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Sustainable
Development of sustainable value value stream
stream mapping (SVSM) for unit mapping

part manufacturing
A simulation approach 493
Aatish Kumar Mishra, Ayush Sharma and Moraldeepsingh Sachdeo Received 2 April 2018
Revised 28 October 2018
School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, India, and 26 January 2019
Accepted 13 May 2019
Jayakrishna K.
Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India

Abstract
Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of a bonnet-manufacturing
industry and to optimize the process by designing a future state map using simulation approach.
Design/methodology/approach – The case study approach has been proposed to highlight the
applicability of value stream mapping (VSM) in an Indian bonnet manufacturing organization. The
methodology used relies on formulation of VSM being the main tool used to identify the opportunities
for classifying and eliminating bottlenecks with the help of various lean techniques. A contrast of
present and past scenarios is highlighted to underscore the importance of using VSM with ARENA
simulation.
Findings – Application of the proposed simulation approach has helped the organization reduce the
cycle time significantly by 30 per cent over the entire production time. The average number of work-in-
progress pieces has also decreased by about ten. In addition, enhancements have been seen with
respect to ecological parameters, e.g. carbon footprint has been reduced to 83.7 percent across the
process.
Research limitations/implications – The proposed approach of using a simulation-based VSM helps
in reducing the time involved in traditional VSM method. This approach is also easy to implement at any
organizational level.
Practical implications – It is believed that this paper will aid not just industrialists but also
academic professionals to appreciate the role of simulation using ARENA in helping them understand
how to attack the various problems faced by industries. The results of the study indicate that by
applying this methodology, there will be a reduction not only in cost but also in environmental impacts.
Originality/value – The paper incorporates a real case study, which shows application of VSM for
implementing lean principles in a bonnet-manufacturing industry. Break-even analysis presented fills the gap
which previous literatures have been missing.
Keywords Sustainability, Lean techniques, Value stream mapping, Simulation,
Break-even analysis, Productivity improvements, Lean six sigma, Lean manufacturing
Paper type Case study

The authors are grateful to the referees and the editor. Their comments and suggestions have
improved the content and readability of the paper. International Journal of Lean Six
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with Sigma
Vol. 11 No. 3, 2020
respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. pp. 493-514
Funding: The authors did not receive financial support for the research, authorship and/or © Emerald Publishing Limited
2040-4166
publication of this article. DOI 10.1108/IJLSS-04-2018-0036
IJLSS Abbreviations
11,3 TPS = Toyota Production System;
CAD = Computer Aided Design;
CVSM = Current Value Stream Mapping;
DMAIC = Define Measure Analyse Implement Control;
FMEA = Failure Mode Effective Analysis;
FVSM = Future Value Stream Mapping;
494 INR = Indian National Rupee;
JIT = Just in Time;
LM = Lean Manufacturing;
LSS = Lean Six Sigma;
OEE = Overall Equipment Effectiveness;
RPN = Risk Priority Number;
SVSM = Sustainable Value Stream Mapping;
VSM = Value Stream Mapping;
WIP = Work-in-Progress;
6S = Sort, Set In order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain and Safety; and
SMEs = Small and medium-sized enterprises.

1. Introduction
In the present scenario, organizations face the increasing burden on availability of energy,
resources and time (Pathirana and Yarime, 2018). Companies are also facing the issue of
satisfying the ever-growing demands of customers on a global level (Popov, 2018). Lean
manufacturing, originating from the Toyota Production System (TPS), is targeted at
reduction of waste generated at each process level (Bacoup, 2018). In this research, focus has
been laid on reducing the time by eliminating various non-value-added processes. The
methodology of lean manufacturing comprises usage of several lean tools such as Jidoka,
Continuous Flow, Poka-Yoke and 6S (De la Vega-Rodriguez et al., 2018). In addition to this,
there has been a growing need to make products more “eco-friendly.” This means that
manufacturing should be carried out with the objective of minimizing environmental impact
and such kind of lean and green approach integration is crucial for organizations. However,
devising such strategies takes time and effort. To simplify this, a simulation approach has
been adopted with respect to value stream mapping (VSM) (Kumar, 2018). There have been
several studies as to using lean and green practices in conjuncture with VSM as separate
studies (Antony et al., 2016). There is a need to identify to what extent lean and green
practices combined can be useful for resolving bottlenecks. However, there is a lack of
consistent development of studies when it comes to combining VSM and simulation
approach. The question here is whether VSM can be integrated with simulation and whether
it can be a concrete tool for eliminating the waste, such as overproduction, extra processing,
inventory and defects. VSM is a tool that provides the flow of material and information from
the customer orders to the finished product (Antony and Gupta, 2018). It also depicts other
parameters such as cycle times, raw material utilization, power utilization and lead times
(Goshime et al., 2018). VSM is a continuous process that can be used to identify bottlenecks
and areas of improvement in the manufacturing process (Dinis-Carvalho et al., 2018). In this
research, the VSM has been simulated using ARENA software. The VSM has been made in
separate modules in which value and non-value-added times, in addition to other
parameters, were included. A case study was conducted at the automobile bonnet
manufacturing parts supplier unit. The current state map has been simulated and areas of
improvement were identified with the help of lean and green approaches. The future state
map, based on these proposals, was made to visualize the impact of the same. Lean tools Sustainable
such as fishbone diagram, FMEA were used for the analysis. As far as green aspects are value stream
concerned, parameters such as carbon footprint, air acidification have been calculated
mapping
through simulation to depict ecological effects. This article also provides a standard
methodology on analyzing a manufacturing process using lean and green approaches with
respect to VSM. Implementing the proposed methodology, and successfully optimizing the
manufacturing process by combining VSM with simulation, resulted in improvements of 495
various parameters such as time and cost. The objectives of the study reported include
finding out:
 if it is possible to integrate VSM with simulation; and
 whether lean and green tools together can be used to resolve bottlenecks.

