ABSTRACT

PROCESS
IMPROVEMENT

IBRAHIM JAITEH
1825750

02 AUG 2019
Ibrahim Jaiteh 1825750

Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 1
Background ................................................................................................................................. 2
Product overview ......................................................................................................................... 3
Selecting the process.............................................................................................................................. 4
Analyzing the Problem ................................................................................................................. 5
Key performance indicator ........................................................................................................... 6
Improving the Process…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10
Proposal………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11
Implementation Plan…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13
Follow up…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14

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Abstract
The goal of lean philosophy is to eliminate or decrease waste and deliver value
to the customer. To successfully implement lean principles in a manufacturing
sector. Management has been trying to apply some lean principles to improve
the product cycle time.
This paper uses value stream mapping (VSM) as a lean principle in the
production phase, and inventory control systems, to identify areas for possible
improvement. Key performance indicator, parelo analysis tools to analyse the
current production state, diagnose waste and their root causes, and finally
propose improvement for the future state. To investigate the productivity of
the production line and implement lean principles.
“process improvement often involves measurement, both as a diagnostic tool
and as a monitoring tool to measure progress and results” (Grunberg, 2003).
Pareto principle, value stream mapping as well as key performance indicator
are employed to model areas for improvement. The hypothesis of lean
principle works for all types of business.
“The basic need of any process is to produce goods or to provide services,
while conforming to environmental restrictions that maintain; consistency,
quality, cost effectiveness” (Marr, sept 2, 2018).

Background
Access Storage has been operating for 10 years supplying major UK
retailers/wholesaler storage and warehouse equipment’s. We design,
manufacture and assemble the complete unit, packaged and ship to customer.
However, we have a traditional system of push system approach to
production, creating lots of inventory (waste), the blame has always fall into
the welders but there is more to the story for lost production time. In this
report will investigate the assembly process and how to implement lean and
other improvement methods to ease the flow of products and deliver it on
time.

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Parts flow from different departments of the company to be assemble by

welders. The machine shop which is a separate unit across the road, forms the
material to various sizes and shapes required.
I started work there with the view and aspiration to assist in developing a more
lean and agile production system.
Below is an example of 1 product out of 48, of a typical product, that we
manufacture from raw material into finish ready to use products.

Figure 1 Heavy duty 4 step

Production overview
The operation of the organisation is transforming raw material (input) i.e.
sheet metal, steel sections into finish goods (output). The machine shop
produces formed parts for welders to join as final assembly with help of jigs
and fixtures.
There are 2 categories to our production
 Bespoke production (one off)
 Repeat production (Batch productions that’s repetitive)

Our Capabilities;
 Bandsaw
 Bending machine
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 Folding machine
 Turret press
 Hydraulic Press
Team Members
We are small company with a team of 6 employees.

Figure 2 company position

Selecting the Processes

A process is the steps taken to achieve a goal, e.g. manufacturing process,
production assembly process, invoicing process etc. Process outlines the
procedure to follow in situ. E.g. manufacture of a component would begin with
the design, selection of material, ordering of raw materials and fabrication.
“One of the first people to describe business processes was Adam Smith (1776)
in his famous example of a pin factory. Since then business processes have
evolved and better defined. A business process defines the various activities
involved in achieving a goal. Business processes briefly describe the chain
of events that are involved in an activity or a group of activities. It is common
to use a business process if the activities influence current products or data
and bring about production”. (Bhat, 2015)
The selection of processes for improvement came as part of the plan to
improve the overall production system. Below are some of the issues affecting
the company.
 Over production of parts and no control measures in place.
 Flow of parts for assembly not centralised
 Inefficient Product Cycle time
 Lack of inventory control system

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Below is the flowchart of the production process;

Figure 3 input/output Diagram

The management is responsible for process improvement. It’s important to

identify the key areas, each step must be analysed to see possible
improvements. In production; improvements is required to cut cost, to
optimise profit, to improve production time.
Systems developed such as six sigma, lean principles, pareto’s model, good
manufacturing practice to improve and maximise gain and effectiveness.
Businesses today require constant methods of improvements and adaptation
to compete effectively.
There are many factors that influence businesses to improve on processes, this
might be internal or external factors such as government regulations, market
competition, economy, internal poor ineffective operation etc.
Effective Process design is fundamental in production. Delivery should meet
customer expectation.
In addition, improving processes;
 Start from the top
 Get everyone involved to enforce change.
 Understand the current process and apply continues improvement
plans.

