Lean manufacturing concepts in wet grinder assembly line through value state mapping

Abstract

The current focus of modern manufacturing is to convert the raw material to the finished goods with zero wastage and at least-cost. Lean manufacturing approach is considered as a successful strategy that minimises the non-value added activities (waste). Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the tools in lean manufacturing to understand the value added and non-value added activities in the entire system. Such approach has not been explicitly practiced in wet grinder manufacturing system. An attempt has been made in this paper to systematically evaluate current state mapping (CSM) and implement future state mapping (FSM) in a wet grinder manufacturing system. CSM describes the present VSM and other activities that influence it. CSM has been developed by careful observation of cycle time, change over time and non-value added activities. The objective of this study is to minimise the non-value added activities and achieve the required TAKT time. The FSM is arrived by incorporating various improvements in the assembly line.