Design_of_2

Design of lean manufacturingsystems using value streammapping with simulation

A case study

Anand GurumurthyMechanical Engineering Group, Birla Institute of Technology and Science,

Pilani, India, and

Rambabu KodaliMechanical Engineering Group and Engineering Technology Group,

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India

Abstract

Purpose – Generally, the implementation of lean manufacturing (LM) starts with the development ofvalue stream maps. However, it has been found that value stream mapping (VSM) suffers from variousshortcomings. Hence, researchers have suggested the use of simulation along with VSM. The purposeof this paper is to present an application of VSM with simulation during the design of leanmanufacturing systems (LMS) using a case study of an organisation following a job shop productionsystem to manufacture doors and windows.

Design/methodology/approach – Simulation models were developed using QUeuing EventSimulation Tool for the case organisation to demonstrate how the case organisation will be changedafter implementing various LM elements, apart from analysing the impact of implementing these LMelements on the organisation’s performance.

Findings – Simulation studies were carried out for different scenarios such as “before LM” (current stateVSM) and “after LM” (future state VSM). It was found that the case organisation can achieve significantimprovement in performance and can meet the increasing demand without any additional resources.

Practical implications – It is believed that this paper will enable practitioners to appreciate the roleof simulation in helping them understand how the operations department of the case organisation willbe transformed during the design of LMS.

Originality/value – According to the authors’ knowledge, no case study exists in the literature thatdiscusses the application of VSM with simulation in an organisation that manufactures doors and windowsusing a job shop production system. Furthermore, the paper simulates the impact of those LM elementswhich were not considered by other researchers on the performance measure of the case organisation.

Keywords Lean production, Manufacturing systems, Computer software, Simulation,Performance measures

Paper type Case study

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1741-038X.htm

The authors would like to thank Mr M.N. Sridhar, a student of Distance Learning ProgrammesDivision, BITS, Pilani, for sharing his knowledge during the viva-voce examination and formaking use of his dissertation that was submitted as a partial fulfilment for his Master’s degree.Similarly, thanks are due to Mr Gursharanjit Singh, a final year student of BE (Hons) MechanicalEngineering Group, BITS, Pilani for his timely help in developing the simulation models using theQUEST software. Thanks are also due to Mrs M. Sowmiya for formatting this manuscript andMs A. Gayathri for proofreading this manuscript.

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Received June 2009Revised March 2010Accepted March 2010

Journal of Manufacturing TechnologyManagementVol. 22 No. 4, 2011pp. 444-473q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1741-038XDOI 10.1108/17410381111126409

1. IntroductionIn recent years, many organisations both in India and other countries are implementingthe principles and concepts of “lean manufacturing (LM)” with the objective of achievingsuperior competitive advantage over other organisations. Few companies have attainedtheir objective, while many of them did not. For instance, Dunstan et al. (2006) examinedthe application of LM in a mining environment. They described the implementation ofcertain LM elements that are applicable in such organisations and noted that health- andsafety-related incidents were reduced from 154 to 67; absenteeism was reduced by3.4-1.8 per cent, while about $2 million (Australian) were saved during the year 2006.On the other hand, Bamber and Dale (2000) discussed the application of lean productionmethods to a traditional aerospace manufacturing organisation. They found that thereare two main stumbling blocks to the LM application: the redundancy programmeand a lack of employee education in the concept and principles of lean production.Mohanty et al. (2007) too supported this statement and noted that:

[. . .] many of the companies that report initial gains from lean implementation often find thatimprovements remain localized, and the companies are unable to have continuousimprovements going on. One of the reasons, we believe, is that many companies orindividual managers who adopted lean approach have incomplete understanding and, as aresult, could not be able to gain all the benefits as Toyota enjoys.

Apart from these stumbling blocks, other reasons for failures include: the lack ofunderstanding by managers of the organisations regarding the following:

. How to implement LM?

. What changes will happen in an organisation as it gets transformed byimplementation of LM?

. How LM will affect the performance measures of an organisation?

To overcome the first issue (i.e. how to implement LM), researchers have proposeddifferent methodologies and steps. For example, Womack and Jones (1996) enumeratedthe five tenets of LM and emphasized that value stream mapping (VSM) has to be carriedout as the first step towards LM implementation. Recently, Grewal (2008) described theapplication of VSM in XYZ bicycle manufacturing company, a small manufacturingfirm located in northern part of India. He explained in detail about the current state ofactivities within the firm, the opportunities for improvement and the improvementprogrammes required for achieving the future state apart from enumerating the benefitsobtained. It is evident from this case that VSM can also provide answer to both thesecond and third questions to some extent.

But a literature review revealed that VSM suffers from several shortcomings (whichare discussed later). To resolve these shortcomings, researchers have suggested thatsimulation can be utilised in conjunction with VSM. Few studies combining VSM andsimulation are available in the literature (which is reviewed in the next section).However, according to the authors’ knowledge, no studies exist in the literature of LM,which describe the application of VSM with simulation during the design of leanmanufacturing systems (LMS) in an organisation that manufactures doors and windowsusing a job shop production system. Hence, an attempt has been made in this paper topresent the same. Furthermore, it will enable the practitioners to understand:

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445

. The feasibility of implementing LM tools/techniques/practices/procedures (inshort, it can be called as “elements”).

. How an organisation will function after the implementation of LM?

. What are the benefits or performance improvement due to LM implementation?

The paper is arranged as follows: Section 2 provides a literature review, which revealsthe research gaps, while Section 3 presents an overview about the case organisation.Section 4 enumerates the design of LMS describing the initial steps taken by the caseorganisation and Section 5 demonstrates the development of simulation models fordesigning the LMS for the case organisation. Section 6 deals with results anddiscussions and finally, Section 7 ends with conclusions.

2. Literature reviewThis section is divided into four sections. The first section provides a brief review ofliterature related to case studies describing the implementation of LM while the secondsection deals with the review of literature related to VSM. The third section reviews theliterature related to application of VSM with simulation during the design of LMS andthe last section highlights the various research gaps.