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Below table outlines traditional system of work and lean work environment.
TRADITIONAL LEAN
Complex Simple and visual
Management by status reporting Management by sight
Push System Inventory as needed
Just in case inventory Single item or small lot size
Batch production Minimal lead time
Long lead time Quality built in
Functionally managed Value Stream managed
Figure 4 Tradition vs Lean

In a lean system abnormality are easily seen, management creates a culture of

problem solvers. Ensures teams goal supports vision.
The Assembly process is the core of the whole production system, it the final
transformation of the whole input to the output that’s is of value to the
customer.
My organisation is involved in manufacturing of storage equipment. The
company supply to retail chains around the UK. Assembly process for a typical
product can sometime be a little bit of a challenges.
The assembly process involves welding of various part that are cut to size,
drilled and formed. The process has a negligible scrap rate. Although the
assembly department is effective and produce quality product. however, set
up time and access to parts on time always a challenge, thus creating waste
time in the production cycle. Making parts readily available to welders can help
product cycle time.

Analysing the problem

One of the tools used in analysing the problems is the application of Parelo
Principle.
parelo analysis also known as the 80/20 rule which states that 80% of the
problems can be solved applying 20% of the solutions. This principle is applied
in various operations including manufacturing of products.
The Assembly time been an issue in the company, applying the parelo
principle, we can identify areas that we can focus to improve production time
to meet customer demand. Below is list of some of the problem areas that is
identified to having effects on the production time, to meet both customer and

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management expectation. Parelo principle is the outline of critical few vs trivial

few.
Processes Results out Accumulative results Accumulative %
of 10
Set up time 10 10 20%
Storage 8 18 78%
Workshop 7 25 51%
Layout
Jigs 7 32 65%
Equipment 6 38 78%
operations 6 44 90%
Design 5 49 100%
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Figure 5 Parelo data table

Table of data issues scored out of 10 for effectiveness

Figure 6 Parelo Chart

Applying the parelo chart, we can determine the 20% focus area;
 Equipment, getting the right equipment to speed up assembly time
 Operations, this include the pre-assembly processes i.e. forming process,
punching and cutting of materials ready for final assembly.
 Design; This has to do with access to design of the parts rather than
looking for templates or relying on previous knowledge of the part
assembly.

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Focussing on above critical few (target Value) will have significant

improvement to assembly time.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

The Key measure taken from the parelo analysis, point out to some of the
following manufacturing processes that can also be measured through KPI’s;
 Inventory Control
 Employee participation
 Consumer demand management
 Equipment Management
 Cycle time
We are going to particularly look at the cycle time KPI. The key aspect to the
process is that, its all handled by people, so you can rely on informed decisions.
However, its often noted that the cycle time recorded in the form of
timesheets can sometimes be unreliable, due to inaccuracies in reporting.
Manufacturing Cycle time
In the business of production, time is money. The delivery of product on time is
the key to success in manufacturing. Cycle time measures the amount of time
taken from the beginning to the end of the process as defined. It helps floor
managers to improve and optimize the processes for better output.
To optimize resources, workflow, and the time it will take to complete the
project, its important to understand the difference between TAKT time, Cycle
time, and Lead time.
Cycle Time; Starts when an operation begins to the end.
Lead time; begins when the customer sends an order to when its delivered
TAKT time; The speed at which the product needs created to satisfy the need
of the customer.

The TAKT time formula = Net time for production/customer daily demand

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Cycle time is a key performance indicator, below is the cycle time for the
Heavy duty 4 step.
Cycle time
Analysis: base on one operator
Process: Number of operations
Unit: Cycle time in (mins)
Product: Heavy duty 4 steps

Set up time (mins) Number of opertions Cycle time Notes

45 cutting 7
Bending 2
Punching 3
Welding 30
Drilling 3
Packaging 10
Total: 55

Figure 7 Cycle time kpi data

Cycle time without the set-up time = 55mins.

A day working hours of 7.5 hrs = 450mins
Number of products produce in 1 day = 450/55
= 8 units a day
Customer order 20 to 100 units
Customer lead time = 10 days for product delivery
To meet customer, demand the operator must produce at least 10unit a day.
To allow other value-added activities. E.g. powder coating, final assembly,
packaging and delivery.
Target cycle time = 45min per unit.
Bottleneck; In manufacturing, the production line that accumulate the longest
queue is usually the bottleneck. In this Welding assembly and Set up time.
Therefore, improvements must be made for the welding assembly process and
set up time to meet customer demand.

