Int. J. Lean Enterprise Research, Vol. X, No.

Y, xxxx 1

Case study on identification and elimination of waste

through lean implementation in an automotive part
manufacturing industry

Comment [t1]: Author: Please confirm if A.

Ajit Kumar* Kumar is the corresponding author.

Synthesis Winding Technologies,

Bengaluru, India
Email: ajeetkmr@gmail.com
*Corresponding author

R. Girish Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
R.V. College of Engineering,
Bengaluru, India
Email: girishkumarr@rvce.edu.in

N.S. Narahari
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management,
R.V. College of Engineering,
Bengaluru, India
Email: naraharins@rvce.edu.in

K.M. Mithilesh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
P.E.S. College of Engineering,
Bengaluru, India
Email: mithileshkm4554@gmail.com

Abstract: Lean manufacturing is an operational strategy oriented towards

achieving the shortest possible throughput time by eliminating wastes (Muda).
The research investigation addresses the application of lean manufacturing in
an auto part manufacturer which manufactures critical components of an IC
engine. The main objective of this research investigation was to identify key
areas of non-value added activities by utilising ‘value stream mapping’ (VSM)
and then to propose required changes to reduce throughput time based on the
principles of lean manufacturing. Three different improvements were suggested
as solutions for non-value added activities that were identified in the current
state map, which accounted for 250 hrs of throughput time. A reduction of
140 hrs in the throughput time was estimated by incorporating the
improvements.

Keywords: value stream mapping; VSM; continuous improvement;

productivity improvement; lean manufacturing; LM.

Copyright © 20XX Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

2 A. Kumar et al.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kumar, A., Kumar, R.G.,
Narahari, N.S. and Mithilesh, K.M. (xxxx) ‘Case study on identification and
elimination of waste through lean implementation in an automotive part
manufacturing industry’, Int. J. Lean Enterprise Research, Vol. X, No. Y,
pp.xxx–xxx.

Biographical notes: Comment [t2]: Author: Please provide

biographical details for each author of no more than
100 words per author.

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled [title]

presented at [name, location and date of conference]. Comment [t3]: If a previous version of your
paper has originally been presented at a conference
please complete the statement to this effect or delete
if not applicable.

1 Introduction

Lean manufacturing (LM) also known as Toyota Production System (TPS) has
influenced the manufacturing practices around the world. The concept of LM was
pioneered by a Japanese automotive company, Toyota, during 1950s. The primary goals
of TPS were to reduce the cost and to improve productivity by eliminating wastes
(Womack et al., 1990). Principles of lean are universal as they are broadly accepted by
many manufacturing operations and have been applied successfully across many
disciplines (Holweg, 2007).
 Case study on identification and elimination of waste 3

Applications of lean have spanned many sectors including automotive, electronics,