2.1 A brief review of case studies describing the implementation of LMMany case studies exist that deals with the LM implementation in a wide variety ofindustrial sectors other than manufacturing. For instance, Sreedharan and Liou (2007)elaborated a case study of implementing LM principles in a university rapidmanufacturing laboratory. Although lean initiatives are undertaken in other sectors,the number of LM implementations in the manufacturing sector is much higher whencompared to other sectors. Hence, this review focuses only on LM implementations inmanufacturing sector. Table I provides a list of case studies describing the LMimplementation in manufacturing sector.

From Table I, it can be found that LM has been implemented in variety ofmanufacturing industries. A cursory review of these papers will reveal that theseindustries have established different manufacturing systems such as project shop, jobshop, batch production, mass production and continuous production systems. Hence,a classification scheme (taxonomy) is also established for the reviewed papers basedon the types of production system followed in each case organisation.

2.2 A brief review of literature related to VSMRother and Shook (1999) explained that a value stream is comprised of all the actions(both value added (VA) and non-value added (NVA)) that are required to bring a productor a group of products from raw materials to the arms of the customer. On the other hand,VSM is a pencil and paper visualisation tool that shows the flow of material andinformation as a product makes its way through the stream. Many researchers havedescribed the application of VSM. Table II shows a review of papers describing theapplication of VSM.

From Table II, it can be found that VSM has been used in both manufacturing andservice industries; however, its application is more predominant in manufacturing. It isused mostly for productivity improvements, but in recent times, it is also applied

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S.no.Classificationscheme Industry type Author(s) and year

1 Project shop Ship building Storch and Lim (1999)2 Traditional aerospace manufacturing Bamber and Dale (2000)3 Aerospace component suppliers Crute et al. (2003)4 Job shop Specialist machinery manufacturers and aerospace

sectorJina et al. (1997)

5 Capital equipment Mottershead (2001)6 Secondary wood products Czabke (2007)

7High-mix, low-volume manufacturing (aerospacecomponent) Dudley (2005)

8 Batchproduction

Rough mill Gumbo et al. (2006)

9 Die casting industry (SME) – precision machinedcomponents

Kumar et al. (2006)

10 Printing technologies Scott (2007)11 Forging (supplier for railways, oil and gas and the

machine tool sector)Sahoo et al. (2008)

12 Mass production Automobile industry motor (compartment automatedmonorail system)

Braiden and Morrison(1996)

13 Automotive components (chassis systems) Mabry and Morrison(1996)

14 Automotive components (windscreen wiper systems) Sohal (1996)15 Auto component supplier (electro-mechanical

components)Kasul and Motwani (1997)

16 Auto component supplier (technical fasteningdevices)

Soderquist and Motwani(1999)

17 Automotive components (electro mechanicalcomponents) Motwani (2003)

18 Truck manufacturing company Wallace (2004)19 Continuous product line of a tyre manufacturing

plantMukhopadhyay andShanker (2005)

20 Auto component supplier (motorcycle frames) Seth and Gupta (2005)21 Truck production Berg and Ohlsson (2005)22 Robotic assembly cell in automotive component

manufacturerAbduelmula et al. (2005)

23 Automobile industries Mohanty et al. (2007)24 Car manufacturer Lee and Jo (2007)25 Automotive component assembly line (combustion

injection valves)Domingo et al. (2007)

26 Continuousproduction

Paper industries Lehtonen and Holmstrom(1998)

27 Steel manufacturing Brunt (2000)28 Metal forming Lee and Allwood (2003)29 Mining environment Dunstan et al. (2006)30 Textile Goforth (2007)31 SMEs Durable articles Gupta and Brennan (1995)32 Automotive components (automobile lamps) Gunasekaran and Lyu

(1997)33 Electronic office equipment manufacturer Karlsson and Ahlstrom

(1997)34 Numerically controlled bagging machines Abdul-Nour et al. (1998)35 Automotive components (wiper systems) Gunasekaran et al. (2000)36 Small bicycle manufacturing company Grewal (2008)

Table I.A list of case studies

describing the LMimplementation in

various manufacturingindustries


447

for other purposes such as improving leadership, perform benchmarking and increasevalue across the supply chain.

2.3 A brief review of papers describing the application of VSM with simulationChu and Shih (1992) commented that “although several methodologies have been used instudying just-in-time (JIT) production, simulation has attracted the attention of manyresearchers and practitioners”. In recent times too, many simulation studies werereported in the field of LM. Table III shows a review of papers describing the applicationof simulation and VSM during the design of LMS.

S.no.Author(s) andyear Remarks

1 Hines and Rich(1997)

Introduced seven more tools, which can be used in conjunction with VSM

2 Hines et al. (1999) Discussed the application of VSM to the development of supplier network3 Brunt (2000) Demonstrated how VSM can be used to map the entire processes along the

supply chain from steelmaking (i.e. raw material) to steel componentsupplier

4 Freire andAlarcon (2002)

Detailed the application of VSM in the design process of constructionprojects

5 McManus andMillard (2002)

Explored the concept of value stream analysis and mapping as applied toproduct development (PD) efforts

6 Dhandapani et al.(2004)

Constructed the current and future state VSMs of a steel company

7 Emiliani and Stec(2004)

Enumerated the role of VSM to determine leadership beliefs, behavioursand competencies

8 Ozkan et al.(2005))

Explained how VSM and its associated tools can be used to design a desiredfuture state aligned with LM principles at a shop floor of an automotiveindustry

9 Schulte et al.(2005)

Documented how lean can apply in a PD test laboratory

10 Seth and Gupta(2005)

Described the application of VSM for lean operations and cycle timereduction in an auto component supplier company

11 Taylor (2005) Applied lean value chain improvement techniques (i.e. VSM) to a completesupply chain for a food product from farm to consumer

12 Braglia et al.(2006)

Discussed about the new VSM approach for the design of complexproduction systems

13 Endsley et al.(2006)

Introduced the application of VSM in a hospital tracing the flow of a patient

14 Lummus et al.(2006)

Reported on a VSM project in a small medical clinic

15 Parry and Turner(2006)

Described the application of lean visual process management tools

16 Grewal (2008) Detailed the application of VSM in small bicycle manufacturing company17 Lasa et al. (2008) Presented a case study of a company in which the VSM has been created by

the team to improve the productive system of a manufacture for plasticcasings for mobile phones

