Title: Lean practices in machinery manufacturing industries - a case study

Authors: P.G. Saleeshya; A. Sneha; C. Karthikeyan; C. Sreenu; A.K. Rohith

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita University, Coimbatore, 641007, India ' Caterpillar India Pvt. Ltd – Engineering Design Center, Ascendas IT Park 7th Floor, Tharamani Road, Chennai – 600113, India ' Tata Technologies Limited, 25 Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, Hinjawadi, Maharashtra Pune 411057, India ' Ashok Leyland Ltd. MDC, 312, Sipcot Industrial Complex, Hosur – 635 126, Tamil Nadu, India ' Sundram Fasteners Limited, Harita, Hosur 635109, India

Abstract: Lean manufacturing is an emerging concept in the Indian manufacturing scenario. Many small and medium scale enterprises in the country are aiming at becoming lean and thereby improving their productivity. This paper is an outcome of a case study in one such enterprise that deals with the manufacturing and assembly of offset printing machinery in India. Being a vendor-based organisation, part shortage due to delays in the process was a major problem faced. A thorough analysis of the various vendors and processes that the product goes through was done and the process flow was mapped to obtain a clear picture of the entire system, and software modelling helped arrive at quantitative results. Lean tools like Pareto analysis, five-why analysis, source inspection, etc., were used to identify and eliminate the various factors that led to delay. Proper scheduling of jobs is also essential to reduce waiting time, and therefore an algorithm has been developed to help arrive at an optimum scheduling sequence. The results from this case study have proved successful in reducing the lead time of the component under study.

Keywords: lean manufacturing; value stream mapping; VSM; lead times; genetic algorithms; supply chain agility; logistics; machinery manufacturing; case study; supply chain management; SCM; agile supply chains; India; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; offset printing machinery; job scheduling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2015.068494

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2015 Vol.20 No.4, pp.536 - 554

Received: 02 Oct 2013
Accepted: 21 Dec 2013
Published online: 15 Apr 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article