white goods, and consumer products. Lean techniques focus on eliminating waste within
an organisation. This is done via streamlining of planning and production systems.
There are seven commonly identified wastes which are non-value added activities in
the TPS; waste of overproduction, waste of waiting, waste of transportation, waste due to
over-processing, waste of unnecessary inventory, waste of unnecessary motion and waste
of manufacturing defects.
In this research, the benefits of LM implementation has been demonstrated to identify
the non-value added activities in the organisation’s manufacturing line and then provide
suitable solutions for reducing them.
Puvanasvaran et al. (2009) showed that the company which is in the early stage to
achieve LM must keep its efforts for an effective communication process at all levels.
Despite the huge benefits gained from LM implementation, in reality not many
companies are successful to implement this system. There are numerous reported
problems for the failures of LM implementation. A survey by Nordin et al. (2010)
revealed the main barriers that prevent or delay the lean implementation were the lack of
understanding and management attitudes.
LM consists of a large number of tools and techniques. Shah and Ward (2003)
identified 22 LM practices and categorised them into four bundles associated with
just-in-time (JIT), total quality management, total preventive management and human
resource. Other researchers also categorised the lean tools and techniques according to
the area of implementation (Abdulmalek and Rajgopal, 2007). Among the tools of LM,
value stream mapping (VSM) is a powerful tool used for identifying waste in an
organisation. Rother and Shook (1999) describes VSM as pencil and paper tool that helps
to see and understand the flow of material and information as the product makes it to the
value stream.
Sakthidhasan and Vendan (2010) addressed the application of LM concepts to the
continuous production sector with a focus on the motor manufacturing industry. The goal
of the research was to investigate how LM tools could be adapted from the discrete to the
continuous manufacturing environment. Whereas Thyla and Rajenthira Kumar (2011)
addressed this principles in an automotive component manufacturing company with focus
on tube sub assembly line. The main objective was to develop several strategies to
eliminate waste on the shop floor. This study described how VSM and other suite of lean
tools such as kaizen can be used to map the current state of a production line and design a
desired future state. Kuhlang et al. (2011) integrated VSM with the principle of method
time measurement (MTM) for removing the waste in the assembly and logistic
department of the organisation. Shabeena Begam et al. (2011) reviewed current
manufacturing practices in a brake actuator manufacturing industry and visually
identified waste based on the comparison and input review of a modelled step by step
procedure that was proposed to infuse the lean concept implementation. Chen and Meng
(2010) proposed a VSM-based lean production system for Chinese enterprises to help
them deploy lean production systematically, which could make them have an overall look
at the total efficiency, and provide guidance to implement LM in those organisations.
All the principles identified by researchers over a period of time cannot be
implemented independently. They are basically complementary to each other and require
integrative approach, broad-ranging and system-wide changes in order to improve an
organisation’s performance.
4 A. Kumar et al.

2 Objectives and research methodology

2.1 Objectives
The main objective of this research was to develop a lean compliancy that can help a
manufacturing industry to eliminate waste, maintain better inventory control and to
obtain better overall financial and operational control. VSM is utilised to identify the
wastes in the crank shaft manufacturing line of the organisation and provide solutions to
reduce the throughput time of the process.

2.2 Research methodology

The research was carried out by collecting data while walking along the actual pathways
of material and information flow. The data collection began at the shipping end and
worked towards the upstream processes. Appropriate data was collected as per the
requirement. The current conditions of the manufacturing system were all mapped to
develop a single page picture of the entire operation. The information in current state map
were then analysed to identify various wastes and other non-value added activities that
affected the throughput time. The reengineered process was drawn on a new flow chart
known as the future state map. It shows all the steps and information flows in a
redesigned, simplified and in a more efficient way.

3 Data from the current manufacturing system

Investigation is the first step in VSM. A visit to the production line gives an opportunity
to record observations such as data regarding material flow information flow and
personnel flow. Data such as process detail, machine detail, cycle time, rejection rate,
etc., can be recorded.

3.1 Product family matrix

A product family, also known as a process family is a group of products or services that
go through the same or similar processing steps. Usually, an enterprise manufactures
products different in volume and variety based on the business plan. Hence, this step of
identifying product family by matrix method is helpful to singularise the product among
its variants.
To identify the product family, a matrix is drawn as shown in Table 1. Along the top
row, all the process steps the organisation performs on its products are written. In the first
column, the part types (for example, components, stock keeping units, finished good
items or services) the organisation makes or provides are noted. An ‘X’ is placed in the
corresponding box if the part goes through the processing step. The matrix is examined
and those parts that go through similar or the exact same processing steps are looked for.
Those items or parts that share many of the same steps and procedures as the product
family are considered.
 IS07
CS04

BS06
BS05
CS03
CS02
CS01
Date:

Process
Rev. no.:
Process no.