18 Serrano et al.(2008)

Commented about the applicability of VSM to redesign disconnected flowlines based on manufacturing environments with a diversity of logisticalproblems

Table II.A review of papersdescribing the applicationof VSM

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S.no.Author(s) andyear LM elements used Remarks

1 Czarneckiand Loyd(2000)

One piece flow, takt time Developed a simulation model todemonstrate the application of leanprinciples to a high-volumemanufacturing facility andtransforming the case company into ahigh-performing lean enterprise

2 Detty andYingling(2000)

Pull system, standard containers,small lot production, 5S andpokayoke

Used the simulation to assist in thedecision of implementing LM principlesat an existing assembly operation ofconsumer electronic product having avolume of about 500,000 units per year

3 Dennis et al.(2000)

LM elements were not discussed Utilised simulation in conjunction withVSM to improve the performance ofBritish telecommunications PLC

4 Lian and VanLandeghem(2002)

Kanban, supermarkets, pull systemand U-shaped manufacturing cells

Developed two simulation models forthe VSM following two scenarios: pushand pull (kanban) systems

5 McDonaldet al. (2002)

Supermarket, kanban, heijunka boxand setup reduction

Described an application of VSM andsimulation to a dedicated product linein an engineer-to-order motion controlproducts manufacturing plant. Theyused arena for the purpose ofsimulation

6 Mittelhuberet al. (2002)

Description of LM elements were notavailable

Noted that using conventionalsimulation systems to model completedoor-to-door production is an expensiveand time-consuming undertaking.Hence, they presented a simulationmethod that suits the practicalrequirements of VSM

7 Schroer(2004)

Line balancing against takt time, pullversus push manufacturing andkanban inventory control

Presented the use of discrete eventsimulation to understand the conceptsof LM

8 Huang andLiu (2005)

Setup time reduction using singleminute exchange of dies, use of newmachines, reduced distances betweenworkstations

Developed a simulation in arena tomodel a factory of Taiwan-fundedenterprise in mainland China thatproduces oval-gear flow metres tounderstand the effect of implementinglean control approaches in the factory

9 Abdulmalekand Rajgopal(2007)

Total productive maintenance andsetup time reduction

Described a simulation model that wasdeveloped to contrast the “before” and“after” scenarios of VSM constructedfor a large integrated steel mill

10 Duanmu andTaaffe (2007)

Takt time analysis and line balancing Improved the throughput using acombination of takt time andsimulation by understanding how eachstage of the system interacts with otherstages in a company that manufacturestwo main types of customised products

(continued )

Table III.A review of papers

describing the applicationof VSM and simulation


449

From Table III, it can be inferred that some of the studies focused only on simulation.For example, Detty and Yingling (2000) demonstrated the application of simulation duringthe design of LMS for a case organisation. However, they did not discuss about the role ofVSM and did not integrate VSM in their simulation. Some of the studies explored thesimultaneous application of simulation and VSM in industries having different types ofproduction system/process. Abdulmalek and Rajgopal (2007) and Comm and Mathaisel(2005) described the application of VSM with simulation in a continuous process industriessuch as steel mill and textile industry, respectively. Lian and Van Landeghem (2007)discussed the application of VSM-based simulation in a low-volume and high-varietycomponent production shop of a poultry and pig raising equipment manufacturer. On theother hand, Dennis et al. (2000) demonstrated the application of VSM with simulation in aservice industry. From Table III, it can also be concluded that application of VSM withsimulation is more prevalent in manufacturing than service.

2.4 Research gapsAlthough significant work has been carried out in the recent past in the areas of LMimplementation, VSM and VSM with simulation, various research gaps were identifiedfrom these three different reviews.

A review of case studies in Table I revealed that:. LM can be applied in any type of industries irrespective of the size and the type of

production system/process involved. It can be applied even in a small die-castingunit or in a large aerospace manufacturing organisation. Although LM is beingapplied in industries irrespective of the type of production system (such as project,job, batch, mass or continuous production systems), the number of case studies

S.no.Author(s) andyear LM elements used Remarks

11 Kannan et al.(2007)

Maintenance process improvementactivities

Emphasized that the traditional VSMcannot be utilised “as is” for themaintenance activities. Hence, theydeveloped a VSM specifically formaintenance to evaluate the NVAactivities and providedrecommendations to reduce the meanmaintenance lead time throughsimulation

12 Lian and VanLandeghem(2007)

Supermarkets, pull system andkanbans

Enumerated the application of VSM-based simulation generator in the shopfloor of poultry and pig raisingequipment manufacturer for feeding,drinking, feed storage and feedtransportation systems

13 Narasimhanet al. (2007)

LM elements were not discussed, as itis applied for engine testing

Introduces a new approach known asthe “simulation-aided Value StreamMapping” (saVSM), and illustrated acase study, showcasing the successfulapplication of saVSM approach, at aglobal engine manufacturer’s testenvironmentTable III.

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in the category of project or continuous production is very less, while that in massproduction category is more. The number of case studies for the remainingtwo production systems ( job shop and batch) lies in between the project and massproduction systems.

. As mentioned by Karlsson and Ahlstrom (1997), most of the case studies arefrom automotive sector, comprising of component suppliers and automobilemanufacturers. Nearly, 45 per cent (i.e. about 16 out of 36) of the reviewed studiesare from the automotive sector.

. The number of case studies dealing with LM implementation in small- andmedium-sized enterprise(s) SMEs is very less. Only six papers are available,which specifically mentioned about implementation of LM in SMEs, However, ifsome of the industries dealing in metal forming, die casting, etc. are included, itmay increase to eight, which is again comparatively less.

. The number of papers describing LM implementation in Indian industries is alsovery less. Out of the 36 papers reviewed, only six papers dealt with LMimplementation in Indian industries. Similarly, a cursory review of these casestudies reveals that even in India, LM is predominantly getting applied only inthe automobile sector.

