Lean manufacturing is a term that we have been hearing very often in many sectors and areas. Lean started as a manufacturing system and philosophy that was first developed by Toyota using key production principles that were introduced by Henry Ford. After successful implementations and great results in quality, cost and service levels, lean is now considered as a business system or as a culture. Lean principles and tools are widely used in every step of an entire process, from customer service to supply chain management. Although there are a lot of success stories about lean implementations, many companies are also struggling to adapt their culture towards the implementation of lean principles. In this thesis, standardization of lean manufacturing is studied and an analysis is provided to discuss if standardization would help eliminate the major obstacles that hinder successful lean implementation. Potential benefits and disadvantages of having standards for lean enterprises are analyzed. As a part of the research a survey was conducted to get feedback from lean professionals about standardization. The survey results suggest that there is an overall support for lean standardization. However, there are both positive and negative views about the potential benefits and disadvantages of using lean standards as an implementation guide. A case study is also provided to measure the benefits of lean and to understand how lean standards may help companies implement lean principles. Based on a simulation model that was develop to verify the benefits, a 15 % reduction in inventory carrying cost and a 5% reduction in total queue time was predicted.

This master thesis report contains information about a project carried out at Haldex Brake Products that is situated in Redditch England. The Redditch site is part of the “Commercial Vehicle Systems” division within the Haldex group. Haldex Brake Products is designing and producing electronic anti lock brake systems. The latest product is called GEN2 and the project goal was to increase productivity and achieve more stability within the production processes of this product. The goal was achieved trough implementation suggestions affecting the three categories in overall equipment efficiency (OEE). Nine of the biggest implementations are presented in this report. Some of the suggestions are already implemented and some are under progress to be implemented. These implementations will result in an increase in productivity with additionally 953 products per week. The expected results are based on calculations on an average product. The report also contains suggestions for future actions to even more increase the efficiency of the production processes at Haldex Brake Products in Redditch.

This thesis is one part of a lean project initiated by Luvata Sweden AB in Finspang casting department. The primary goal of that project is to increase the production efficiency, reduce costs and improve the quality of the copper coil. The aim of this thesis is to develop standardized work in casting department at Luvata Sweden AB Finspang. The research is based on lean thinking and organized in three steps. FIRST STEP: This step implies value stream mapping (VSM) of the current manufacturing process. VSM technique is applied in order to create an overview of the entirety production flow in a casting department, to visualize non-value added activities and to identify process wastes. SECOND STEP: By using lean tools as: Waste Management, SMED and Visual Management, thesis work intends to clean the production process. 7 Wastes or seven forms of Muda were studied at Luvata Finspang. The source of 5 wastes were identified and reduced/eliminated. SMED (single minute exchange of dies) analysis was carried out for a changeover during a casting montage in order to reduce the changeover time and streamline the montage process. Spaghetti diagram was applied particularly to inspect the best location for all montage materials, equipments and tools in a casting floor. Ensuring the efficient implementation of Waste Management and SMED practices Visual Management technique was used. This mean expresses the information about production process, its real-time status and results in a way that could be understood by operators in a shop floor. It is important to clean a production process before the standardized work can be developed, since the purpose of standardized work is to represent the best practice: method and sequence for each process. THIRD STEP: The last thesis step focuses on developing standardized work sheets as a steering tool for operators to follow the best practice while executing their tasks in each work center (melting, casting, rolling) and during the casting montage. The standardized work sheets are designed to show the approved way to perform the specific procedures and are expected to motivate operators to perform theirs job in the common way. That would consequently reduce high variation in operators performance. It would probably take several years before any reasonable improvements could be observed. However the developed standardized work sheets are already placed in the shop floor and successfully used by operators this is my small contribution to a big improvement project!

Lean manufacturing is a term that we have been hearing very often in many sectors and areas. Lean started as a manufacturing system and philosophy that was first developed by Toyota using key production principles that were introduced by Henry Ford. After successful implementations and great results in quality, cost and service levels, lean is now considered as a business system or as a culture. Lean principles and tools are widely used in every step of an entire process, from customer service to supply chain management. Although there are a lot of success stories about lean implementations, many companies are also struggling to adapt their culture towards the implementation of lean principles. In this thesis, standardization of lean manufacturing is studied and an analysis is provided to discuss if standardization would help eliminate the major obstacles that hinder successful lean implementation. Potential benefits and disadvantages of having standards for lean enterprises are analyzed. As a part of the research a survey was conducted to get feedback from lean professionals about standardization. The survey results suggest that there is an overall support for lean standardization. However, there are both positive and negative views about the potential benefits and disadvantages of using lean standards as an implementation guide. A case study is also provided to measure the benefits of lean and to understand how lean standards may help companies implement lean principles. Based on a simulation model that was develop to verify the benefits, a 15 % reduction in inventory carrying cost and a 5% reduction in total queue time was predicted.

