Lean Manufacturing and a systematic approach towards Lean Material Handling

AMAN TRIVEDIB.TECH (IV)

MECHANCAL ENGG

What is Lean?Analogy between Lean and the nature

LEAN NATURE

Lean Manufacturing and the its Japanese connection:

Three phases of manufacturing in context of automotive industry over the history:1. Primitive phase ( Late

19th century)Focus: Customized

production2. Henry Ford : ( first half

of the 20th century) Focus: Batch production3. Toyota : (1950s

onwards)Focus: “ The Customer”

5S Methodology

Lean Material Handling, a ‘best practice’Case Study : Apex Tube Company (U.S.A)

About Apex tube:

Apex plans to improve its productivity by switching to a total lean production**

** Lean production, not lean material handling, yet!

What measures Apex previously took and what was the outcome?

MEASURES:• Switched to a pull based production control system over

the existing MRP production control• Transition from product families to cellular operationsOUTCOME:• 75% space cut and 35% production lead time cut• Doubled the productivity• But after initial success, the novelty of the system wore

off• Erratic and unpredictable shortfalls (20%) in production

Why did it switch to lean material handling?

Findings of the pareto analysis:

Pareto analysis reveals the root causes:•Unreliable supply•Inflated inventory•Though work-in-process inventory had fallen, still large amounts existed elsewhere•Large buffers•Scattered Inventory *As a biological analogy, the individual cells were healthy but the circulatory system was jammed

Steps to implement Lean material handling system

1.Develop PFEP (Plan for every part)2.Create a purchased parts market3.Initiate precise delivery routes4.Integrate this system with information system

to create pull signals

1. PFEP

Maintaining the integrity of the PFEP all through the three verticals

2. Purchased parts market

where shipment size is based on the delivery frequency translated into a number of days of production inventory

For minimum inventory level,

We need to determine the expedite time, which is the time required to escalate the supplying phenomenon in case of urgency . It includes time to communicate and set up transport, loading time, transit time, time from dock to operations etc. Example:

We have assumed the expedite time to be 5.5 hours,Therefore minimum inventory = (daily usage in containers per hour X expedite time)

3. DeliveryDELIVERY AISLES DELIVERY ROUTE AND

CONVEYANCE METHOD:

POU racks POU rack capacity

4. Signaling System

Coupled/Decoupled routes: When loading and delivery of

materials is performed by single associate, then it’s a coupled route, while if we have two different associates for the tasks, it’s a decoupled route.

KANBAN Pull signals-

Calculation for Kanban Apex standard delivery work times:

How to sustain and maintain the newly developed system

Production streamlining after implementation of the lean material handling system

Part management from receiving dock to POUDeveloping purchased parts marketPrecise delivery systemPrecise signaling system

Future prospects of Lean

• Lean Enterprise Institute: Pioneer institute that records and monitors

the initiatives taken by various firms in promoting and advancing the concept of Lean Manufacturing

• Toyota Manufacturing Systems: Another leading organization dedicated to

improve and improvise lean manufacturing.

References:

• www.wikipedia.org• www.lean.org• www.mhlnews.com

Bibliography:

Making materials flow: a lean material-handling guide for operations, production control and engineering professionals By Rick Harris, Chris Harris, and Earl Wilson Foreword by Jim Womack, ban Jones, John Shook, and Jose Ferro

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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