Hence, in this paper, an attempt has been made to present a case study to overcomemost of these issues. This case study is different from the reported case studies in thefollowing ways:

. It demonstrates that LM can be implemented in an organisation whichmanufactures doors and windows using a job shop production system. This casestudy of door and windows manufacturing organisation is unique in the categoryof job shop production and according to the authors’ knowledge no such casestudies exist in the realm of LM till date. Although a couple of wood productscompanies were identified in the review, these industries produce only the rawmaterials (i.e. properly cut and saw wood) for furniture making, whereas the caseorganisation considered for this study uses different materials such as poly-vinylchloride (PVC) for manufacturing doors and windows.

. Second, this case study is different from the reviewed ones, as it is not from theautomotive sector. Furthermore, it details the LM implementation and applicationof VSM with simulation in an organisation under the furniture industry sector.

. Third, it reports about the LM implementation especially in an Indianorganisation from non-automotive sector to emphasize that LM implementationsare getting widespread attention among the Indian industries.

. Finally, the case organisation can fall under the category of SME, as it isrelatively a small facility both from the perspective of size, number of employees,capital invested, equipments, etc. when compared with an organisation in theautomotive sector.

On the other hand, a review of papers related to VSM in Table II revealed that:. VSM is also utilised in any manufacturing organisation irrespective of the type of

production system. But, the application of VSM in a doors and windowsmanufacturing environment is yet to be documented till date. Although Czabke (2007)


451

and Gumbo et al. (2006) have described the application of LM in wood industry, theydid not demonstrate the application of VSM with simulation in their study.

Similarly, a review of papers related to application of simulation and VSM in Table IIIrevealed that:

. Most of the simulation studies that were carried out from the early 1990s to presentare addressing the areas of kanban, pull/push, mixed model assembly/production,inventory control (small lot production), etc. But adequate importance is not given toother JIT/LM elements such as multi-machine activities, kaizen (continuousimprovement), cycle time reduction, pokayoke, visual management, processimprovements, automation, floor space reduction, etc. Very few papers haveattempted to address or incorporate these LM elements during the simulation.

. Apart from this, most of the simulation studies are focused on analysing one orfew issues such as finding the optimal size of kanbans or developing an optimalschedule for mixed model assembly or analysing the performance of push/pullsystems. According to authors’ knowledge, very few studies have beenundertaken considering a combined implementation of JIT/LM elements.

. No paper exists in the literature which demonstrates the application of VSM withsimulation apart from considering various LM elements such as layout change,multi-machine activities, kaizen (continuous improvement), takt time analysis, cycletime reduction, pokayoke, visual management, process improvements, automation,floor space reduction, etc. simultaneously in developing the simulation models duringthe design of LMS especially for a door and window manufacturing organisation.

Thus, this paper attempts to address some if not all of the above-mentioned researchgaps by developing a simulation model for designing aN LMS based on a real-life datafor the doors and windows manufacturing organisation. This paper demonstrates howa simulation model can be constructed, if a combination of above-mentioned LMelements were implemented and analyses what will be their impact on the performancemeasures of the case organisation.

3. An overview about the case organisationThe company considered is named as ABC Limited (ABCL) to maintain theconfidentiality. ABCL is a unit of “XYZ Limited”, which has an annual turnover ofabout Rs. 2,500 crores and has 30 years of experience in managing large-scaleprocess industries. The company had launched the business of PVC door and windowmanufacturing systems in India from 2003 in technical collaboration with a UK plasticscompany with its state-of-the-art PVC profile extrusion plant at Rajasthan facility. Thefabrication units are located in Bhiwadi apart from other metros such as Hyderabad,Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. The total production capacity of all these fabricationunits is about 100,000 windows per annum. The LM implementation is currently carriedout in the fabrication unit located in Hyderabad, which has strength of about 80 people.Currently, the Hyderabad unit manufactures five types of products, namely:

(1) casement window;

(2) casement door;

(3) sliding window;

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(4) sliding door; and

(5) ventilators,

as per the customer sizes and designs (Sridhar, 2007). Since, the windows are“custom designed” and the volumes for individual design are very less, thisindustry falls under the “job shop” production process.

3.1 Problems facedIn recent times, the construction sector in India is booming. Naturally, the demand forwindows and doors is also increasing. For instance, the demand for the Hyderabad plantis expected to increase from 40 windows per day to 60 windows per day. As the market isincreasing, naturally the case organisation has to compete not only with similarindustries, but also with local manufacturers, who make wooden doors and windows.Analysing the production system, they found lot of areas, where significant areas ofimprovement are required. For example, the production rate of the cell, which ismeasured in number of squares produced per shift is 160 (i.e. 160 squares/shift of8 hours). This rate is sufficient only to meet the existing demand of 40 windows per dayand the cell suffers from under-capacity to meet the future demand. Another aspect ofthe case organisation is that the inventory level within the plant is found to be higher.The current work in progress (WIP) for entire fabrication unit is 1,000 squares per day,i.e. an average of 125 squares is held before each work station (Sridhar, 2007). Because ofthe lower production rate, lower capacity and higher inventory, the top management ofthe ABCL was planning to implement the principles and concepts of LM to remaincompetitive and meet the ever increasing demand without much increase in theresources by eliminating the wastes plaguing the operations.

4. Design of LM systemsThe management of ABCL started their lean journey and named their productionsystem as ABCL Production system similar (TPS). The reason is that the top managershad a strong belief that LMS has originated from the automotive sector and it cannotbe copied into their production system. They believed that the concepts of TPS have tobe adapted, customised and suited to their production system. As a starting point, toenable the employees of ABCL to understand the new principles and procedures of LM,necessary training sessions were arranged in the following tools and techniques:

. 5S;

. kaizen (continuous improvement);

. VSM; and

. muda (wastes), etc. (Sridhar, 2007).

After their initial training, the team started to collect the details regarding the existingsituation of the shop floor. The production process is analysed and the different stagesinvolved in making a window/door were identified as shown in Figure 1.