Components
1

X
X

X
X
X
X
X

Facing and centring

2

X
X
X
X

X
X
X

Rough turning
1
3

X
X
X
X

X
X
X

Finish turning
28-Dec-11

Crank pin bore drilling, face milling, boring and chamfering, flange
4

X
X
X
X

face milling
5

Case carburising
Square side facing, drilling, counter boring, chamfering, undercut,
6

square machining
Product family matrix

X
X
X
X

Thread rolling
8

X
X

X
X

Deep hole drilling

Line no.:

Counter drilling, tapping, cross hole drilling, keyway milling, oil

9

X
X

X
X
X
X
Component type:

hole drilling and chamfering

X
X
X

X
10

Sprocket shaping/spline hobbing

X
X

X
X
X

Deburring
X
X
X

Induction hardening (sprocket outer dia, crank pin bore dia)

X

X
X

Tempering
Line 6

X Induction hardening (bearing dia, taper dia)

Crank shaft

X
Shot blasting

Note: The component that shares maximum number of process with other components will represent the process family.
X
X

X
X
X
X

X
OD and face grinding

X
X
X
X
Crank pin bore, face grinding and chamfering

X
OD polishing

X
Stem face slot milling

X
Induction hardening (slot width)

X
X

X
Laser marking

X
X
X

X
X

X
Crack inspection and demagnetising

X
X
X

X
X
Stage inspection

X
Connecting rod and bearing assembly

X
Crank pin and plug assembly

X
X
Crank shaft assembly

X
X
Gear assembly

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
Final inspection

X
X

X
X
X
X

X
Packing

X
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Shipping

X 19

X 14
X 13
X 16
X 14

X 10
27
No. of process followed
Product family matrix for crank shaft components Table 1
5 Case study on identification and elimination of waste
6 A. Kumar et al.

The product family matrix created for this research is shown in Table 1. From Table 1, it
is clear that CS04 component shares the maximum number of processes among its
variants. Hence, further process of value stream shall be performed on this component.
CS04 is an assembled crank shaft component which consists of CS041 (left crank shaft)
and CS042 (right crank shaft) which are manufactured in crank shaft line. It also includes
other sub-assemblies like connecting rod, crank pin, gear, bearing and crank pin plug
which are purchased from the supplier.

3.2 Cycle time evaluation

Cycle time evaluation was performed in order to gather the information on the value
added time for each process. It is a structured process of directly observing and
measuring the machining time and human work in order to establish the time required for
completion of that work. Cycle time was recorded for individual operations using a stop
watch and pre-defined tables. The recorded cycle times revealed how well the current
operation is doing in relation to takt time. A minimum of ten trials were measured for
each operation.

3.3 Takt time

Takt time refers to the rate at which customers are demanding products from the
production line. It is the ratio of total operating time per day to daily demand. Takt time
is used to synchronise the pace of production with the pace of sales. The cycle time of the
processes are graphically represented in Figure 1. It is seen that process numbers 4, 9 and
10 exceed the takt time; hence these processes were represented as bottle neck operations.

Figure 1 Cycle times for all crank shaft processes (see online version for colours)

3.4 Developing current state map – VSM

VSM is developed by systematically connecting a set of symbols or icons to form a
complete representation of the processes flow that occurs in the organisation. From the
data obtained earlier in cycle time evaluation and also from the data collected by walking
along the path of the product flow, the current state of the crank shaft line was mapped.
The current state map (Figure 2) illustrates how the organisation’s processes perform in
today’s work environment.
 Case study on identification and elimination of waste 7

Figure 2 Current state map of crank shaft line with wastes identified (see online version
for colours)

Mapping starts with customer, placed in the upper right hand region of the map. The
customer schedule is communicated electronically through e-mail or portal schedule
which is represented by using electronic information icon.
The information is received by the supply chain department, represented by a
production control icon. The schedule processed by the supply chain department is
communicated to the supplier through e-mail. The procured material is moved to the
storage area, represented by a triangular shape inventory icon. The manufacturing
processes are represented using process boxes which are aligned from left to right. The
process box contains various data that were collected earlier. Small inventory icons are
placed between the operations which represents work in process (WIP) material between
those operations. Timeline is drawn under every process boxes to compile the production
throughput time.

