| The purpose of this study was implementation of lean manufacturing to improve productivity for machine tool manufacturers. The Toyota Production System was developed to eliminate waste from a high-volume production operation. As such, it continues to provide a model for the world that high-volume producers would do well to follow. But while between 80% to 90% of the concepts, such as pull scheduling, quick changeover, elimination of waste and deployment of teams work equally well in small to medium-volume production, deploying lean manufacturing exercises different priorities when it comes to smaller-volume shops such as machine tool industry. In such operations, high variety coupled with low volume is often the rule, and faster machines, or even rows of straightforward and efficient equipment are not the answer. Reducing lead-time, changeover time, setup time, and time between operations are critical main targets reducing cost. The study focused on floor time reduction strategies; floor time is the manufacturing time from parts delivery to the end of the manufacturing process. To meet the productivity targets set by Mazak, the researcher reduced by 85% the parts assembled by workers at the end of the manufacturing process. The researcher implemented a process in which workers simultaneously assembled many parts into integrated units which were then assembled in the final assembly area. This new process, known as the Modular Assembly System, resulted in a significant reduction in unnecessary and repetitive work and achieved the goals set by management. This study describes the implementation of this new assembly system and documents its advantages over the previous conventional assembly system. |
