Implementing continuous flow to reduce lead times in plastic film production
Pönniö, Aki (2016)
Pönniö, Aki
2016
Materiaalitekniikan koulutusohjelma
Teknisten tieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Engineering Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2016-05-04
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201604203844
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201604203844
Tiivistelmä
This thesis focused on implementing more efficient continuous flow in plastic film production. The target of the project was to shorten the lead times in production while reducing the amount of unnecessary work. Reduced unnecessary work enables to confirm customer orders more often as customer requests. The theory was based on Lean methods which were compared with QRM (Quick Response Manufacturing) methods. The old resource efficient mindset was replaced with flow efficient mindset where the focus is on increasing the relative value-added time compared with non-value-added time.
The experimental study consisted of implementing FIFO lanes and standard routes for material families. The requirements of both production steps were considered when production schedules were planned so that it was possible to use exactly the same production plan on both steps. For that reason, it was no longer needed to plan the production separately through the production steps. In the production, the goal after the implementation was to minimize the level of work in progress.
As supportive actions for the continuous flow, the workforce was balanced between shifts and the amount of both teamwork and cross-training were increased. This thesis also included a short literature review about the theory of change management which was later exploited in managing the change. The most important actions of change management were creating dissatisfaction with the current state, obtaining the appropriate levels of participation in planning the change, and forming a clear understanding about the opportunities behind the change.
The results after the implementation were monitored during a two-month monitoring period. The average queuing times between the two production steps decreased by 76.2 – 96.2 % and the flow efficiencies increased significantly. At the same time, the level of the semi-finished goods inventory decreased more than 40 % compared with the aver-age level in 2015. Moreover, confirming the orders as customer had requested increased 35 %. Because of the good results, the plant continued using the implemented continuous flow.
The experimental study consisted of implementing FIFO lanes and standard routes for material families. The requirements of both production steps were considered when production schedules were planned so that it was possible to use exactly the same production plan on both steps. For that reason, it was no longer needed to plan the production separately through the production steps. In the production, the goal after the implementation was to minimize the level of work in progress.
As supportive actions for the continuous flow, the workforce was balanced between shifts and the amount of both teamwork and cross-training were increased. This thesis also included a short literature review about the theory of change management which was later exploited in managing the change. The most important actions of change management were creating dissatisfaction with the current state, obtaining the appropriate levels of participation in planning the change, and forming a clear understanding about the opportunities behind the change.
The results after the implementation were monitored during a two-month monitoring period. The average queuing times between the two production steps decreased by 76.2 – 96.2 % and the flow efficiencies increased significantly. At the same time, the level of the semi-finished goods inventory decreased more than 40 % compared with the aver-age level in 2015. Moreover, confirming the orders as customer had requested increased 35 %. Because of the good results, the plant continued using the implemented continuous flow.