4.1 Value stream mappingThe next step is to draw the VSM, for which an understanding regarding the processsequence is a pre-requisite. Drawing VSM involves two steps: step 1 is to draw the


453

current state map, while step 2 is to draw the future state map. Similarly, for the caseorganisation the current state VSM has been developed as shown in Figure 2.

From Figure 2, it can be found that the VA time for the cell is just 1,476 seconds, whilethe production lead time is about 12.53 days or 360,864 seconds. The process ratio isfound to be just 0.0041, which clearly reveals that the manufacturing process involves lotof NVA activities. The next step is to compute the takt time. Currently, the demand isonly 40 windows or 160 squares. The plant works for a single shift of 8 hours, which doesnot include the lunch breaks of 30 minutes and tea breaks of 15 minutes. Therefore, theavailable time is found to be 8 £ 60 £ 60 ¼ 28,800 seconds. Hence, the takt time for thecurrent state is found to be 8 £ 60 £ 60/160 ¼ 180 seconds/square. From Figure 2,it can be found that the stages such as profile cutting, processing (i.e. drainage,V-groove, etc.), reinforcement assembly and fusion welding have cycle times less thanthe takt time, while the time taken for the remaining stages are greater than the takt time.This is one of the reasons for storing an excess amount of inventory in the shop floor.

Figure 1.Process sequence ofmaking the window

Profile cutting

Processing (drainage/v-groove/routing/single

head welding)

Reinforcement cuttingand fixing

Fusion welding

Assembly

Bead cutting

Glazing

Packaging and dispatch

Source: Sridhar (2007)

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Figure 2.Current state VSM for

the doors and windowsfabrication line

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455

However, if the future demand is considered, which is about 60 windows per day or240 squares, the mismatch between the cycle times of different processing stages andthe takt time is very high. The takt time according to the future demand is found to be8 £ 60 £ 60/240 ¼ 120 seconds, in which case only the first stage can meet the futurecustomer demand, as it has the lowest cycle time of 85 seconds.

Hence, to reduce the problems revealed by the current state VSM, the team wascontemplating on implementing the following elements of LM:

. 5S for organising the work place;

. kaizens to simplify the process by combining/eliminating/simplifying theoperations;

. line balancing for achieving continuous flow processing;

. layout change to reduce the people movement and unnecessary transportation ofmaterials;

. establish supermarket at various places of the manufacturing line to reduceinventory; and

. work towards mixed production at the pacemaker assembly.

They also developed a future state VSM to visualise how their organisation will be,after eliminating the wastes by applying the LM elements mentioned above. Figure 3shows the future state VSM for the doors and windows fabrication line.

From this figure, it can be found that the team estimated that the total inventory canbe reduced to just 1.45 days of stock. Similarly, they also foresaw a reduction ofprocessing times through process improvement techniques. Based on their estimates,they predicted that the process ratio can be increased to 0.018 from 0.004.

4.1.1 Shortcomings of VSM. Thus, by drawing the VSM, the practitioners were able to:. visualise and clearly see the entire flow;. identify the waste in the value stream;. establish the linkage between the information flow and the material flow; and. understand how the organisation will be in the future, if all the improvement

activities are implemented properly and if the identified wastes were eliminatedor removed.

Although the VSM has the above-mentioned advantages, it suffers from the followingshortcomings:

. The VSM as a tool is static in nature and can capture only a snapshot view of theshop floor on any particular day. For instance, on a given day, the productionmight be running smoothly without any problems, while on the other day, theremight be various delays due to breakdowns of machines, late delivery by keyvendors, quality problems, etc. In these circumstances, the VSM tend to varyaccording to the situations that prevail in the organisation.

. The future state map which is drawn is based on the assumption that all theissues in the problematic areas will be completely resolved. However, in practice,the entire problem may not be completely resolved.

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. Similarly, the reduction in NVA, the increase in process ratio and the benefitsthat are assumed to be obtained after carrying out possible improvements arebased on estimates. But, in practice, similar benefits may not be achieved.

. Drawing VSM’s by hand, displaying them and making changes to them is acumbersome process and it takes a lot of time.

Similarly, other researchers too have identified the shortcomings of VSM. Lian andVan Landeghem (2002) commented that:

. VSM is composed by physically “walking” along the flow and recording whathappens on the floor. Hence, the level of detail and the number of differentversions that can be handled is very limited.

. In real-world situations, many companies are of a high variety, low volume type,which many result in composing many value streams of many industrial partsand products, which further adds a level of complication (and variability).

Finally, they noted that:

[. . .] revealing VSM as a map may hamper many people from failing to “see” how it translatesinto reality. So, the VSM risks ending up as a nice poster, without much further use.

Similarly, McDonald et al. (2002) cautioned that VSM may not serve the purpose, when itis used to map a production line which produces different types of product families thatare having different processing times and set up times for each processing step apartfrom different number of shifts. Hence, to overcome these shortcomings, researchershave suggested the use of simulation models in conjunction with VSM as it is aneffective tool to simulate both the current and future state of the case organisation.

5. Development of simulation models for the design of LMSIt should be remembered that this simulation study is not meant for optimisationpurposes. Rather, it is to provide an idea to the managers of the case organisation areal-time perspective of “how the organisation will be after getting transformed throughthe LM elements and how the implementation of these LM elements will affect theperformance measures of the organisation”. The simulation models were developedusing QUeuing Event Simulation Tool (QUEST), a simulation software package whichcan emulate a complete three-dimensional digital factory environment. It is possible toexperiment with parameters such as facility layout, resource allocation, kaizen practicesand alternate scheduling scenarios, which can help in quantifying the impact of thedecisions on production throughput and cost. The most commonly needed behaviourlogic can be selected from comprehensive logic menus that are parameter driven. On theother hand, for handling unique problems, it has a robust and flexible simulationlanguage which provides distributed processing with access to all system variables.This high-level, structured language allows users to define custom behaviours and gainunlimited control over the simulation (www.delmia.com).

5.1 Simulation data for the current state mapThe data which were collected during the development of current state VSM are used fordeveloping the simulation model. Apart from this, additional data such as setup time,number of operators, uptime of the machine, space available, machine arrangements, etc.

