Application of ORFPM system for lean implementation: an industrial case study

Abstract

This paper presents an on-line radio frequency identification (RFID)-based facility performance monitoring (ORFPM) system. This system supports the implementation of Lean production in a small manufacturing facility. This system uses wireless monitoring via RFID to automatically generate a real-time value stream map (VSM) using computer-aided programming. Creating the VSM automatically saves time, reduces errors, and makes the VSM more visible to supervisors at any time. This up-to-date information allows supervisors to make more accurate, real-time shop floor decisions. The results of this study indicate that the ORFPM system can successfully track performance variations when production has low time consumption requirements and is labor intensive. Several Lean improvement suggestions are also proposed based on the collected data from the ORFPM system.