This article is structured as follows. Section 2 provides a discussion on the literature

concerning generic project definitions. In Section 3, the case study methodology is elaborated,
after which in Section 4 the designing and simulation of the current sate using ARENA are
discussed. Section 5 presents the results obtained, Section 6 summarizes managerial and
theoretical implications of the study and Section 7 concludes with limitations and future
scope of this study.

2. Literature review
The literature review is divided into three segment tables wherein Table I highlights the
industry type which has focused on improving their manufacturing processes using lean
tools. Table II shows the case studies which emphasize on using VSM as a method to
identify the bottlenecks in the organization. Table III portrays the case studies which have
used Simulation approach along with VSM to solve complex problems in the industry. The

S. no. Classification scheme Industry type Author and year

1 Job shop
2 Job shop
3 Batch production
4 Batch production
5 Continuous production
6 Continuous production
7 Continuous production
Manufacturing (doors and windows) Gurumurthy and Kodali (2011)
Italian precision mechanic company Bertolini et al. (2017)
Table I.
Coffee industry Seth et al. (2017)
Footwear industry Alvarez et al. (2017) List of case studies
Glove manufacturing Hernandez et al. (2017) which focused on
Ceramic manufacturing Kannan (2017) lean manufacturing
Textile manufacturing Hamja et al. (2017) tools

S. no. Author and year Remarks

1 Robinson (2013) Introduced the framework of VSM and how to design it

2 Vinodh et al. (2015)
3 Vinodh et al. (2010)
4 Basu and Dan (2014)
5 Singh and Singh (2013)
6 Chowdary and George
(2011)
Discussed application of VSM through a real time study in Automobile
Industry
Discussed application of VSM through a real time case study
Discusses the enhancement of a manufacturing set-up output in phases,
by identifying the wastages and eliminating them Table II.
Application of VSM in auto parts industry Review of literature
Application of VSM at a pharmaceutical company highlighting
application of VSM
IJLSS remark in each table highlights the significant characteristic of each paper mentioned
11,3 alongside.

2.1 Knowledge gained from literature review

Reviewing the literature was one of the most important tasks in our research work as it gave
us a pathway to identify various problems which the industry faces and the various
496 solutions formulated to solve these issues. Especially articles by Antony and Gupta (2018)
and Antony et al. (2016) gave us a real insight into the work of lean and how it is adopted in
the industry. It enabled us to view things from a different perspective and portrayed to us
that the VSM framework can incorporate environmental impacts and cost dimensions while
evaluating sustainability of an organization considering all three sustainability parameters,
namely, environment, economy and society.
Lean, green and VSM have been single-handedly actualized effectively and exclusively
by researchers (Duarte and Cruz Machado, 2017). The objective of this research is to give a
comprehensive suggestion, data, methods and tools by executing every one of the lean tools
together with VSM unlike previous research where concepts are yet to be combined. These
suggestions will assist an organization to accomplish a complete sustainability evaluation
and optimization of their manufacturing cells. As of now, there has been no investigation
that applies lean and green principles along with VSM approach by considering sustainable
effects in the business. The lean system manages the end of waste, however ecological waste
is overlooked (Garza-Reyes, 2015). Greening is the aggregate term for the assortment of
standards and methodologies for limiting or eradicating the ecological effect of an item or
action (Chugani et al., 2017). By joining lean and green methodologies, all parts of waste will
be taken into account. Despite the fact that these methodologies help to take out waste and
enhance ecological effects, they do not take changeability into account (Raja Sreedharan
et al., 2018). Considering employees’ and workers’ views about the productivity is also
important in optimization. Hence, in this study, all aspects of sustainability along with VSM
were be taken into account.

