IMPLEMENTATING LEAN MANUFACTURING CONCEPTS WITH EMPHASIS ON VALUE STREAM MAPPING IN JOB SHOP ENVIRONMENT ( MILLWORK/CABINETRY INDUSTRY)

PROJECT SUBJECT: IMPLEMENTATING LEAN MANUFACTURING CONCEPTS WITH EMPHASIS ON VALUE STREAM MAPPING IN JOB SHOP ENVIRONMENT
(MILLWORK/CABINETRY INDUSTRY)
ALL submissions are to be compliant to APA 6.0. Here is a link to “What’s new in 6.0:”
The APA style format must be used. See below
http://www.apastyle.org/manual/whats-new.aspx
and the best APA reference I have found online is the Purdue OWL at:
It must be written in Standard English, be plagiarism free, be error free and meet all standards of graduate level writing. Don’t use any copyright material without permission from the original writer / organization. Use 12 size font.
Margins:
All pages of the project, including all preliminary pages, the body of the text and pages of the appendices, must conform to the following margin requirements:
· Left margin, 1½ inches;
· Right margin, 1 inch;
· Bottom margin, 1¼ inches;
· Top margin, 1¼ inches;
Conduct industry specific research into this project. It must include
i) Introduction
ii) Abstract
iii) Review of Related Literature
iv) Methodology
v) Results and Discussion
vi) Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations
vii) Appendices
References or Works Cited: References or Works Cited are compiled according to the designated style manual (APA 6.0) and must include every source cited in the study, including material which has been adapted for use in tables and figures
It should be about 70 pages long and approximately 60000 to 70000 words including my work which is written below.
1) Introduction
A) Background:
During the last decadesthe U.S. wood products and furniture manufacturingindustries have been greatly affected by changing business environment , economic cycles, rising production and transportation costs, changing buyer habits, and increasing globalcompetition. In order to survive small businesses have to improve their productionperformance. A commonly applied philosophy to improve production performance is calledlean manufacturing. This method, derived from the Toyota Production System, eliminates waste, increase efficiency and effectiveness of processes while increasing the competitive strength and responsiveness of a company.
Lean management, allows companies to become more competitive and enhance the likelihoodof survival.However, findings show that Lean awareness and its use in Wood product and Millwork industry is very limited (Pirraglia et al., 2009). The group ofindustry segments with the highest Lean awareness and Lean implementation status are“engineered wood products”, “manufactured homes”, and “household furnituremanufacturing,” as opposed to industry sub-segments such as “sawmill” and “Commercial Millwork and Cabinetry,” which had lower Lean awareness and Lean implementation status (Pirraglia et al., 2009) because most small manufactures have minute-by-minute changes to respond to customer change orders, material shortages, work order reconciliation problems, which results in quality issues, delays in manufacturing and delivery of products. So it has become imperative for small manufacturers, find ways to reduce waste and improve efficiency.
There are also a lot of small companies that are struggling to change the culture intheir facilities and are having problems in adapting and sustaining the lean principles. Thefollowing list presents some statistics about the success rate in lean implementations:
• Based on a survey by Aberdeen Group, only 20% of the participating companies that started their lean journey is succeeding with their lean implementations and gettingthe benefits (Aberdeen, 2006).
• Based on a survey with 433 US manufacturers, 74% of companies admit that they arenot making good progress with lean implementations (Pay, 2008).
• Only 5% of senior executives rate their lean programs as extremely effective (Katz,
2008).
These statistics suggest that there are a lot of companies that consider lean as a tool to help them improve their processes. Understanding can these concepts reshape the small scale industry and can Value Stream Mapping be utilized in an industrial setting with a varied product line to maximize productivity and profit is possible.
Lean manufacturing can be defined as a business system and a generic process managementphilosophy with a systematic approach to eliminating waste through continuous improvement(LEI, n.d). Lean manufacturing and its keyprinciples were developed by Toyota and today the Toyota Production System (TPS) is moregenerally known as lean manufacturing.
The historical background of lean goes back to Frederick Taylor who introduced the
basic management tools of mass production. In the 1910s, Henry Fordimplemented many revolutionary manufacturing tools such as moving assembly lines andinterchangeable parts. During 1930’s Taiichi Ohno and other engineers in Toyotastudied the system that was developed by Henry Ford and and later developed the Toyota ProductionSystem (TPS). TPS is defined by Ohno as the absolute elimination of waste and as an effortto make product in a continuous flow with minimum interruption (Ohno, 1988).
