'Lean Manufacturing' is a production practice that aims to reduce shop floor inventory in
a manufacturing firm. Its origins extending deep into Japanese history, manufacturing
works on tight material control policies and aims to achieve as close to 'stockless
production' and 'zero inventories' as possible. The goals of Lean Manufacturing or the
seven zeroes (zero defects, setup time, breakdowns, handling, lead time and surging)
hence all strive to achieve zero inventory by producing what is needed when needed,
thereby eliminating storage costs and capital tied up in inventory. The history of
manufacturing in America is explored and compared to that of far eastern societies. This
thesis then introduces the development of JIT, Lean Manufacturing and their immediate
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effects on the world. Techniques are explored for implementing lean methods in an
automobile manufacturing firm – whether (and how) an automobile manufacturer can
bring down his costs using the same and what changes will need to be done to their
existing manufacturing processes. Advantages, disadvantages and possible setbacks one
may encounter while attempting to implement lean methods are also explored. / text
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/ETD-UT-2011-05-3258 |
Date | 17 June 2011 |
Creators | Mohan, Vinay |
Source Sets | University of Texas |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | thesis |
Format | application/pdf |
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