Application of Pull Concept-based Lean Production System in the Ship Building Industry

Abstract

Shipbuilding is a convoluted process. The production system of a shipyard can be illustrated by using the concept of a pull production system. Lean is based on the principle of a pull production system. The shipbuilding process is improved significantly but the lean production system is introduced at very small scales. In a shipyard, different types of wastages such as scraps, overproductions, idle times, etc. are produced, lean is a just-in-time production system that can focus on the elimination of these wastages to ensure lower costs and lower production times and higher quality products as well as better service and delivery. Simulation modeling is used to evaluate the performance of the production system and kanban is a pull-type scheduling method that can be used to simulate the pull production system of a shipyard for the optimization analysis. The goals of this article are to identify the important wastages in a shipyard that can increase production time and cost, to design the production system of a shipyard based on lean philosophy, to derive the basic principles of the lean manufacturing as well as to develop the control mechanism of this production system, the simulation analysis of the production system done by using the lean principle, and to identify the limitations for applying the lean production system in a shipyard production.