Inrecent years, lean manufacturing has been widely adopted by manufacturing firms andextended to other sectors and industries. Especially, the success of Toyota to become thenumber one automaker in the world made lean manufacturing one of the most popular topicsin business and manufacturing literature.
According to Lean Enterprise Institute, there are five key principles of lean thinking
1. Specify value from the standpoint of the end customer by product family.
2. Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family, eliminating whenever possible those steps that do not create value.
3. Make the value-creating steps occur in tight sequence so the product will flow smoothly toward the customer.
4. As flow is introduced, let customers pull value from the next upstream activity.
5. As value is specified, value streams are identified, wasted steps are removed, and flow and pull are introduced, begin the process again and continue it until a state of perfection is reached in which perfect value is created with no waste.
Source: Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc
There are also lean tools and technical requirements to implement these leanprinciples. Some of the lean tools are summarized below
· 5S: This tool is used to reduce the clutter and inefficiency in the production or office environment through workplace organization. It has originated from five Japanese words. These words in English are Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain.
· SMED set up reduction: SMED (Single minute exchange of dies) is a method to eliminate delays in changeover times on the machines in order to reduce the lead time and improve the flow.
· Cellular manufacturing: It can be described as a manufacturing system where a family of parts is produced in one cell or on one line. The machines that are required to make a product are grouped together.
· Value Stream Mapping: A value stream mapping is a lean enterprise technique used to document, analyze and improve the flow of information or materials required to produce a product or service for a customer.
· Visual control: This tool is used to create a work environment where quick visual inspection of products and processes is possible without detailed audits and checks.
· Kaizen: It is a concept of continuous improvement in the system and is another important tool in lean implementations.
B) Statement of the problem:
The use of Lean manufacturing has been limited to large companies producing very large quantities of homogeneous products. However, with the increased competitiveness, regulations and tax burden in the last couple of decades, it has become an absolute necessity for small scale enterprise, like a custom architectural woodworking facility providing design, custom fabrication, finishing and installation services for commercial clients, financial institutions, health care facilities, hotels, universities and private residences with an annual revenue between 5 million to 10 million and less than 50 employees to implement Lean manufacturing principles especially Value Stream Mapping tomaximize productivity, profit, reduce waste and stay competitive.
A typical job shop is a high-mix and variable volume manufacturer of a large variety of components. Whereas, most large manufacturers are a low-mix high-volume manufacturer of a few assembled products. There are more fundamental differences between a Job shop and an assembly facility. Unlike high-volume manufacturing plants, Job shops face more volatility in demand and delivery dates, more variety of products, highly variable setup times and cycle times between different routings, a more diverse customer base, limited ability to train the workforce, limited finances to hire full-time staff devoted to continuous improvement, more complex production control and scheduling and limited influence on supplier delivery schedules. Job shops also must deal with the tendency for their product mix to “migrate” as their customer base changes or they hire new sales and marketing staff with their own contacts in different sectors of industry. So it has become imperative for small manufacturers, find ways to reduce waste and improve efficiency. Lean concepts are one of the ways to do it.
It is easy to take employees through the basic methodologies, motions, and tools of lean and put in place white boards, performance charts, daily gemba walks, formal teams, acrylic folders mounted on the white boards for A3, quality, data and activities-in-progress, the 5S implementation, and many other visible Lean concepts. However, underlying all of this is the invisible issues mentioned above and a host of other real actions that create the implementation of Lean quite difficult. In other words, Lean quickly slips back into the traditional job shop practices of big batch, push, kit, order launch, and expedite mode.
Most companies can benefit from the introduction of Lean as an organizational tool for productivity improvement. The researcher works in a small millwork & cabinetry plant as a Process Engineer. While working, he learned the manufacturingprocess and saw many opportunities for improvement in every aspect of the business. Thecompany appears to be representative of so many small millwork & cabinetry shops that desperately needchange, but have no idea where to begin. This research is intended to help guide the reseacher’s workplace or any small millwork & cabinetry company, through the difficult first stages of Lean implementation,particularly the creation of value stream mapping to identify areas most in need of change.
The purpose of this study is to
• Identify how the small business Owners/Managers can develop an efficient organizational culture that is capable of implementing “Continuous Improvement” for a long term.
• To study, if the small businesses like Custom Millwork shop can develop an efficient system of Lean Manufacturing especially value stream mapping and if implementing it is feasible in a small manufacturing plant with a varied product line.
