Quality and Productivity Improvement in Automotive Component Manufacturing Company Using Kaizen

D. Rajenthirakumar, P. R. Thyla

Kaizen 05

Abstract

The implementation of lean manufacturing strategy allows strengthening the phase sequence that leads to operational excellence, a continuous improvement and the elimination of non value added activities [1].

Thus, the influence of lean practices contributes substantially with the operating performance of plants [2, 3] and use of lean tools allows the improvement of results [4]. The tool kaizen is applied as a way to progress toward lean manufacturing and as a formula to lead the activities of improvement [5].

It has been increasingly adopted as a potential solution for many organizations, particularly within the automotive [1, 6] and aerospace [7–9] manufacturing industries. This work addresses the implementtation of the lean tool kaizen in an automotive component manufacturing company with a focus on tube sub-assembly line.

The main objective is to develop several strategies to eliminate waste on the shop floor. This paper describes how the value stream mapping (VSM) and other suite of lean tools such as kaizen can be used to map the current state of a production line and design a desired future state.

A significant increase in quality and productivity is confirmed and the production flow was smoothened by elimination of several non-value added activities.

Keywords: Kaizen, Productivity, Quality, Value stream mapping (VSM)