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were also collected. For instance, Table IV shows the details of manpower requirementand operations carried out in each stage.

From Table IV, it is found that 24 people (12 technicians and 12 casuals) are requiredto meet the demand of 40 windows per day. On the other hand, the total available shopfloor area of the Hyderabad plant is about 1,791 square metres, out of which 1,400 squaremetres of the area is used by the manufacturing line.

5.1.1 Assumptions. However, to ensure that the model replicates exactly the actualproduction happening in their organisation, the following assumptions were made:

. The inventory is taken entirely to be the initial inventory. Before the start ofthe simulation, this inventory will be built up before the workstations. This is dueto the fact that a VSM captures the snap shot picture of the shop floor at any givenpoint of time. Hence, the simulation too starts with the current situationas obtained from the current state VSM.

. The setup time in “seconds” is included as per the current state VSM and it hasbeen assumed that setups are performed during the start of production. The setupinvolves fixing the tool, cleaning and ensuring that materials required are readyfor production.

Manpower requiredS.no. Operation T C Operations involved

1 Profile cutting 1 2 Study the drawing and select the profile as per drawingCollect the profiles from the rackSet the machine and cut as per the lengthWrite the location code on all profile cut pieces

2 Processing 2 Study the drawing, collect the profiles from trolley and makenecessary holes to fit the hardware elements

3 Reinforcementassembly

1 1 Insert the cut galvanised iron (GI) reinforcement into the PVC profileas per drawing and fix the screwsDrill the fisher holes in the outer frame pieces

4 Welding 2 1 Collect the profiles, clean at the corners and weld as per drawing5 Assembly 3 2 Clean all welding flashes and assemble the weather seal gasket

Select the hardware such as handle, lock, etc. as per the specificationsand drawingAssemble as per the drawing

6 Bead cutting 1 3 Drill fisher holes which are not possible in reinforcement assemblystageAssemble the fire tree gasket, measures the bead length and cut in themachine

7 Glazing 1 1 Collect the window panels and glasses as per the location codesavailable on windows and glassesThen assemble the bead to the window

8 Inspection andpacking

1 2 Inspect the windows for sizes and visual defects in couplers,hardware, etc.Paste all six varieties of stickers on the windowsPack the window by keeping the window on bubble roll sheet on floor

Total 12 12

Notes: T – technicians; C – casual labourersSource: Sridhar (2007)

Table IV.Details of manpower

requirement andoperations carried out

in each stage


459

. The labour for each stage is allocated as per Table III.

. Each day consists of one shift with each shift having two 15-minute tea breaksand a 30-minute lunch break, which is separate and does not interfere with theproduction hours of 8 hours in each shift.

. The source is an active source and the inter-arrival time of each part is madeequal to the cycle time of the first machine in each line. This is due to the fact thatthe organisation follows a push system of operation in the shop floor.

. If an operation has two similar machines performing the same operation, then themachining time of all such similar machines is assumed to be a constant.

5.2 Simulation model for the current state mapA snap shot of the simulation model for the current state VSM is shown in Figure 4.

In the simulation model shown in Figure 4, the templates of different machines areidentified from the software library and are placed in the “simulation world”.The existing layout of the factory was replicated by placing the machines as per theexact distances and the labour was allocated to each machine as per Table IV. For eachmachine, the details of cycle time, setup time, etc. are entered in its associated data boxes.The material flow logic was established based on the sequence of the operations formaking doors and windows shown in Figure 1. Before each workstation, both inputand output buffers in the form of wooden pallet are placed. The raw materials, i.e. profilepieces, glasses, etc. are supplied as per the size of the drawing. Ten different sources wereplaced at one corner of the layout from which the necessary raw materials are supplied.With these actual data, the current state VSM is simulated.

Figure 4.Snap shot of thesimulation model for thecurrent state VSM

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5.3 Simulation data for the future state mapAs said earlier, the current state VSM revealed different types of wastes. Hence, toreduce these wastes and meet the increase in demand, the team identified the followingLM elements for improvement.

Layout change. Layout improvement was planned to reduce various wastes such asunnecessary transportation and motion. The team estimated that the total areautilisation can be reduced to 12 £ 60 ¼ 720 square metres, while it was about1,400 square metres in the existing layout.

Line balancing. From the current state VSM shown in Figure 2, it can be found that theoperations were not balanced. For instance, the profile cutting operation takes only85 seconds; while the fusion welding process takes 150 seconds and the bead cuttingconsumes 296 seconds. Hence, the focus is to balance the line by ensuring that theprocessing time in each stage is equally distributed apart from making it more or lessequal to the takt time. To accomplish this, the production engineers proposed combiningthe different stages of manufacturing. For instance, they proposed combining theoperations of profile cutting machine having one technician and two casuals withprocessing machines of two technicians (i.e. in total, three technicians and two casuals).They identified that manpower of two technicians and two casuals is sufficient for themerged stages, as both the profile cutting machine and processing is doingoverproduction. However, to integrate these two stages, the layout has to be changed,which will naturally eliminate the previously held inventory between these work stations.In a similar manner, they proposed combining the reinforcement assembly and weldingmachine operations. Initially, they had one technician and one casual in reinforcementassembly and two technicians and one casual in welding work station (total of threetechnician and two casuals). Again, by proposing a layout change to place these twostages nearer and fine-tuning the process through some kaizens (described below), theyestimated that one technician and two casuals are sufficient to work in both the stations.Naturally, the inventory between these two stages will become zero. Similarly, theyperformed various process improvements to balance the line and reduce the cycle time.Table V shows the revised manpower requirement for the improved layout.

Kaizens. The team also identified kaizen activities for other stages such as assembly,bead cutting and glazing operations to eliminate NVA activities, which will result inreduction in process time apart from improving the safety. A sample of proposed kaizenactivities are as follows:

. Use of double bead block in bead cutting machine. Earlier, they were using amono-block (work holding device) to hold the PVC and perform the bead cuttingoperation. They planned to redesign the work holding device in such a way that itcan hold two PVCs of same size at the same time, and the bead cutting can happensimultaneously in both the PVCs, which can lead to productivity improvement.