• To study Lean, especially Value Stream Mapping and analyze if implementing it can benefit the small manufacturers in reducing waste, increase productivity, improve efficiency and effectiveness of the processes.
• To investigate the current state of manufacturing process and propose an ideal and future state map with detailed suggestions and action plan items tohelp a small manufacturing company achieve the Lean goals set forth by the future value stream maps.
C) Purpose of the study: The purpose oft his study is to explore the way in which technology is changing small scale manufacturing and to demonstrate how utilizing Lean Manufacturing and Value Stream Mapping would add value for a small scale manufacturing shop to increase productivity and reduce waste.
D) The theoretical basis for the study:
There is no single definition of lean thinking. The framework presented in the figure below incorporates some of the ideas found in the literature.
Source: www.jobshop.com
The figure above shows the general outline of how lean thinking isdefined for this work. For this study lean thinking is defined as an integrated, complete management approach that impacts the wholeorganization and that can be extended to suppliers and other businesspartners. When lean thinking is applied to value creating activities from theraw material to the finished product in a joint effort by more than just one organization, Womack (1994) suggested this be referred to as a “LeanEnterprise”.If the practices and principles are only applied within the borders of acompany, we refer to that organization as a lean organization. In order to belean, not all of the practices and principles must be applied, but most of themshould be in place, and most importantly, the lean philosophy must beaccepted and understood by the organization. The framework is shaped likea tree to emphasize that all the practices and principles must interlock andbe applied as an integrated system.
This system of interlocked practices and principles with emphasis on Value Stream Mapping is the theoretical basis of this thesis.
E) Limitations of the study: N/A
II. Review of literature
A. Research plan (projected)
i) Use of Lean Manufacturing in job shop environment
ii) Value Stream Mapping
B. Goals for literature review
i) Examine VSM for an in depth theoretical perspective
ii) Evaluate the production line at my work and research other production processes which have successfully applied VSM.
III. Methodology
A. Design of the investigation
i) Create an in-depth example of how to create value stream maps.
ii) Use common Lean metrics to identify waste.
iii) Generate future goals and recommendations for Lean implementation.
B. Population or sample
Manufacturing processes at Philadelphia Custom Millwork
C. Treatment
N/A
D. Data Analysis
Identify non-value added time that increases the lead time
IV. Results and discussion
In this section I will discuss the current state value stream, information flow, and material flow maps. I will create a current state map and identify bottlenecks. Then I will create several different future state maps based on the information (not for practical purpose).
V. Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendations
A. Significance of study (expected)
Based on the study of the current, ideal, and future value stream maps, I will createa written analysis documenting the findings and explaining what each map illustrates. Theanalysis will include a recommendation section with detailed suggestions and action plan items tohelp Small manufacturing company can achieve the Lean goals set forth by the future value stream maps.
B. Direct correlation back to introduction and purpose
This study is being conducted to understand if the Value Stream Mapping can be utilized in an industrial setting with a varied product line to maximize productivity and profit?
Aberdeen Group (2006, March). The Lean Benchmark Report: Closing the Reality Gap. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/20230515/The_Lean_Benchmark_Report_Closing_the_Reality_Gap
Aberdeen Group (2006, June). Enhancing Lean Practices: Lean Adoption in the Industrial Machinery and Components Industry. Retrieved from: http://www.controldesign.com/assets/wp_downloads/pdf/wp_071105_SAP_EnhancingLean.pdf
Aberdeen Group. (2008, February). Extending the Lean Enterprise. Retrieved from http://www.scdigest.com/assets/reps/Lean_White_Paper_Extending_the_Lean_Enterprise.pdf
Álvarez, R., Calvo, R., Peña, M. M. & Domingo, R. (2009). Redesigning an assembly line through lean manufacturing tools. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 43(9-10), 949-958. doi: 10.1007/s00170-008-1772-2
Badurdeen, A. (2007), Lean manufacturing basics. Retrieved from http://www.leanmanufacturingconcepts.com
Chen, J. , Li, Y. , & Shady, B. (2010). From value stream mapping toward a lean/sigma continuous improvement process: An industrial case study. International Journal of Production Research, 48(4), 1069-1086. doi 10.1080/00207540802484911
Czabke, J. , Hansen, E. , & Doolen, T. (2008). A multisite field study of lean thinking in us and german secondary wood products manufacturers. Forest Products Journal, 58(9), 77-85. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214630885?accountid=10347
Haefner, B. , Kraemer, A. , Stauss, T. , & Lanza, G. (2014). Quality value stream mapping. Procedia CIRP, 17, 254-259. doi:10.1016/j.procir.2014.01.093
Hobbs, D. (2011). Applied Lean Business Transformation. Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA: J. Ross Publishing Inc.. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Katz, J. (2008, June 9), Lean results for lean programs: By the numbers. Industry Week. Retrieved from http://www.industryweek.com/companies-amp-executives/lean-results-lean-programs-numbers
Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), Inc. (n.d.). Principles of Lean. Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/Principles.cfm
Ohno, T. (1988), Toyota Production System: Beyond Large Scale Production. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press.
