VALUE STREAM MAPPING AND ITS APPLICATIONS IN CONDENSER COIL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Abstract

Companies are experiencing intense competitive pressure due to, globalization and changing competitive environment. SMEs have to improve their production performances & reduce waste. They cannot afford to operate with waste in their process and products. Lean thinking is a philosophy used to reduce wastes and improve production performance. Lean thinking is a part of Toyota production systems. VSM is a technique used to implement lean systems in SME. But many enterprises fail in the process of implementing lean. This paper aims at implementing lean in a coil manufacturing unit using the most important lean manufacturing tool called VSM. It also details the use of VSM in waste reduction, unnecessary inventory and defects. The paper also concludes that lean thinking is applicable to SMEs with some necessary adjustments; Value Stream Mapping can be a valuable tool in revealing improvement potential