. Packing area improvement. From the current state map, it can be found thatpacking and dispatching were taking more time. Hence, they studied the processin detail and came out with lot of process improvements. Earlier, the bubble sheet,which is used to pack the window/door, is used to be un-rolled on the floor and cutby the operator manually according to the size of the window/door. The operatorhas to sit and bend to perform the cutting, which was unproductive due toincreased strain and fatigue for the worker. The production engineers suggestedthe use of a trolley, in which the bubble sheet roll can be mounted at the top


461

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462

on a roller and it can be easily unrolled by pulling it and can be cut withoutbending. The next step is to pack the windows using these cut bubble sheets.Previously, the packing is performed by placing the window on the floor andcovering it with bubble sheet. Since, it was taking too much time, the engineerswere interested in developing a rotary packing table, in which the windows can beplaced and can be rotated according to the orientation required for packing. Thebubble sheet is rolled around it and an adhesive tape is affixed over it. Thus, theybelieved that the bending of operator can be completely avoided thereby theproductivity loss due to fatigue can be eliminated.

These improvements can lead to drastic reduction in the cycle time and the engineershave attempted to reduce it to half the existing cycle time for these stages such aspacking, bead cutting, assembly, etc.

5.4 Simulation model for the future state mapConsidering these improvements, the simulation model of the current state map asshown in Figure 4 is modified to develop the simulation model for the future state map asshown in Figure 5. A cursory look at Figure 5 will reveal that various stages werecombined and the layout got changed to accomplish the same. Apart from this, theparameters associated with simulation such as initial inventory, cycle time, etc. has beenmodified for each stage as per Table V. Similarly, the number of workers, distancetravelled by a window, etc. also got reduced. However, the assumptions for the futurestate simulation model are same as that of current state simulation model. Similarly, themethod of building the simulation model is also the same as that of current state map.

Figure 5.Snap shot of the

simulation model for thefuture state VSM


463

6. Results and discussionsThe models for both the current state and future state are simulated for 30 days torepresent a month’s production. To compare these two models, various performancemeasures identified in our earlier study (Anand and Kodali, 2008) are used to quantifythe degree of improvements. Table VI shows the comparison of performance measuresof the case organisation for the current state and future state VSMs.

In Table VI, the number of units produced is measured in “number of squares”.Generally, in any industry, the production rate is measured in units/hour. As per thisconvention, the production rate for the case organisation should be measured as numberof windows/doors produced per hour or number of windows/doors produced per 8-hourshift. However, in this case, the size of window/doors differs considerably and hence thisunit of measurement may not adequately reflect the daily production. For instance,if the size of window is more, then the complexity associated with it will affect themanufacturing and handling, naturally leading to lesser number of windows/doors on aparticular day. Hence, to overcome this problem and to establish the uniformity incomputing the total production, the case organisation has a practice of counting the totalproduction based on “number of squares” in that window/door. If the window/door sizeexceeds more that 1.5 metres in size, then it is counted as two squares. Hence, utilisingthis convention, the total production and productivity was calculated based on numberof squares produced in a shift of 8 hours.

In addition to this, Table VI reveals that all inventories are represented in the form ofdays. This is due to the fact that to calculate the total production lead time in a VSM, theinventory is considered as “the number of days a part waits before it gets processed”.Hence, based on the daily demand, the inventory is converted into number of days bydividing the available inventory by per day requirement. For instance, in the currentstate VSM (Figure 2), profile cutting has an inventory of about seven days. Since per dayrequirement is 40 windows or 160 squares, it is equal to 7 £ 160 ¼ 1,120 squares. Otherprocesses such as reinforcement assembly, bead cutting, etc. have an inventory of 85 and125 squares, respectively. Hence, dividing the inventory at various stages by the perday demand, we will get 85/160 ¼ 0.53 days for reinforcement assembly and125/160 ¼ 0.78 days. In other words, reinforcement assembly and bead cutting stageshold about 0.53 and 0.78 days of stock, respectively, which are yet to be processed. In asimilar manner, the stock details for other stages were calculated. In the case of futurestate VSM, the demand per day should be taken as 240 squares instead of 160 tocalculate the inventory details. Another important aspect in VSM is the calculation ofprocess ratio. As explained earlier, the process ratio is defined as the ratio of VA timeand total production lead time. For instance, from the future state VSM (Figure 5), thesum of VA time of all stages is found to be 740 seconds, while the total production leadtime, which includes the waiting time of the parts before the machines in the form ofinventory, is found to be 1.45 days or 41,760 seconds. Hence, the process ratio of futurestate VSM is 740/41,760 ¼ 0.018. In a similar way, the process ratio for current stateVSM is also calculated.Apart from this, the results obtained from the simulation models have revealed that thecase organisation can achieve the following benefits:

. The distance a part travelled from raw material to finished products such aswindows/doors got reduced. When the organisation had the existing layout(Figure 5), the total distance travelled by the part is found to be 62 metres.

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Table VI.Comparison of

performance measures ofthe case organisation for

the current state andfuture state VSMs


465

After the revised layout, the travel distance from profile storage to dispatch isfound to be 54 metres, a reduction of about 8 metres per window.

. Inventory level at various stages can be reduced drastically by 76 per cent on anaverage. For instance, the WIP of windows after 30 days of simulation was foundto be 1,248 numbers, which can be reduced to just 299 windows in the future state.

. The introduction of kaizen and line balancing has resulted in a reduction in cycletime at various stages of the manufacturing line. Hence, the total number ofwindows that can be produced may increase by 28.5 per cent. If further processimprovements are undertaken, then the entire shop can become more productiveand it can meet the future demands of 85 windows per day with the existingcapacity itself.

To obtain these benefits, the engineers have planned to implement the followingelements: VSM, process simplification, line balancing, layout change, job enlargement,floor space reduction, etc. However, since the case organisation has just started withthe LM implementation, other LM elements such as kanban system, pull system, mixedmodel manufacturing/scheduling, load levelling and other supplier-related elements,etc. are not implemented. This may be taken up in the future.