Patel, N. , & Chauhan, P. (2014). A review: Value stream mapping implementation in manufacturing industry. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 4(11), 75-79.
Pay, R. (2008, March 1), Everybody’s jumping on the lean bandwagon, but many are being taken for a ride. Industry Week. Retrieved from http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=15881
Pirraglia, A., Saloni, D., & Van Dyk, H. (2009). Status of lean manufacturing implementation on secondary wood industries including residential, cabinet, millwork, and panel markets. BioResources, 4(4), 1341-1358.
Weiss, S. I. (2013). Product and Systems Development : A Value Approach. Somerset, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Womack, J., & Jones, D. (1994). From lean production to the lean enterprise. Harvard Business Review, 72(2), 93-103
Womack, J.P. & Jones, D.T. (2006). Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Aberdeen Group is the technology- driven research destination of choice for the global business executive. The Aberdeen Group has 400,000 research members in over 36 countries around the world that both participate in and direct the most comprehensive technology-driven value chain research in the market. Through its continued fact-based research, benchmarking, and actionable analysis, Aberdeen Group offers global business and technology executives a unique mix of actionable research, KPIs, tools, and services. The document above is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. The findings of this article are discussed in the introduction and problem statement in this thesis project and may be used in later chapters.
This paper is focused on the analysis and use of the VSM to get improvements by means of kanban and milkrun, implemented in an efficient way. The findings from this paper will be used in later chapter of this project.
Badurdeen, A is a Process Engineer. He fell in love with Lean Manufacturing while writing a thesis on Lean Manufacturing. This research refers to his book for the history and concept of Lean Manufacturing.
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. The researcher will refer to this case study in methodology part of this thesis project.
This study documents field studies of four cases of lean implementations in both U.S. and German secondary wood products companies. Two companies considered “lean leaders” from each country were studied to identify the challenges of implementation as well as the subsequent successes. An embedded, multiple-case Study design method was used. Findings from the study suggest that lean thinking can help secondary wood products manufacturers to be more profitable. The findings from this study are used to support problem statement and will be used in a later chapter of this thesis project.
in this article an innovative approach called Quality Value Stream Mapping (QVSM) is presented. Based on the design elements of VSM, it provides a suitable tool for the visualization, analysis and design of quality assurance measures within process chains in manufacturing. The implementation of the developed approach is exemplarily shown for a complex value chain of a manufacturer in the electronic industry. The researcher will refer to this case study in methodology part of this thesis project.
This article is used in the research to support the problem statement of the thesis project.
The Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) is a nonprofit research, education, and publishing institute with the goal of making things better through lean thinking and practice throughout the world. The researcher used the definition of Lean concepts as defined by LEI in this thesis project.
Taiich
Ohno was a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which became Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the seven wastes (or muda in Japanese) as part of this system.
The practical expression of Toyota’s people and customer-oriented philosophy is known as the Toyota Production System (TPS). This is not a rigid company-imposed procedure but a set of principles that have been proven in day-to-day practice over many years. Many of these ideas have been adopted and imitated all over the world.
TPS has three desired outcomes:
To provide the customer with the highest quality vehicles, at lowest possible cost, in a timely manner with the shortest possible lead times.
To provide members with work satisfaction, job security and fair treatment.
It gives the company flexibility to respond to the market, achieve profit through cost reduction activities and long-term prosperity.
TPS strives for the absolute elimination of waste, overburden and unevenness in all areas to allow members to work smoothly and efficiently. The foundations of TPS are built on standardisation to ensure a safe method of operation and a consistent approach to quality. Toyota members seek to continually improve their standard processes and procedures in order to ensure maximum quality, improve efficiency and eliminate waste. This is known as kaizen and is applied to every sphere of the company’s activities.
Management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., is the founder and senior advisor to the Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., a nonprofit training, publishing, conference, and management research company