Success Stories

In the first phase, the focus was on various techniques to simplify and improve work practices. The application of those techniques enabled the participants to separate valuable motions from unnecessary motions in order to improve and standardize all work methods factory-wide resulting in reduced product cycle time.

The second phase of the Lean program consists of mapping the utilization of manufacturing resources by observing the practices and management concepts and the flow of raw materials and parts from stores, through manufacturing and up to the final shipping area. The participants learned how to create and apply the current state Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and other tools to identify the wastes and to evaluate the impact of manufacturing resources on productivity and manufacturing costs.

The third phase consisted of troubleshooting the current state VSM and generating new ideas leading to the design of the future state. This design emphasizes simplification and standardization of work practices, management systems and the team-based concept, the application of various balancing techniques to pull productivity at the pace of the production teams and how to ensure quality is monitored at the source. It also includes the adaption of 5S principles for workplace organization, one of the foundations of Lean manufacturing.

Here the goal is to include the entire workforce in order to eradicate resistance and to prove the feasibility of the New Concept (combined set-up, Lean tools and work practices).

In this regard, the new ideas were summarized, prioritized and scheduled into an action plan known as a Kaizen events worksheet as part of operational planning. The action plan covered the key improvement activities carried out by the participants during a pilot trial which demonstrates the identified results in the Lean Metrics and overall achievements chart. Some of the results are provided by country on this page.