<p>This master thesis report contains information about a project carried out at Haldex Brake Products that is situated in Redditch England. The Redditch site is part of the “Commercial Vehicle Systems” division within the Haldex group. Haldex Brake Products is designing and producing electronic anti lock brake systems. The latest product is called GEN2 and the project goal was to increase productivity and achieve more stability within the production processes of this product. The goal was achieved trough implementation suggestions affecting the three categories in overall equipment efficiency (OEE). Nine of the biggest implementations are presented in this report. Some of the suggestions are already implemented and some are under progress to be implemented. These implementations will result in an increase in productivity with additionally 953 products per week. The expected results are based on calculations on an average product. The report also contains suggestions for future actions to even more increase the efficiency of the production processes at Haldex Brake Products in Redditch.</p>

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

The actual industrial development linked to the financial situation over the world lead automotive and other companies to expand their production level to stay competitive. Changing an organization to raise its production or profit is not a one day journey, but requires some steps. Tools exist to develop the production level of manufacturing industry since more or less the fifties, and the continuous improvement is measured by some available and famous indicators around lean manufacturing mainly. Pressing equipment especially like a metal stamping press expressed through the following case study can be improved by respecting some fundamentals. Lean manufacturing aspects as 5 S’s and TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) for example are tools that can be applied to improve the production rate of a stamping press. To even better improve the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) of the same machine, a tool like SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies) reveals to be really powerful when improving the global output rate of the machine. The case study developed inside this present report aims to investigate all the possibilities to improve the OEE of pressing equipment facing theoretical aspects and reality issues. The tools involved are part of the content, but the way to support a company for the organizational change required to the success is another part of the content. Technical solutions are taking part of the outcome, and a strong link to change management is included. Correlation between both technical and managerial aspects is the main line followed to get the final results. An experimental and actual OEE is calculated, and improved following a rating according to the possible improvements. Those results are analyzed to provide a weighted feedback related to the whole research.

The integration of automated ore pre-concentration and waste disposal functions into the hard rock metal mining system, prior to treatment by conventional grinding and flotation, is proposed as a novel interpretation of Mine-Mill Integration for improving the economics and environmental impact of exploiting deep, low-grade or otherwise marginal mineral deposits. The proposed approach seeks to reject coarse, barren waste from the ore stream as early as possible in the mining cycle, and safely dispose of it as backfill underground. The concept is proposed as a Lean Manufacturing approach to hard rock mining, as an alternative to improving the economics of mining simply by increasing the mining rate. Lean Manufacturing philosophy seeks to design out overburden, smooth production, and eliminate waste from the system. It is suggested that the introduction of these systems into the hard rock mining process addresses all three of these areas of Lean thinking, and is thus an important approach to be considered for surface or underground mines wishing to simultaneously improve efficiency, economics and environmental performance, thus increasing the life, and the sustainability of the operation. The application of integrated mining, processing and waste disposal systems, where appropriate, is proposed as a strategy for the development of efficient new mining operations, or alternately the expansion of production at existing mines. Technologies specific to the success of the approach such as automated ore pre-concentration systems, composite fill preparation and delivery systems, as well as continuous mechanized mining methods are explored. The impacts and benefits of applying these integrated technologies to the mining system are defined and quantified through research, testwork, engineering design and systems analysis. Custom geo-metallurgical evaluation tools incorporating mineralogical, metallurgical, geophysical and geotechnical methods have been developed to allow the assessment of ores in terms of their potential for the adoption of the proposed approach. A computerized parametric evaluation model has also been developed to quantify the potential impacts and benefits using data from this testwork. A wide range of case studies have been investigated with positive results, and important conclusions are drawn towards the potential for application of the concept as a generalized case.

Problem Statement: How does ABB Ludvika facilitate sustainable development in technology, green production with green KPI’s? The purpose of the thesis is to develop a general concept of environmental KPIs for management and improvement in manufacturing.  Environmental KPIs can be a main driving factor for work improvement and they will be managed for the continuous improvement in company. The concentration is on the shop floor level including production management (on team levels and department levels). The capability of using different (standardized) KPIs for management and control and more flexible/dynamic KPIs on a local level for enhancing improvements on a daily basis should be investigated. This concept will be clarified to be understood by researchers and companies if they want to implement it. The aim of this thesis is to attain sustainability and to suggest possible gaps between the point of view of researchers and practitioners. The other objective is to find out the key factors involved in production processes that have significant effect on sustainable, and hence the environment.

Manufacturing organizations are facing fragmented markets and increased demand of variety from consumers. As a result, many of these firms have adopted mass customization manufacturing strategies in an effort to offer their customers the freedom of choice while maintaining operational efficiency. Lean manufacturing strategies have also seen heavy use in manufacturing environments. This study investigates the possibilities of integrating lean manufacturing principles and practices into mass customization environments in order to improve system performance. The feasibility of other manufacturing strategies such as agility, Quick Response Manufacturing and the Theory of Constraints assisting in the application of lean manufacturing for mass customization is also explored with the goal of developing a theoretical framework for the application of these manufacturing systems in different types of mass customization environments. The result of these investigations is tested and verified using a real world case study.