3.5 Identifying wastes in existing system

Identifying wastes becomes easier once the current state value stream map is fully
developed. The wastes identified in current state map are among the seven wastes
classified by TPS which are highlighted in Figure 2.
8 A. Kumar et al.

3.5.1 Bottleneck in the production line

By analysing the cycle time and takt time (Figure 1) it can be observed that process
numbers 4, 9 and10 of CS041 crank shaft production project as bottleneck operations.
The cause for the bottleneck in processes 4 and 9 are due to the multiple operations
performed in those particular machines. Whereas in process 10, the sprocket shaping
requires slow rate of material removal to maintain better quality of the product, hence the
cycle time of this process is high.

3.5.2 Excess inventory/WIP and waiting time between operations

During the process walk-through in the workshop, lot of observations were made on
stock of raw materials and WIP between machines. By analysing the current state map
(Figure 2) one can observe many areas with excess inventory. Some of the areas with
excess inventories and queuing inventories are:
• a stock of 3,000 numbers of raw material inventories with a waiting time of 48.5 hrs
which is one of the major contributors for high throughput time
• 32 hrs of waiting time for the WIP materials lying between pre-heat treatment
machining and heat treatment stage which is a large non-value added activity
• 72 hrs of queuing time observed for component CS041 waiting for assembly.

3.5.3 Identification of transportation waste

Waste of transportation can involve raw components, sub-assemblies, empty boxes or
just about anything that is required for production. By using the principle of spaghetti
diagram, movements of components CS041 and CS042 were traced which are exhibited
in Figure 4. This diagram depicts the flow of the product between operations and
highlights the regions where the continuous flow of the material is not achieved.

4 Redesigning the manufacturing system

The improvements for reducing/eliminating the wastes that were identified in the
previous section are provided using the principles of LM. Three improvements were
suggested, which work towards the reduction of throughput time and increasing the
productivity.

4.1 JIT implementation using supply chain management software

JIT is a principle which ensures that the material becomes available as needed to support
activities sans stockpile of excess material. The same principle can be implied into this
organisation so that the inventory can be effectively and efficiently controlled. The
supply chain management (SCM) software called ‘Planvisage SCM Client 1.0’ was in
place in the organisation to overcome this problem.
 Case study on identification and elimination of waste 9

Planvisage helped to solve their supply chain problems by eliminating the supply
chain inefficiencies. It offers a SCM software suite which is scalable, cost-effective and
performs production planning, shop floor scheduling, demand planning, forecasting,
replenishment planning and production execution. This software also helps in generating
capacity and material plans based on JIT principle.
There was yet a problem in implementing the software inside the organisation.
Working on this, efforts were made towards full functionality of the software. Firstly,
rectification of errors in master data was undertaken. Later, monthly data containing
customer schedule and inventory were uploaded. After running the software, various
reports were generated. Procurement plan is one of the reports that provide all the details
regarding the order quantity and order date for child parts as well as raw materials. This
information will help in ordering material from supplier in the right time and right
quantity so that the material is available JIT for processing. This solution estimated the
reduction of non-value added time from 48.48 hrs to 12 hrs, which accounts a reduction
of 14.4% on throughput time.

4.2 Reduction of transportation waste through layout modification

Transportation waste is the unnecessary movement of parts, multiple-handling of
materials, or shuffling of inventory to get access to the right components. Transporting
material is a necessary activity but it does not add value to the end product. Eliminating
or reducing this type of waste within the facility may reduce overall throughput time.
Transportation waste stems from a poor factory layout and large batch sizes. Eliminating
this waste requires a focus on flow. When parts move directly from one process to an
adjacent one, the distance travelled is minimal. Reducing WIP size and designing a
product oriented work cells are both good methods of reducing transportation waste.
The actual movement of the parts within the organisation was investigated and traced
in a CAD model of crank shaft layout as shown in Figures 3 and 4. (Note: the current
layout and the proposed layout shown in Figures 3 and 4 are the same, except the
movement of the LH crank shaft and RH crank shaft have been traced separately).
It can be observed that lot of wasted movements are visible due to improper
positioning of the machines in the workshop. Total distance travelled by both the
crankshafts was measured to be 3,500 m. Lot of floor space are occupied to store the WIP
materials. The WIP materials maintained between operations have longer waiting time
since they are moved from one machine to another in batches.

