Continuous improvement in maintenance: a case study in the automotive industry involving Lean tools

Abstract

Maintenance function assumes a key role in today’s industry. The automotive industry is not an exception and there are strict rules to comply with. Indeed, the IATF 16949:2016 imposes the implementation of key performance indicator as a mean to control the overall manufacturing performance. This work presents a case study carried out in a multinational company related with the production of parts for the automotive industry where it was necessary to implement key performance indicators to comply with the IATF 16949: 2016 standard and a model was also created for the management of spare parts linked to the maintenance of existing equipment. The introduction of these changes forced the application of some Lean tools, with a view to improving procedures and information flows. The work was completed successfully, and key performance indicators were implemented, whose support data, which is now collected and calculated automatically on a routine basis, and the spare-parts management was validated with a view to optimization of warehouse space and at a conveniently low inventory level in this type of parts, without endangering critical equipment in production. The SMED methodology was applied, which allowed the setup time to be reduced by 11%, and the Lean 5S tool was used to organize the mould exchange activities. An OEE of more than 90% has been achieved.