3. Case study methodology

Yin (2002) defines case as:
[. . .] a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries
between a phenomenon and context are not clear and the researcher has little control over the
phenomenon and context

S. no. Author and year Remarks

1 Wang et al. (2015)
2 De Jong et al. (2016)
3 Saravanan and Thakkar (2018)
4 Southard et al. (2012)
Table III.
Review of literature 5 Bhat et al. (2016)
highlighting
application of VSM 6 Celano (2012)
using simulation
Discusses simulation and VSM techniques for emergency
layout design and staff assignment issues
Simulation models for maintenance service companies
Used simulation for lead time reduction of military aircraft
major overhaul
Development of business model in healthcare using VSM
and simulation
Productivity and performance enhancements in the medical
records department of a hospital
Discusses how simulation and VSM can aid to improve the
quality of patient care
Case studies are most viable to answer the “how” or “why” questions. Such a method is Sustainable
needed if other ways which rely on historical data (such as surveys) are not suitable. Vamsi value stream
Krishna Jasti and Sharma (2014) had carried out a research on the implications of using
VSM as a tool in the context of lean manufacturing (LM) with reference to the auto
mapping
components industry. They had taken the case of a certain auto components firm who
wanted to have an advantage over their competitors. Ben Ruben et al. (2017) conducted a
study on measuring the effectiveness of lean six sigma (LSS) in the automotive industry
manufacturing high-precision transmission components, with a strong focus on six sigma 497
level and environmental aspects such as eco-toxicity, acidification and eutrophication. They
adopted DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, implement, control) approach and deployed LSS
methodology. They had validated the same by carrying out pilot tests and used case study
methodology. Gurumurthy and Kodali (2011) study comprises only floor space reduction
neglecting queuing time concepts while Vinodh et al. (2015) did a sustainability assessment
in automotive organization but failed to incorporate break even analysis.
Consequently, to address the objectives mentioned, it was decided to adopt a case study
methodology was adopted in this study. ABC Pvt. Ltd., which is an Indian bonnet-
manufacturing industry located in Bangalore, India, rendered its full cooperation and
support in revamping its manufacturing process to improve efficiency and reduce time
taken. The company was also looking for a simple and cost effective approach to predict the
bottlenecks and benefits that it could achieve through VSM, rather to implement and
measure. ABC places high significance on its customer service levels and demands, which
has aided the organization to succeed in the past. However, offering the product that their
customers need on time has been the problem faced by this organization lately owing to the
increasing automobile demands in India in the past five years. These issues have been
addressed upon by this research.
To conduct this case study, a team of experts from all departments was formed with a
senior manager who acted as a facilitator. The facilitator acted as the team leader who
provided the required project and information as well as execute the project at the
organization. The expert team through various brainstorming sessions developed CVSM.
This was followed by the evaluation of the CVSM developed by the facilitator. The
organization was very keen to redesign and modernize the existing manufacturing lines
using lean manufacturing and sustainability principles to achieve excellence in the field of
manufacturing operations. To fulfil the objectives and improve the operational performance
of the organization, the organizations’ top management also appointed lean experts, who
have theoretical and practical experience in the field of implementing LM principles in the
existing manufacturing lines.

4. Designing and simulation of current value stream map (CVSM) using

ARENA
The crux of the current research is to create a standardize framework for integration of VSM
with the simulation approach using ARENA software. The aim is to make simulation
approach towards improving the current state map a viable option for the industrial
engineers to pursue. The research work starts with the collection of the required data from
the case organization by observation. As the exact current state map is not provided by the
industry, a current state map is created with the help of observation of process and the
recorded values. The current state map is analyzed and after discussion with the industry
stakeholders a set of frequently occurring problems are recorded. After the initial phase of
the research, the current state map is programmed in ARENA software with the help of
logic modules. Figure 1 shows the overview of methodology adopted in this study.
IJLSS Collection of data from Industry
11,3
Preparing Current -Value Stream Map

