory levels between work stations.
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