Productivity enhancement by reducing adjustment time and setup change

The paper presents a study of set-up time reduction in a small factory involved in the machining of precision components in small batches with large variety for the automobile industry. The factory has made some set-up reductions mainly using work study related methods and in one manufacturing cell by the use of the Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) methodology. Until recently the set-up times were not measured and worse still were considered as productive hours. As a consequence, there was a lack of awareness and motivation amongst operational personnel to reduce set-up times and knowledge of SMED was limited to a small group of individuals. This, along with the lack of investment in mechanisms to aid set-up time reductions and prevent errors, has restricted the use of this type of methods and technology. However, there is evidence that the demands made by the factory’s major customer will lead to increased efforts to put into place these types of changes

Reduction of work in process and manufacturing lead time using value stream mapping in the medical industry

The company must reduce inventories, increase efficiency, and lower manufacturing lead times to maintain consumer satisfaction in the face of increased product competition. Anything that does not add any value to the product and reduces the effectiveness ofthe process is referred to as "waste." The company will suffer several consequences as a result of waste, including an increase in production costs as a result of the requirement for additional space and handling, the accumulation of work-in-progress piles between workstations as a result of delays, and an increase in the number of redundant operations as a result of overprocessing. This project is a case study of a medical company dealing with long manufacturing lead times and a large amount of work in progress (WIP). The goal of the project is to reduce manufacturing lead time and the number of items in progress, thereby reducing waste on the production floor (WlP). Value Stream Mapping (VSM) will be used to identify waste by distinguishing value-added activities from non-value-added activities in the manufacturing process. The analysis is carried out using the lean tool value stream mapping to improve the medical production line. The current VSM is developed, and wastes are found by examining the existing production line. VSM will most likely execute manufacturing in the future by removing identified wastes. Lead time is reduced by removing waste, and WIP may be reduced as well. As a result, the consumer receives more value at a reduced cost. This finally leads to getting a competitive advantage in an already competitive market. To solve the difficulties, future state maps were constructed using lean techniques and kaizen. Excess inventory is eliminated, and total cycle time and inventory time at various stations are reduced. The future state map illustrates an increase in processes of 87.5% and an increase in value-added activities of39%, resulting in a 46.9% reduction in manufacturing lead times