Application of Lean Manufacturing to Increase Productivity of a Company in the Metalworking Sector

Abstract

The application of lean manufacturing seeks to reduce waste and increase productivity, a problem faced by SMEs in the metal-mechanic sector in Peru, due to the lack of knowledge of the tool and the organizational culture. This investigation was carried out in a mype of the metalworking sector in which, after making a diagnosis using VSM, the low productivity (47%) of the hinge manufacturing process was found as the main problem. The main inputs found in the data collection were high waiting time in the assembly process (52 min), material transportation time (5.85 min) and delay due to access to tools. For this reason, the objective of the research is the application of lean manufacturing to increase the productivity of the company. The selected tools were 5S to reduce disorder and delay in access to tools, SLP to reduce material transportation time, and JIT to reduce waiting time in the assembly process (circulation time). As a result of the application, a 10% increase in productivity and a 60% reduction in the cycle time of the hinge manufacturing process were obtained.