A methodological approach for kaizen events in assembly lines
Keywords:
Lean Production, Process improvement, Kaizen events, Work design, Assembly companiesAbstract
This paper proposes a methodology for the planning and execution of a Kaizen event in a manufacturing assembly line. The method consists in 3 steps each one divided into 2 others: Planning (Project + data collection); Execution (participants training and in loco analysis) and results (benefits and future propositions). The methodology was tested in 2015 during a Kaizen event conducted on a manufacturing lighting fixtures firm located in the industrial district of Milwaukee, WI, and applied to an assembly line whose problem consisted in excessive lead times and high mismatch times between workstations. The results show a successful application of this methodology. The Kaizen event promoted a lead time improvement of 17.8% and a reduction of 91.13% mismatch time between workstations, besides improvements regarding human aspects. In this way, we provide evidence of a powerful tool that can be used to help firms to get their own human resources to solve problems and improve the work environment.
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