Analysis of C-VSM and identifying bottlenecks

498 Identifying best applicable Lean Tools for the case

Analyzing the cycle time data with ARENA Software

Discussion with Industrial Experts

Lean Tools Usage and results

Decide the Packaging material by involving green implications

Future Value Stream Mapping

Figure 1. Simulation model to contrast Before and After Scenerios

Overview of
methodology Analyzing the breakeven point

ARENA software allows the model of VSM with several modules to run in real time and
asynchronously communicates with external devices. One of the best features of
ARENA software simulation is that it allows to perform “what-if” simulation analysis
and allows modification of characteristics of any objects in the model, including module
data, object positions (Hammann and Markovitch, 1995). These modules are used to
input various parameters such as demand, process parameters and product-related
attributes. The module shapes used and their significance are shown in the Figure 2.
These module boxes act as the basic programing unit for the VSM simulation in this
study.
Each of the process has been programmed in the ARENA software with the help of these
modules. The press blanking process module designed is shown in Figure 3.
As shown in Figure 3, the first box (pink) is a station module. It is basically used to
receive the entity at work (product is bonnet). The next three modules towards the right
are process modules. These three rectangular modules are used to program in various
factors such as consumable and re-useable resource and value and non-value-added
time number of labors used. The next module which is octagonal in shape is used to
assign product attributes which can be changed for an individual entity during or after
the process. Product attributes such as weight and tolerance, can be used for
association. The following module which is pentagonal in shape is the record module. It
is a user defined module which does not exist in the real VSM. It acts as a user defined
counter which helps in counting the amount of resource used per process run time. Also,
other values such as quantity of units processed and resource graphs are achieved
which makes it easier to visualize the resource utilization. The second to last module on
 Sustainable
value stream
mapping

499

Figure 2.
Modules and their
significance

Figure 3.
Press blanking
module

the top which is rhombohedral is the condition module; it is used here for quality
assurance on basis of user defined conditions which contains probabilistic equations as
well as entity attribute conditions to make a decision in true or false. If the product/
entity passes, then it is then sent to next module (last module on top, pink in color), the
route modules which further transfers it to the next process station. Process parameter
dialog boxes are shown in Figure 4 for the press blanking process with some variables.
As shown in Figure 4, the dialog boxes provide an idea of the required process parameter
obtained. After designing of all the processes the CVSM was simulated for 50 runs for a shift
of 8 h. A simulation report was generated to understand many factors such as queuing time
per process, resources used per process and number of entities processed. The generated
report is analyzed and other lean tools such as FMEA, Ishikawa and 6S are used to find the
areas of improvement for the CVSM. Based on the analysis, a set of proposals were framed
which after implementation will lead to creation of a new value stream map or better known
in this case as future state map. The FVSM is created with the same procedure and the
results are attained via simulation approach.

4.1 Current value stream map (CVSM)

The CVSM for the case organization was developed as shown in the Figure 5. The
efficiency for the CVSM has been found to be 30.39 per cent. The formula for value
stream efficiency is the ratio of value added time by total time. This parameter has been
IJLSS
11,3

500

Figure 4.
Process parameters
for press blanking
process

derived from the concept of value-added ratio, which was used by Lian and Van
Landeghem (2002) as a measure to prove the effect of simulation in VSM. The research
has been done for a shift of 8h per day which includes a break time of 45 min. As JIT
approach is used there is no long-term inventory at each step of the process, hence it has
been assumed that the inventory is basically the queue in which the product waits
before it has been worked on.

4.2 Designing and simulation of current value stream map (CVSM)

In this research ARENA software has been used for simulation purpose. The software is
capable of automation and discreet event simulation and uses the SIMAN processor. In
ARENA a model can be made by setting modules that signify logic or processes, such
modules are connected by using connector lines which define the direction of flow
(Raja Sreedharan et al., 2018). These modules can act with respect to timing, entities and
flow. The exact portrayal of any module is up to the modeler. It is also capable of reading
and exporting data in the form of excel spread sheet and access databases. Hence entity
attributes can be exported to reports.
The following assumptions ensure that the simulation functions close to the actual
production process occurring at the organization:
 Sustainable
value stream
mapping

501

Figure 5.
Current VSM

 The simulation runs for a single shift of 8 h.

 If two similar machines are available for work, both of them work simultaneously
on two different products.
 In light of demand raw material for one product is released every 7 min.
 The baking chamber is considered to have infinite capacity which means it can take
in any number of products released per batch from painting process.
 It has been assumed that any entity which has been sent to rework twice will then
be sent to trash as the probability of the same successfully passing the check will be
very low.

Similarly, the other module processes such as portable grinding, coating, baking and
inspection have been simulated as shown in Figures 6-9, respectively.
IJLSS 5. Results and discussions
11,3 Brainstorming sessions with industrial stakeholders have resulted in accounting few
process improvisation parameters for some improvements in FVSM .The results and their
validation has been further elaborated in the following subsections.

