Execution of Lean and ZF Production System in Manufacturing Line for Productivity Enrichment - A Case Study

Abstract

The objective of this research is to implement the lean techniques over CNC machine cells with standardization and line balancing for reduction of overall lead time. The methodology used for this research is a combination of traditional lean system with ZF production system. The analysis was carried out over CNC machine cells with the objective of standardization and line balancing of the cells. Primarily the standardization of the CNC manufacturing cells were done, so that the process is streamlined and optimized without non-value added activity. Also this study deals with productivity improvement in manufacturing line through continuous improvement using kaizen approach. Observation of cycle time was carried out by video based work study technique. The operational videos such as cycle time of various processes were captured and improvement possibilities were identified. Then line balancing was done to overcome bottlenecks between operations to meet customer TAKT time and to increase overall productivity. The overall output has been improved from 22 to 30 per week for all models of gear box. Lean tools such as standard work procedure and Kaizen were employed and found that the overall cycle time was reduced by about 609 minutes with an improvement of 17.54%.