IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i22p15319-d976502.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Continuous Improvement for Cost Savings in the Automotive Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Matope

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa)

  • Gibson P. Chirinda

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa)

  • Blessed Sarema

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa)

Abstract

Today’s manufacturing environment is characterized by rising production costs. Automotive companies are faced with a challenge of meeting the ever-changing customer needs at the minimum possible cost. Reducing the production costs is of paramount importance for a company to remain competitive in a turbulent environment. How can companies in the automotive industry increase cost savings? This paper focuses on continuous improvement for cost savings in the automotive industry. This was conducted at an automotive production line using the work-study technique. Time and method studies were conducted on the production line of one of the products. This was done under these objectives: to identify excess raw material input and non-value adding activities in the product line, to determine current factory capacity, to determine factory capacity utilization, and to implement improvements on the product line so as to increase productivity. The daily target at the company was eight complete units per shift, and the research explored the potentials of increasing that daily target with little to no increase in the number of operators and workstations. The results demonstrate an increase in productivity by 50% by adding one more workstation and one more operator at the surface finishing station. This was successfully implemented and the company is now producing 12 units per shift.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Matope & Gibson P. Chirinda & Blessed Sarema, 2022. "Continuous Improvement for Cost Savings in the Automotive Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15319-:d:976502
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15319/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15319/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juan A. Marin-Garcia & Julio J. Garcia-Sabater & Tomas Bonavia, 2009. "The impact of Kaizen Events on improving the performance of automotive components' first-tier suppliers," International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(4), pages 362-376.
    2. Richard A. Reid, 2006. "Productivity and quality improvement: an implementation framework," International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1/2), pages 26-36.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. J. Vicente Tébar-Rubio & F. Javier Ramírez & M. José Ruiz-Ortega, 2023. "Conducting Action Research to Improve Operational Efficiency in Manufacturing: The Case of a First-Tier Automotive Supplier," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 427-459, June.
    2. Oscar Morell-Santandreu & Cristina Santandreu-Mascarell & Julio García-Sabater, 2020. "Sustainability and Kaizen: Business Model Trends in Healthcare," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-28, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15319-:d:976502. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.