Lean manufacturing in a mass customization plant : improved efficiencies in raw material presentation

This thesis focuses on the application of the principles of lean manufacturing at Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (VSEA). The company faces the challenges of highly customized assembly as well as fluctuating demand, both of which cause lead times that are longer than expected. Value Stream Mapping was used to identify the main sources of waste in the VSEA manufacturing plant. After evaluating all factors contributing to longer cycle times, it was found that one of the main problems encountered by VSEA was unorganized presentation of raw material to the shop floor. Using the 5S methodology, a framework was created to appropriately categorize the raw material into smaller groups, and deliver them to the flow line according to Just-in-Time (JIT) principles. After the new presentation method for raw material is implemented, the cycle time will be reduced by 6% due to the elimination of the non value added activity from the process. In addition, the first steps toward kaizen process improvement will be in place.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Daneshmand, Moojan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Stephen C. Graves.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69485

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69485