5.1 Designing and simulation of future state map

502 The FVSM was created to signify the areas of improvement over the CVSM. In this research,
the FVSM was simulated using ARENA software. To find the areas of improvement in

Figure 6.
Module – portable
grinding

Figure 7.
Module – coating

Figure 8.
Module – baking

Figure 9.
Module – inspection
VSM, lean tools such as FMEA and Ishikawa diagram were used. FMEA is a method to Sustainable
identify and prioritize potential failure of a product or a process (Sutrisno et al., 2018). The value stream
traditional FMEA uses three factors, occurrence, severity and detection, to determine the
risk priority number (Kmenta and Ishii, 2000). Prasad et al. (2012) defined the Ishikawa/
mapping
fishbone diagram as a tool used to identify and systematically list the different root causes
that can be attributed to a problem. Thus, these diagrams help to determine which of several
causes has the greatest effect. Also, the current state simulation report was used to find out
real time problems in the production process which was otherwise hidden because of VSM’s 503
static nature. To combat these problems the following proposals have been taken under
consideration by integrating and simulating them using ARENA software:
5.1.1 Introduction of Poka-Yoke system after the grinding process. Reason: On
replacement of the dip-type painting process with that of the spray-type process, a Poka-
Yoke system can be adopted. Poka-Yoke is a term that literally means “mistake proofing”
(Narayanamurthy et al., 2018). It is used to prevent defects from occurring through various
means (Erdil et al., 2018). For this case a surface roughness machine is to be added after the
grinding process which will limit the roughness of the surface. This will in turn make the
painting process more efficient and result in smooth and uniform layers.
5.1.2 Repairing of pre-existing hook conveyor system and extending it from the portable
grinding process to the inspection process. Reason: It is observed that partial automation of
the system will help in reduction of transit time. Moreover, the infrastructure needed to
support this system is present and can be used easily after repairing. This will also lead to
reduction of labor required for transport of raw material.
From Figure 10 it can be noticed that the part of module surrounded by the orange box is
responsible for integration of the Poka-Yoke system. Here a maximum and minimum value
of roughness can be given as input. Also, part of module surrounded by the red box is
responsible for integration of the conveyor system parameters such as time required for
fitting, resource required for fitting etc. The reduction of transit time can be programmed in
the respective route modules at the end of each process.
5.1.3 Increasing manpower at the grinding process. Reason: As evident from simulation
the presence of queueing was observed at the grinding process which resulted in a long
grinding time. The queuing time was due to the of employee unavailability which can easily
be combated by introduction of more manpower. As per this proposal, the available
manpower at the transit department can be displaced to the grinding department after some
training.
5.1.4 Purchasing of new portable grinding machines. Reason: It was found that the
portable grinding machines were old and that there were many cases of breakdowns and
repeated stress injuries. This was particularly because of poor ergonomics of the machines
leading to discomfort faced by the employees. As a result, employees may get demotivated
which in turn hurts the company–employee relationship. This issue has been addressed by
buying new portable grinding machines.

Figure 10.
Module – portable
grinding for future
state map
IJLSS The proposal to increase manpower and number of grinding machines were easily
11,3 incorporated in the simulation by increasing the resource pool of grinding manpower and
grinding machine by one and the results obtained are tabulated in Table IV.
5.1.5 Replacement of dip-type coating and painting process to spray type painting
process. Reason: The organization was following a dip-type painting method wherein the
object was dipped in a liquid filled tank and coated. This process is a batch-based process,
504 i.e. the process can only be initiated when a batch of ten is formed. As per simulation,
significant queuing time was observed because of this batch waiting. To make the process
quicker and more efficient, a spray type painting process was introduced. Because here the
whole process is being changed a cost analysis was done based on the break-even approach.
Zhang et al. (2003) defined break-even price in case of biodiesel as the price for which
revenue from biodiesel product is same as total manufacturing cost of the plant.
5.1.6 Replacement of dedicated baking chamber with a hot air tunnel. Reason: As the dip
painting process is to be replaced by spray painting process, the setup does not require a
high temperature dedicated baking chamber, this setup has been replaced by a low
temperature hot air-drying tunnel. This proposal leads to lower energy consumption cost as
well as increase in the safety factor as the new setup works at a lower temperature when
compared to the previous setup.
5.1.6.1 Current state map setup. The proposal to replace dip-type coating and
introduction of hot air-drying tunnel can be integrated in simulation by changing the
modules, as presented in Figures 11 (dip painting) and 12 (baking process).
5.1.6.2 Future state map setup. The changes in the process can be visualized with the
help of the simulation module. The flow of production remains the same but the process
parameters have been altered to meet the requirement of the spray painting process. Here
the whole module used in CVSM for simulating the baking process has been replaced by a
drying setup integrated in the spray painting process itself (as highlighted by the red box)
as shown in Figure 13.

