Implementation of Lean Manufacturing to Reduce the Delivery Time of a Replacement Part to Dealers: A Case Study

Abstract

In today’s automotive industry, Lean production systems are used successfully to reduce delivery times. The current case study addresses a problem that affects an automotive company, which is the excessive delivery time of a spare part to its both national and international authorized dealers. In order to reduce the delivery time of this replacement part, the Lean Manufacturing methodology was used. For this purpose, the value stream mapping and the proposed A3 report are the tools used. With the use of these tools, activities that did not add any value are eliminated or modified; in addition, the logistical flow of the modules of the door-side trim panel delivery process is improved. As a result, added value is increased, the delivery time is reduced (for Mexico) and the number of product variants is reduced. Now, the painting process is done by the authorized dealers, and the number of pieces used for every spare part was estimated. The study demonstrates that the integration of value stream mapping administrative/productive in conjunction with the A3 report proposal allows to identify and eliminate waste in the delivery process.