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Improving the Process

“Lean thinking can be summarised in 5 principles: precisely specify value by
the specific product, identify the value stream for each product, make the
value flow without interruptions, let the customer pull value from the
producer, and pursue perfection.” (Womack & Jones, 2003)
The current state Value Stream Map (VSM)

Figure 8 Current VSM

We notice there is huge accumulation of inventory along each process. Deming

introduced the concept that waste in manufacturing came from excessive
inventory. Inventory was considered waste because it tied up capital and
require it be kept in storage until sold. The proposal therefore will be
introduction to production Kanban and Just in time production system, which
will be discussed further.
kaizen methodologies; is another important concept of lean. Improving the
quality in the production line by making small changes to the method of work.
Everyday inexpensive and incremental changes, involving all the employees,
can have tremendous impact to process improvement.
Kaizen method is more to the state of mind than a real method. The approach
also requires participation of all employees and managers. The method
encompasses on PDAC (Plan Do Analyse and Change), TQM (Total Quality
Management) and Single minute exchange or Die.

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To improve production time, set up time must be looked at i.e. access to jigs
when needed, parts availability always, access detail design of products for
reference, work space optimization, quality of preformed parts to enable easy
assembly, tidiness of workplace, and most importantly delivering the products
to customers on time.

Proposal
Tools and technique of lean production system were used to establish the
single flow in the line by implementing;
 Production Kanban
 Just in time (JIT) inventory
 Kaizen Methodology
 5s Systems
Production Kanban
Also, while the company’s production is based on customer requirement, a
common element of Kanban system is our role in holding that stock, rather
than the customer. Keeping stock levels by continuously replenishing without
relying on customer order. This will free up any backlog and allow design and
production of new products.

Figure 9 ECT Trolley

The parts trolley allows ease of access to parts and help management to plan
for production.

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Figure 10 Welding Bay

Easy flow of parts to workstation will reduce product cycle time. This makes
system flexible by reducing set up time and lead time.
Pull system; is a system for moving work where a workstation pills output from
the preceding station as needed.

Just in Time (JIT) inventory control

The goal is to balance a rapid flow of raw material and products when its
needed. JIT is an operational philosophy which improves inventory, it
compliments Kanban system.
With parts and stock readily available for production and customer demand,
there is reduction in lead time, creating more orders from customers.
5s Lean system; represents a Japanese word that describes the steps of a
workplace organization process
 Sort
 Set
 Shine
 Standardize
 Sustain
5’s is based on CANDO acronym developed by Henry Ford to make the work
area more organized and efficient.
 C – cleaning up
 A – Arranging
 N – Neatness
 D – Discipline
 – Ongoing improvement
“In simple terms, the 5s methodology helps workplaces remove items that are
no longer needed (sort). Organise the items to optimize efficiency and flow
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(Straighten). Clean the area in other to more easily identify problems (Shine).
Implement colour coding and labels to stay consistent with other areas
(Standardize). And develop behaviours that keep the workplace organised over
the long term (Sustain).” (Anon., n.d.)

(Anon., n.d.)

Figure 11 5s Poster

Implementation plans
One of the most popular ways to improve manufacturing process is to adopt a
lean management strategy.
Based on current state map, it has become a baseline for improvement, and
for creation of the future state map. Based on the above analysis of problem
affecting the lead time, below is the future map.

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With the future state map, the cycle time for the primary process is reduced,
set up time has reduced, and the 45mins production of heavy duty 4 step
mobile is achieved.

Follow up
The goal of this paper is to introduce a production system which will ease the
flow of parts, reduce cycle time and lead time subsequently. Inventory can be
controlled by production Kanban system in conjunction with Just in time
system.
We can now concentrate more on building efficient jigs and fixtures to further
reduce welding assembly time.
Some of the machine may perhaps be automated, thus creating maximum
value and productivity. With small incremental and continuous improvement,
the company can realise its ambitions of directly selling to customers through
its website and develop more new products for the market.

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References
Anon., n.d. 5today. [Online]
Available at: https://www.5stoday.com/what-is-5s/

Anon., n.d. leansixsigmadefinition.com. [Online]

Available at: leansixsigmadefinition.com/glossary/5s/

Bhat, S., 2015. Business process improvement for Manufacturing And Service industry. Canada:
Shifting Paradigms Publication.

Grunberg, T., 2003. The review of improvement methods in manufacturing operations. emerald
insight, 52(2), pp. pp. 88-89.

Marr, B., sept 2, 2018. enterprise & cloud. Forbes.

Womack, J. P. & Jones, D. T., 2003. Lean Thinking. London: Simon & Schuster.

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Figure 12 A3 Poster

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