Name Type Capacity Busy/h Idle/h Per use Failures Report statistics

Current VSM
Table IV. Portable grinding manpower Fixed 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 rows Yes
Current VSM and Portable grinding machine Fixed 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 rows Yes
future VSM Future VSM
resources for Portable grinding Manpower Fixed 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 rows Yes
grinding process Portable grinding machine Fixed 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 rows Yes

Figure 11.
Module – dip
painting
For the proposals provided, a cost analysis was carried out to provide an insight as to the Sustainable
feasibility of the same and tabulated in Table V. value stream
The cost for implementing all the proposals is approximately INR 610,400. The project
implementation cost consists of various factors, including cost of surface roughness
mapping
machine, cost of new equipment required for grinding and spray painting, cost of
refurbishing the old baking chamber into a heating tunnel, etc. The break-even period is
around five months, after which the organization will start to incur profit.
5.1.7 Reduction of packaging wastage. Reason: The transfer of each product requires an
505
intensive packaging procedure, which results in usage of many utilities such as tapes and
cardboard boxes. This leads to generation of packing wastage as when the shipment is sent
to customer, they have to dispose the packaging before using the product. To tackle this
issue a reusable support die was conceived which can be returned back after the customer
unloads the finish product. It was realized that the reusable die leads to a profit after a
certain period when comparing manufacturing to resources used such as cardboard box and
wooden support. It is the green approaches that will help the organization reduce the
ecological impact of the packing process.
To solve this problem, SolidWorks Sustainability Xpress software was used. The
software is capable of quantifying the ecological impact of any product based on the CAD

Figure 12.
Module – baking
process

Figure 13.
Module – spray
painting and drying
process

Current monthly profit Project implementation cost

Month (INR) (INR)

610,400
1 120,000 490,400
2 120,000 370,400
3 120,000 250,400
4 120,000 130,400
5 120,000 10,400
6 120,000 109,600 Table V.
Break-even month 5.086666667 Overall break-even
Break-even year 0.423888889 cost analysis
IJLSS model. In this research four particular parameters were focused on, i.e. air acidification,
11,3 water eutrophication, carbon footprint and total energy consumption. The other parameters
were also considered which includes intended use life, material type and its properties and
so on. The results of the sustainability analysis are depicted by the pie charts as follows.
These values are given on a per part basis.
5.1.8 Sustainability analysis and green impacts. Table VI depicts the various green
506 parameters according to which the lifetime assessment of the material to be used is carried
out. The parameters used are carbon footprint, energy consumed during manufacturing,
water eutrophication and air acidification.
Table VII portrays the ecological impact of the current and proposed packaging setup on
various time frames. It is seen that in the time period of 1.5 years there has been a drastic
reduction in each of these parameters, especially that of water eutrophication. A break-even
analysis for the proposal of reducing package waste is presented in Table VIII.
The cost for project includes various factors such as material cost, cost of fabrication, etc.
As observed from Table VIII the cost of implementing the project is roughly INR 704,508.
The break-even month is 5.5 months. As the die has a lifetime of 1.5 years the net profit over
1.5 years over an investment of INR 7 lakh is around INR 15.93 lakh.

Energy Air Water

Name of Carbon footprint consumption acidification eutrophication
No. component (kg CO2) (MJ) (kg SO2) (kg PO4)

