INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND - Volume 6, Issue 6, October 2017

Pages: 50-58
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IMPLEMENTATION OF LEAN TOOL TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY IN AN AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENT ASSEMBLY LINE

Author: Manisha.S* Mohana Krishna.M.N** Amutha.B*** Padmanabhan Panchu.K****

Category: Engineering, Science and Mathematics

Abstract:

In the present competitive scenario of manufacturing, companies are working towards continuous improvement to sustain the global market. This paper manifests an economical way of identifying the opportunities of improvement using a lean tool Value Stream Mapping (VSM). Bottleneck stations which are the main hindrance to the line productivity are identified and balanced using cycle time analysis and VSM. This helps the company to cope up with the changing demand patterns.VSM is an effective lean manufacturing tool which aids in identification and classification of Value-Added (VA), Non-Value Added (NVA) and Essential Non-Value Added (ENVA) activities. Using VSM symbols the current state was sketched and the opportunities for the improvement were identified in a cost effective manner. Future state was depicted with suggestions from various brainstorming sessions. Continuous improvement techniques were used to implement the suggestions stated in the future state. The suggestions were put to action in the future state which resulted in reduction of total manufacturing lead time by 101 seconds and increased production by 12.9%. On implementing the suggested changes a savings of 11.76% from the total expenditure (to operate one shift) was achieved.This paper provides the true picture of application of VSM to identify improvements which are economically feasible and verified by cost benefit analysis.

Keywords: Manufacturing Lead Time; Value Stream Mapping; Automotive Component Manufacturing; Cost Benefit Analysis; Productivity Improvement