Track: Lean

Abstract

The increasing and intense competition between companies in the market has become tremendously aggressive. Manufacturing systems have had many modifications in the past decades to increase profitability. Therefore, manufacturers search for strategies to keep them competitive in the market. The lean manufacturing methodology is one of the most popular techniques/strategies that take the production system ahead. The main idea of lean manufacturing is to help the manufacturers make the best use of available resources with minimum waste. It focuses on increasing the profit by reducing the cost through reducing and eliminating different types of waste. Lean manufacturing has various tools that are used to eliminate waste. This paper includes a step-by-step methodology to implement lean techniques in a meat manufacturing factory in Egypt. This methodology can be implemented anywhere in similar organizations. It focuses on the use of innovative mechanical solutions to minimize production waste. The case study was carried out in one of the leading meat factories in Egypt. The factory seeks to implement a lean manufacturing methodology for the luncheon production line. After several visits to the factory, the different types of waste and the current state of luncheon production were identified by Gemba walk and value stream mapping. Several production improvement cases are suggested/implemented using Kaizen, 5S, and mechanical solutions to minimize production waste. Implementing lean manufacturing in the meat factory results in a 61% increase in productivity, NVA time has decreased by 47%, and the total number of workers is decreased by 20%.The increasing and intense competition between companies in the market has become tremendously aggressive. Manufacturing systems have had many modifications in the past decades to increase profitability. Therefore, manufacturers search for strategies to keep them competitive in the market. The lean manufacturing methodology is one of the most popular techniques/strategies that take the production system ahead. The main idea of lean manufacturing is to help the manufacturers make the best use of available resources with minimum waste. It focuses on increasing the profit by reducing the cost through reducing and eliminating different types of waste. Lean manufacturing has various tools that are used to eliminate waste. This paper includes a step-by-step methodology to implement lean techniques in a meat manufacturing factory in Egypt. This methodology can be implemented anywhere in similar organizations. It focuses on the use of innovative mechanical solutions to minimize production waste. The case study was carried out in one of the leading meat factories in Egypt. The factory seeks to implement a lean manufacturing methodology for the luncheon production line. After several visits to the factory, the different types of waste and the current state of luncheon production were identified by Gemba walk and value stream mapping. Several production improvement cases are suggested/implemented using Kaizen, 5S, and mechanical solutions to minimize production waste. Implementing lean manufacturing in the meat factory results in a 61% increase in productivity, NVA time has decreased by 47%, and the total number of workers is decreased by 20%.