1 Final die (five components/batch)

Material 51.9702 1616.99 0.102449 0.00915
Manufacturing 38.7266 385.617 0.545481 0.02106
Use 0 0 0 0
End of life 9.85867 7.07509 0.00387684 0.01639
Transportation 0.03551 0.48287 0.0001785 3.64E-05
Total 100.591 2010.17 0.651986 0.04664
2 Thermocol support (five components/batch)
Material 5.14666 114.151 0.0217626 0.00378
Manufacturing 0.27954 2.98794 0.00352698 0.00015
Use 0 0 0 0
End of life 0.83451 0.61067 0.00041016 0.0011
Transportation 0.00224 0.03047 1.13E-05 2.29E-06
Total 6.26296 117.78 0.025711 0.00502
3 Cardboard boxes (one component/batch)
Material 9.748 114.252 0.0271259 0.00634
Manufacturing 1.48114 14.7483 0.0208625 0.00081
Use 0 0 0 0
End of life 3.95145 2.83698 0.0015623 0.00654
Transportation 0.01606 0.21843 8.08E-05 1.65E-05
Total 15.1966 132.056 0.0496316 0.0137
4 Wooden support (one component/batch)
Material 4.99833 28.3411 0.0107799 0.0022
Manufacturing 1.03391 10.2951 0.0145631 0.00056
Table VI. Use 0 0 0 0
Sustainability End of life 16.1571 8.85293 0.004621 0.01159
analysis for various Transportation 0.02915 0.39644 0.0001466 2.99E-05
packaging material Total 22.2185 47.8855 0.0301107 0.01439
 Carbon Energy Air Water
Sustainable
Name of footprint consumption acidification eutrophication value stream
S. no. component (kg CO2) (MJ) (kg SO2) (kg PO4) Cost (INR) mapping
1 For one batch of five bonnets
Current state 68.7299 768.842 0.2082973 0.05321 798
system
Proposed 502.955 10050.9 3.25993 0.23319 4,840 507
system
2 For n number of batches
Current state 549.839 6150.73 1.6663784 0.42566 6,384
system
Proposed 4023.64 80406.8 26.07944 1.86554 38,720
system
3 On basis weekly interactions (five days)
Current state 2749.2 30753.7 8.331892 2.12828 31,920
system
Proposed 20118.2 402,034 130.3972 9.32768 193,600
system
4 For all working days
Current state 123,714 1,383,915 374.93514 95.7725 1,436,400
system Table VII.
Proposed 20118.2 402,034 130.3972 9.32768 645,333 Sustainability
system analysis

Month Current monthly cost (INR) Project cost (INR)

704508.3333
1 127,680 576828.3333
2 127,680 449148.3333
3 127,680 321468.3333
4 127,680 193788.3333
5 127,680 66108.33333
6 127,680 61571.66667
7 127,680 189251.6667
Break-even month 5.517765769
Break-even year 0.459813814
Profit over period of a year 1.040186186 Table VIII.
Profit (INR) 1593731.667 Break-even analysis

5.2 Formulated future value stream mapping (FVSM)

The FVSM has been depicted in Figure 14. It has been calculated that the VSM efficiency is
48.57 per cent. Kaizen burst outs have been used to illustrate the implementation of the
proposals.
The implementation of the given proposals has resulted in many improvements and the
key results are summarized in the Tables IX and X.
It can be observed that there is an obvious improvement with reduction in cycle time.
This is also signified by the rise in VSM efficiency and the number of units produced has
IJLSS
11,3

508

Figure 14.
Future value state
map
gone up by 20. One critical parameter to measure this development is the overall equipment Sustainable
effectiveness (OEE). OEE can be defined as a variable which measures the effectiveness and value stream
efficiency of any process (Braglia et al., 2018). It is calculated by determining the availability
(A), performance (P) and quality (Q) involved in every process (El-Khalil and Darwish, 2018).
mapping
The work-in-progress (WIP) is another factor which signifies the number of unfinished jobs
at the end of the shift time (Onofrei and Fynes, 2019).
From Table XI it can be seen that there is a significant decrease in OEE for the grinding
and painting processes. Increase of labor and addition of machines has contributed to this 509
aspect. The OEE for the painting process has also reduced in light of the fact that the usage
of the equipment has significantly decreased. In case of cycle times, there is approximately

Process Availability (%) Performance (%) Quality OEE (%)

Press blanking 96.09 77.16 99 74.14

Painting and coating 91.49 49.3 99 45.10 Table IX.
Grinding 93.1 85.80 99 79.8 OEE for current state
Baking 97.47 30.84 99 30.06 map

Process Availability (%) Performance Quality OEE (%)

Press blanking 96.09 77.16 99 74.14 Table X.

Spray painting and drying 96.78 29.95 99 28.98 OEE for future state
Grinding 93.1 61.77 99 57.5 map

No. Condition Current state map Future state map

1 OEE % %
i Press blanking 74.14 74.14
ii Painting process 45.1 28.98
iii Grinding 79.8 57.5
iv Baking/drying 30.06 N/A
2 Cycle time min min
i Ideal 94.66 65.6
ii With queuing 186 97
3 WIP pieces pcs pcs
i End stoppage 31 14
ii Average 22.075 12.61
4 Number of product produced 35 55
5 Environmental factors carbon
i Footprint (kg CO2) 123713.82 20118.2
ii Energy consumption (MJ) 1383914.7 402034 Table XI.
iii Air acidification (kg SO2) 374.93514 130.3972 Comparison of C-
iv Water eutrophication (kg PO4) 95.77251 9.32768 VSM and F-VSM
IJLSS 48 per cent decrease in value when considering queuing. This significant decrease in
11,3 queuing can be attributed to the fact that the painting process has undergone a
transformation from batch-type to unit-based production. Moreover, the fall in number of
WIP pieces has resulted in more number of bonnets being produced within one shift.
Furthermore, there is a rise in VSM efficiency by 18.18 per cent. There has been significant
reduction in environmental parameters with the maximum reduction being seen for Water
510 Eutrophication, approximately 87 per cent.

