Productivity advances generated from ‘lean manufacturing’ are self–evident. Plants that adopt ‘lean’ are more capable of achieving shorter lead times, less waste in the system and higher quality levels. The goal of this study was to ascertain which ‘lean’ tools and techniques are available for use. A matrix was constructed with a summation of the authors who agree that specific ‘lean’ tools will reduce cycle time. It was found that reduced set–up time and waste elimination are most affected by the implementation of ‘lean’ tools and techniques. An empirical study was conducted to confirm the results of the literature study. The respondents’ knowledge on the ‘lean’ tools was also tested. It was found that respondents have a sound understanding of set–up time; they agree that it must be reduced in the plant. Pre–scientific evidence and the response from the empirical study confirm that there is a substantial amount of waste in the factory. A current state value–stream map was drawn from a single welded part Product X. The value–stream was analysed to reduce the cycle time in the process, with the focus on set–up time reduction and waste elimination. The future state value–stream map was drawn, displaying astonishing results. A continuous improvement (kaizen) programme will help reduce the cycle time even further by making use of the other ‘lean’ tools discussed in this study. This programme forms part of the procedure to optimise cycle time. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Productivity advances generated from ‘lean manufacturing’ are self–evident. Plants that adopt ‘lean’ are more capable of achieving shorter lead times, less waste in the system and higher quality levels. The goal of this study was to ascertain which ‘lean’ tools and techniques are available for use. A matrix was constructed with a summation of the authors who agree that specific ‘lean’ tools will reduce cycle time. It was found that reduced set–up time and waste elimination are most affected by the implementation of ‘lean’ tools and techniques. An empirical study was conducted to confirm the results of the literature study. The respondents’ knowledge on the ‘lean’ tools was also tested. It was found that respondents have a sound understanding of set–up time; they agree that it must be reduced in the plant. Pre–scientific evidence and the response from the empirical study confirm that there is a substantial amount of waste in the factory. A current state value–stream map was drawn from a single welded part Product X. The value–stream was analysed to reduce the cycle time in the process, with the focus on set–up time reduction and waste elimination. The future state value–stream map was drawn, displaying astonishing results. A continuous improvement (kaizen) programme will help reduce the cycle time even further by making use of the other ‘lean’ tools discussed in this study. This programme forms part of the procedure to optimise cycle time. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Moelven är en av Skandinaviens största trämekaniska koncerner med 52 operativa enheter i Norge, Sverige och Danmark. Denna studie har utförts i hyvlerianläggningen hos Moelven Valåsen Wood AB som är ett hyvleri och vidareförädling av byggvirke beläget i Karlskoga. Problemet grundar sig i att Moelven vill öka utnyttjandegraden i hyvlerianläggningen. Denna ligger idag på ca 65% och hyvleriet begränsar därför en stor del av materialflödet. Syftet med denna fallstudie var att undersöka vilka orsaker som ligger bakom den låga utnyttjandegraden för att ge förslag på åtgärder till dessa. Studien inleddes med ett brett perspektiv för att kunna undersöka de verkliga orsakerna till problemet. En analys gjordes av de olika stopporsakerna för att klargöra vilka olika stopp som uppstår samt hur stor del av den totala stopptiden de utgör. Vidare gjordes avgränsningar som innebar en fördjupning inom omställningsprocessen då omställningar av hyveln utgjorde 30% av den totala stopptiden under tidsperioden. För att kunna analysera denna process gjordes videoinspelningar där de olika arbetsmomenten definierades och tidsattes. Då fräsbyten var de omställningar som observerades flest antal gånger utformades konkreta förbättringsförslag främst för dessa. Moelven får även underlag för att kunna gå vidare med de övriga omställningarna. Fallstudien resulterade i olika förbättringsförslag som främst syftade till att effektivisera omställningarna. Dessa förslag innebar: • Separera externa och interna aktiviteter, såsom att förbereda verktyg inför omställningen. • Använda verktygsvagnar för att eliminera rörelser i så stor utsträckning som möjligt. • Skapa bättre ordning på verktyg genom att utforma en check table. • Standardisering av arbetsmoment genom att skapa en rutinbeskrivning samt dela upp  operatörerna i olika arbetsroller. • Involvera alla i organisationen för att kunna arbeta med ständiga förbättringar. En simulering gjordes genom att implementera delar av förbättringsförslaget vilken medförde en ställtidsreducering om 32.5% för fräsbyte. Då en stor gemensam faktor för alla typer av omställningar är rörelser, vilket förbättringsförslaget syftar till att reducera kan det antas vara generaliserbart för övriga omställningar. / Moelven is an industrial group that produces building materials and systems for the construction industry; with its 52 productions units in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, it is one of the biggest in Scandinavia. This study has been carried out in the planing mill at Moelven Valåsen Wood AB in Karlskoga. Because