Implementing lean-kaizen for manufacturing operations improvement: a case-study in the plastics industry

Lean manufacturing is concerned with the implementation of several tools and techniques that aim for the continuous elimination of waste in order to achieve competitive production systems. This research addresses the implementation of lean-kaizen concept and related techniques as part of a framework to achieve lean operation in a small-medium sized plastic bag manufacturing enterprise. The primary goal is to implement the lean-kaizen methodology to eliminate/reduce cycle time waste for the material mixing and roll formation processes in the manufacturing operation under study. The current state map was constructed, the processes identified for cycle time reductions were considered as well as the future state map was developed that served as a guide for lean-kaizen implementation. Root causes of waste were identified and two kaizen events were proposed as solutions. In the first kaizen event, the poka-yoke technique was used to automate the mixing process and eliminate variation and, for the second kaizen event, process standardisation was achieved in the roll formation process. As a result of implementing kaizen events, total cycle time was reduced and, consequently, productivity performance has increased to 94.7%.