6. Managerial and theoretical implications

The main benefit of this simulation based VSM for managers and employees is the fact that
it can be used as a tool to visualize and quantify their manufacturing framework in the
future. Small and medium-sized enterprises often rely on manual and conventional methods
to chart VSMs which is often time-consuming. This study also proved that the use of
simulation software such as ARENA will not only lead to reduced errors but also speed up
the decision-making process and provide benefits in the long-term. Managers of the case
organization witnessed increased productivity and product quality at reduced lead time.
They also acknowledged that the communication amongst the team members improved at a
constant phase. The efficiency improvement of the process is measured and recorded at each
phase; the managers can utilize this time to plan for effective utilization for employee
empowerment and resource utilization. As the proposed approach streamlined the
manufacturing process, it can respond to fluctuations in demand, thereby reducing delays
and lead time. The break-even analysis also proved the reduction in operational costs with
waste reduction making the company more profitable. As the proposed approach imbibes
sustainability parameters along with lean tools it provides better flexibility of adaptability
for the organization to succeed well in the future. While execution, managers need to make
sure that the top management team should be on board and fully support the LSS and VSM
implementation. Managers should also avoid subjective opinions and try to emphasize the
usage of numerical and visual data as much as possible. Decisions should not be influenced
by estimation or supposition. Avoid objectives that are too narrow or vague. Most
importantly, involve everyone in the decision-making process, right from the top managers
to the operators.

7. Conclusion
Implementation of lean tools starts with the application of VSM to the manufacturing
line with certain limitations. VSM is a pencil-and-paper technique of looking into
processes. It is a tool which does not provide the dynamic view of any situation. The
proverbial model created amid this research has been test executed in a solitary
manufacturing organization. In this research VSM was done for bonnets made by ABC
Pvt. Ltd. The current and future state maps were made and simulated using ARENA
software. Several bottlenecks were identified for which proposals were devised. For this
research a lean and green approach was adopted to give more detailed results. Several
lean tools such as Ishikawa, FMEA and Poka-Yoke were also used. In addition, a break-
even analysis was done to provide financial benefits to the proposals. As far as green
side is concerned, the sustainability parameters provide the ecological impact of the
packaging components. The main objective in this study is to integrate value stream
mapping with simulation and sustainability software. A standardized framework has
been conceived through which one can evaluate a process from the lean and green
perspectives. The study also provides the importance of the case study methodology.
Following a systematic procedure and using a real-life scenario as a basis to evaluate
certain observations is essential to prove the practical feasibility of implementation. Sustainable
The manufacturing situation of the company was observed through constant value stream
communication with their employees. From the results obtained it can be said that the
organization will definitely reap benefits of using SVSM. If the organization
mapping
implements these changes and continuously improves its processes it will surely grow
and expand to become a formidable competitor in the near future.
Several limitations have been noted while carrying out this study. The concept of lean
manufacturing is considered long-term, leading to increasing costs and time to 511
implement. In addition to this, one of the key limitations of VSM as a tool is that it often
focuses on one production line only, which reiterates the fact that VSM is a static tool.
Another limitation of the study was that only a single industry was looked upon. To
ensure proper validation, the study should be extended to other firms and not be limited
to a single case methodology. Also, constructing VSMs using conventional methods (i.e.
by hand) is extremely difficult and time consuming; this means that simulation should be
used at every step of the process to save time. Similarly, VSM is composed by physically
“walking” along the flow and recording what happens on the floor. Hence, the level of
detail and the number of different versions that can be handled is very limited. In real-
world situations, many companies are of a high variety, low volume type, which may
result in composing many value streams of many industrial parts and products, which
further adds a level of complication and variability. Another concept that can be used in
future studies is lean maturity assessments. Such assessments can help organizations
gauge their current status in terms of weaknesses, opportunities and strengths and where
they need to be in the future.

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Further reading
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six sigma approaches in higher education”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence,
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International Journal of Lean Six Sigma.
Yazan, B. (2015), “Three approaches to case study methods in education: Yin, Merriam, And Stake”,
The Qualitative Report, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 134-152.

Corresponding author
Jayakrishna K. can be contacted at: mail2jaikrish@gmail.com

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