of the low utilization rate in the planing mill (65%), it constitutes a bottleneck, meaning it limits the capacity and flow of material, for most of the products. The purpose of the study was to analyze the stoppage in the planing mill in order to make recommendations on how the utilization rate can be increased. The study began with a wide perspective to identify the reasons behind this problem. A summary of all stops in the planing mill concluded that set ups of the planer made up for 30% of total stoppage. Because of this, the study was narrowed down to mainly analyze the different types of set ups, which was done through extensive observations and videotaping. The solutions and recommendations that were given are therefore almost entirely regarding set up-time reduction, and more specifically, milling set ups. The recommendations, based on the results of the study, includes: • Suggestions on how to separate internal and external set up. • Better order of tools through designing a check table. • Standardizing the procedure by creating a routine and dividing the operators into different work roles. • Involving everyone in the organization in order to work with continuous improvement. A simulation of milling set ups was done by implementing parts of the recommendations – this resulted in a setup up-time reduction of 13 minutes, which corresponds to 32.5%. Because of common denominators, such as movements, the recommendations given are likely generalizable for all set ups.

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Since the emergence and the subsequent evolution of lean manufacturing concepts, numerous enterprises of different scale and specialties have adopted lean tools and techniques in their facilities with varying success. In general, lean manufacturing related studies have been conducted on large manufacturing firms, such as the automotive industry. Yet, lean manufacturing tools and techniques are also suited for small enterprises. Thus, the main concern of this study is to investigate the success of set-up time reduction efforts (one of the steps needed to achieve 'one-piece flow') in secondary wood products manufacturing facilities on four woodworking machines (moulder, shaper, table saw, and band saw) based on firm size. The first objective of this research is to explore the results of the implementation of set-up time reduction efforts on selected woodworking machines in enterprises of varying size. It is assumed that company size is a major factor influencing the rate of set-up time improvements. To that end, the first hypothesis, which states that 'Small firms are less successful in reducing set-up time through set-up time reduction efforts than are large firms,' has been developed and supportive questions have been corresponding created. While statistical testing of the hypotheses created for this is not possible due to the limited number of participants, speculations about the possible outcome can be made. Thus, for hypothesis one, the data obtained does not show any sign of a relationship between a firm size and the success rate of set-up time reduction efforts. The second objective of this study is to investigate how a firm's productivity is affected by set-up time reduction efforts as related to firm size. With regards to some of the weaknesses of typical small manufacturing firms (e.g. having limited budget and resources, intuitive management strategies including lack of strategic planning), large firms, by and large, are expected to be more successful in increasing productivity through set-up time reduction. To that end, the goal is to investigate results of the set-up time reduction efforts in terms of productivity improvement in manufacturing facilities. With this in mind, the second hypothesis was proposed, which reads 'Small firms achieve lower productivity gains through set-up time reduction than do large firms.' For the second hypothesis, while no conclusive proof can be offered, no sign of a relationship between firm size and productivity gain through set-up time reduction could be found. Another objective of this study is to explore the success rate of set-up time activities on the four types of woodworking machines in industry facilities considering the training activities provided by manufacturers. The aim is to compare set-up time improvement performance of manufacturers between enterprises which trained their workers/operators and enterprises which did not train their employees. To understand the relationship between the scale of firms (and/or facilities) and training activities to improve set-ups, the third hypothesis, which reads 'Small firms are less concerned with set-up time reduction through training than are large firms,' has been developed. For the third hypothesis, while testing is not possible, it appears that there is no relationship between firm size and the level of concern for set-up time reduction through training activities. The final objective of this research is to investigate whether the secondary wood manufacturing firms studied experienced a bottleneck in their production due to the long set-up actions of machines. In order to accomplish this objective, the final hypothesis, 'In both, large and small firms, bottlenecks occur at machines with high set-up times,' has been developed. The final hypothesis cannot be accepted or rejected due to the limited number of responses obtained, set-up time was a frequently indicated explanation for the occurrence of production bottlenecks in secondary wood products manufacturing firms. / Master of Science