6.1 ValidationThe simulated values were verified by checking the same with the company personnel.It was found that most of the simulated values are matching. For instance, due to thechanged layout, the distance a part travelled from raw material to finished products suchas windows/doors got reduced. According to the simulation model, the total distancetravelled by the part from profile storage to dispatch is found to be 62 metres in thecurrent state layout. However, in reality, it was around 66 metres on an average, whilethe travel distance after revising the layout is found to be 51 metres, a reduction of about15 metres per window. In addition to the elements that were planned, the caseorganisation also implemented the following additional LM elements, as advised bytheir external consultants.

5S. It refers to five different stages for housekeeping. To provide a confidence to theworkers about the LM principles, the engineers actually started their lean journey withthe 5S implementation in various areas. They trained the shop floor employees on 5Sconcepts and the employees were made to identify unnecessary objects, which wereremoved from the work places. Further, the employees are trained on how to keep thework environment clean and ensure that they clean their work place before and after theshift. Similarly, they were encouraged to keep the tools, fixtures and other accessories inclearly marked positions and those who maintain it properly were rewarded everymonth, based on the 5S audit. This improved the motivation of employees and numerous5S activities were carried out at different stages of manufacturing, which ensured thattheir work environment was clean. Similarly, all the production stages were properlyidentified based on the process carried out, the gangways are marked and tools are keptin proper position. Naturally, these activities resulted in productivity improvement(Sridhar, 2007). Plate 1 shows a sample 5S implementation in the storage of PVC squaresin profile storage area, which are stored according to its sizes.

Suggestion schemes. The suggestion schemes, which was introduced as part ofoperator’s involvement resulted in many improvement ideas and one of the idea

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was provided by the operator from the reinforcement assembly stage. In this stage, oneof the activities is to insert a wool pile into the PVC block. Previously, these wool pile,which is in the form of a roll, are kept over the table, unrolled, cut according to the lengthof the PVC and then it is inserted. It took a significant amount of time. Later, the operatorgave an idea of mounting the pile roll in a shaft on the table, which facilitated easyun-rolling. The wool pile is inserted directly in the PVC block for the desired length andthen it was cut. This simple idea eliminated unnecessary measurement activity beforecutting and thereby reduced the cycle time (Sridhar, 2007).

Although, various LM elements as mentioned above were implemented, the caseorganisation could not drastically reduce the inventory as predicted in the future statemap. They could reduce only by half of the current state map, as the supervisor and histeam of employees were hesitant in reducing it to such a low level. Since, the processvariability and supplier variability are not yet improved; the operation manager andsupervisor still preferred having some WIP. Nonetheless, the case organisation hasachieved a significant improvement and with the continuous efforts from the LM teamthe inventory can be slowly reduced by implementing additional LM elements.

7. ConclusionsThis paper started with the claim that one of the reasons for an organisation’s failure intheir LM implementation efforts is due to the fact that the managers do not fullyunderstand “how an organisation will be after it gets transformed by the principles ofLM”. Even though VSM can resolve the above issue to some extent, the literature reviewrevealed that it suffers from various shortcomings. Researchers have commentedthat simulation can be utilised along with the VSM. However, most of the simulationstudies in the literature focused on studying about the LM elements such as kanbans

Plate 1.A sample 5S

implementation in thestorage of PVC squaresin profile storage area

Source: Sridhar (2007)


467

(finding the optimal number of kanbans), push and pull systems (comparison),mixed model assembly (sequencing and scheduling), etc. Other LM elements such asmulti-machine activity ( job enlargement), cycle time reduction, process improvements,etc. have not been given adequate importance. This paper attempted to overcome allthese issues by using simulation in conjunction with VSM to model the current state andfuture state VSM of a door and window manufacturing organisation following a jobshop production system/process. A literature review related to case studies of LMimplementation too revealed that no case study exists which described theimplementation of LM in such an organisation.

Thus, utilising the simulation models, the impact of implementing some of the basicLM tools such as line balancing, multi-machine activity, 5S, etc. on the performance ofthe organisation was analysed by comparing the performance measures for current andfuture state VSM. It was found that there was significant improvement in theproductivity, while there was significant reduction in inventory, cycle time, floor space,manpower, etc. Thus, these simulation models also proved effective for the managersand engineers to actually see and feel how their manufacturing system will be in thefuture before the actual design of LMS. It should be noted here that the case organisationhas just started off with their LM implementation efforts and hence only a few LMelements such as line balancing, job enlargement, layout change, process improvements,5S, etc. have been implemented and advanced LM elements such as kanban, pull system,load levelling, etc. are not implemented. However, it can be concluded that theorganisation is in the right track of LM implementation and if the managers andengineers of the organisation implement the remaining LM elements properly, then thecase organisation ABCL is bound to achieve a superior competitive advantage over itscompetitors in the near future.

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About the authorsAnand Gurumurthy is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Group of BirlaInstitute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India. He completed his PhD in the area of LMand ME degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering at BITS, Pilani, India, while he received hisBE degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Madras, India. He has around sevenyears of teaching/research experience and two years of industrial experience as a ProductionEngineer with one of India’s leading industrial houses – the TVS Group. He has published around25 papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals and presented many papers

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in various national/international conferences. His current research interests include LM,operations management, maintenance management and world-class manufacturing (WCM).

Rambabu Kodali is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Group of BITS, Pilani, India.He is also the “Group Leader” of both the Mechanical Engineering Group and EngineeringTechnology Group, since 1994 and 2004, respectively. Till date, he has around 25 years ofteaching/research experience and 15 years of administrative experience as a Group Leader. He haspublished around 200 papers in various national and international journals and has been aninvited speaker for various national/international conferences. His research areas are:manufacturing excellence/WCM, LM systems, supply chain management, computer-integratedmanufacturing systems (CIMS), flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), world-class maintenancesystems and innovative product design and development. He has completed several researchprojects in CIMS, FMS and WCM. He has developed the curriculum of 16 integrated first-degree,higher-degree, work-integrated learning and collaborative learning programmes apart fromestablishing the FMS Laboratory at BITS, Pilani. Rambabu Kodali is the corresponding authorand can be contacted at: [email protected]


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