4.3 Proposal for layout improvement

A proposal for improvement of the layout was made in order to induce continuous flow
in the system and reduce the waiting time and quantity of WIP material. Some of the
improvements made in the layout are shown in Figures 3 or 4. The proposed layout will
reduce the movement of the material from 3,500 m to 430 m. By shifting the Gear
Shaping (GS301, GS302) and deburring machine next to vertical milling machine
(VMC305) a continuous flow of the material can be achieved and two and fro movements
of the material between Milling – Gear cutting – Deburring – Induction hardening can be
eliminated. With this change the material movement can be reduced from 155 m to just
15 m and the non-value added time by 17 hrs.
10 A. Kumar et al.

Figure 3 Current material movement of CS041 and proposed layout

Figure 4 Current material movement of CS042 and proposed layout

 Case study on identification and elimination of waste 11

Addition of laser marking machine on the line will drastically reduce the need to
transport the components to the sub-contractors and reduce the waiting time of the
component. This change will prevent the transportation of the components to other plant
for processing which adds up to approximately 2,000 m with queuing inventory of 200
and non-value added time of 8 hrs. Reduction of 48 hrs of non-value added time can be
achieved by implementing this solution which accounts to 14.2% reduction in throughput
time.

4.4 Additional investment

It was observed that to get a finished product (CS04), LH crank shaft (CS041) had to wait
for almost 72 hrs till it was assembled with its counterpart (RH crank shaft – CS042). The
reason for this waiting time was because the same crank shaft line was used to process
both LH and RH crank shafts. During the course of this research, the company purchased
three new machines. These machines helped in sufficing the capacity for the soft stage of
the component. With an addition of four other new machines a complete line for crank
shaft can be generated. This addition will improve the capacity of the manufacturing line
and both the crank shafts can be processed simultaneously.
This will call for an additional investment of approximately Rs 2.5 crores. However,
it will help in eliminating 72 hrs of waiting time which saves 30% of throughput time.

Figure 5 Future state map for crank shaft manufacturing (see online version for colours)
12 A. Kumar et al.

4.5 Future state map

Future state map was developed by documenting the results of foregoing analysis and
highlighting them in the map as shown in Figure 5. The highlighted areas show the
recommended changes compared to the present state.
In comparison to current state map the queuing inventory of the left hand crank shaft
(CS041) can be completely eliminated and continuous flow of the component can be
achieved by suggested layout modification. The inventory size reduction of CS041
between the crank pin bore, face milling operation up to Induction hardening operation is
also the result of layout modification. The layout modification can help in achieving
continuous flow, hence avoiding the stacking of WIP materials.
FIFO of the material highlighted in the future state map can be achieved by the use of
reports generated by the SCM software for procurement plan, production plan and shop
floor scheduling. Through this software, inventory control can be easily achieved.
With the new improvement integrated in the map it can be seen that throughput time
has been reduced from 250 hrs to 109 hrs which accounts for more than 50% reduction of
non-value added time. Also there is a reduction in work-in-progress (WIP) inventory.

5 Conclusions

LM method is an effective way to enhance the productivity of manufacturing enterprises.

The use of VSM has been proved to be of great help to identify and eliminate some waste
in the current production system. The research has shown that the wastes such as
transportation and inventory wastes can be reduced with the use of lean principles and
systematic layout planning, which in turn improves the productivity of the organisation.
In this research various non-values added activities were identified and solutions were
provided to eliminate them based on JIT principles and systematic layout planning. The
proposed solution estimated the reduction of throughput time of the crank shaft
manufacturing process from 250 hrs to 109 hrs. In order to continuously reduce or
eliminate waste, management of the organisation needs to apply different lean tools and
techniques accordingly while providing adequate training to their personnel.

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