The Impact of Learning Factories on Teaching Lean Principles in an Assembly Environment

Abstract

AbstractLearning factories are realistic manufacturing environments built for education; many universities have recently introduced learning factories in engineering programs to tackle real industrial problems; however, statistical studies on its effectiveness are still scarce. This paper presents a statistical study on the impact of learning factories on the students’ learning process, when teaching the lean manufacturing concepts in an assembly environment. The analysis is carried out through the Lean Manufacturing Lab at KTH, a learning factory supporting the traditional educational activities. In the lab, the students assemble a product on an assembly line; during three rounds, they identify problems on the line, apply the appropriate lean tools to overcome the problems, and try to achieve a higher productivity. The study is based on the analysis of the times recorded during the sessions of the lab. A questionnaire submitted to the students after the course evaluates the level of knowledge of lean production principles that the students achieved. The results are twofold: the improvement of the assembly times through the implementation of the lean tools and the positive effect of a hands-on experience on the students’ understanding of the lean principles, highlighted by the answers to the questionnaire. The main contributions are that applying the lean tools on an assembly line improves the productivity even with inexperienced operators, implementing a learning factory is effective in enhancing the learning process, and, lastly, that a first-hand experience applying the lean tools in a real assembly environment is an added value to the students’ education.