ANALYSING OF IMPLEMENTATION LEAN MANUFACTURING PRACTICES IN AUTOMOTIVE AND COMPONENT PRODUCTION COMPANIES

ABSTRACT

Lean production is described as a systematic approach aimed at identifying and eliminating waste in delivering a product to the consumer through this continuous improvement. This article describes some of the studies and practices from the literature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. Attempts are made to distinguish between principles and practices. Some relevant suggestions have been made to further strengthen the implementation process in the long run and to continue the research of researchers and enrich the knowledge of experts.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Экономное производство описывается как системный подход, направленный на выявление и устранение потерь при доставке продукта потребителю посредством этого постоянного улучшения. В этой статье описаны некоторые исследования и практики из литературы в Соединенных Штатах, Великобритании и Индии. Делаются попытки провести различие между принципами и практиками. Были внесены некоторые соответствующие предложения по дальнейшему укреплению процесса реализации в долгосрочной перспективе, а также по продолжению исследований исследователей и обогащению знаний экспертов.

Keywords: quality, lean, lean production, automotive industry, Toyota production system

Ключевые слова: качество, экономное производство, автомобильная промышленность, производственная система Toyota.

Introduction. Lean production is an efficiency-based process used to increase competitive advantage in manufacturing enterprises. The basics of lean production use continuous improvement processes to eliminate in-plant waste or value-added steps. The challenge for businesses that use lean manufacturing is to create a culture that creates and sustains long-term commitment from top management through the entire workforce.

Objectives.

I. Implementation of lean principles in the automotive industry.

Lean production techniques are based on the application of five principles to manage management’s efforts to achieve success:

1. Value: Justification for the value flow that determines why the customer is willing to pay.

2. Value stream: Identify all the specific actions required to eliminate a value-added activity, from the design concept to the customer's use.

3. Flow: Eliminate all process interruptions for the value stream to “flow” without interruptions.

4. Pull: Ability to organize products and processes from concept to customer use.

5. Perfection: the ability to promote the right way of doing things in the first place through the pursuit of continuous improvement [1]

II. Four main directions of lean production.

Lean manufacturing companies focus on four areas to support their lean production designs:

1. Strong leadership:

• Indicates a clear strategy;
• Facilitates and models lean production behaviors;
• Defines standards for the enterprise;
• Helps the workforce adapt to changes;
• Strengthens confidence and increases commitment;
• Coaches and develops the workforce;
• Constantly updates the system;

2. Community-based cultures:

• Use project-oriented, community-based structures that focus on capacity building concepts;
• Use of knowledge by highly skilled workers;
• Increasing the responsibility and accountability of employees for work;
• Protecting the sustainable development of the workforce;
• Value diversity;
• Make sure that the employee's ownership of the final product is distributed throughout the process.

3. Communication systems:

• Protect and develop processes to identify important design problems as early as possible;
• Encourage on-site decision-making processes that use the least resources to address important design issues;
• Encourage knowledge sharing between part-time workers, management and design staff;
• Managing the behavior of internal operations, as well as focusing on the behavior of suppliers and customers;
• Acceptance of formal and informal communication behaviors [2].

4. Simultaneous development and continuous improvement processes:

• Proper product design for the first time;
• Use continuous improvement processes to identify processes that do not add value;
• Increased commitment to troubleshooting (not enough to control them);
• Timely protection of material control systems;
• Facilitate continuous improvement along the supply chain;
• Use the knowledge base of suppliers and customers of knowledge about the organization;
• Continuous training and development of highly skilled workers;
• Use measurement systems to track progress [3].

Lean manufacturing processes are mainly used in the automotive industry. Toyota Motor Company, a leader in lean production, began using the technology in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, they have gained a reputation as quality leaders and one of the fastest growing market shares in the automotive industry.

Method.

Manufacturers using a lean production system include:

In the automotive industry:

Figure 1. Automobile manufacturing companies using lean production

In other industries:

• Pratt & Whitney, United Technologies Jet engine manufacturers;
• Showa Manufacturing Radiator and Boiler Manufacturers;
• Lifescan, Inc. A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Electronic Products;
• Lantech Corporation packaging machines;
• Wiremold Company Wire management systems (electronic transmission).

Results of lean production system:

• New product development time is reduced from 3-4 years to 1 year;
• Working time on each machine is reduced by 50%;
• Defects in the machine are reduced from 8.0 to 0.8;
• The inventory value of processed and finished products decreased from $ 2.6 million to $ 1.9 million
• Delivery time is reduced from 4-20 weeks to 1-4 weeks;
• Order acceptance and execution time was reduced from one week to one day;
• The area required for the plant has been reduced by 50 percent;
• Delivery time of raw materials to the point of shipment was reduced from 4-6 weeks to 1-2 days;
• Efficiency increased by 160% in three years;
• The number of suppliers will be reduced by 4-5 times

Appropriate production is sufficiently covered in the literature as a set of principles. Indeed, cost-effective manufacturing has expanded to cover the entire spectrum of business activities, so companies around the world, particularly the automotive and electronics sectors, are striving to become cost-effective enterprises. While there are voices of dissatisfaction with the adoption and ultimate efficiency of cost-effective production, there are many examples that show how companies are changing their production methods and management practices.

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. automotive industry was in crisis. It quickly lost market share to Japanese competitors. Japanese automakers have been able to produce quality cars with fewer defects and create an image of excellence around the world by increasing customer satisfaction. Despite the 1973 oil crisis, Toyota Motor Company, which had increased its revenue, was able to steadily increase its market share. Today, Toyota is still one of the most successful automakers in the world, consistently outperforming its competitors in terms of quality, reliability, price, delivery, after-sales service and more. Japanese production systems are constantly being studied by scientists around the world.

The famous book The Machine That Changed the World, written by Womak, Jones and Ross (1990), has awakened American manufacturers. Over the past two decades, many researchers have studied the Toyota Production System (TPS) and documented various principles and practices applied by Toyota. Researchers who studied and documented TPS in the 1980s called the overall approach “cost-effective production,” but the principle of cost-effectiveness is not new in itself. Because Japanese companies produced and distributed products with less manpower, tools, materials, time, cost, and capital investment.

Lean manufacturing has been accepted as an innovative paradigm that eliminates waste in any form, anywhere and at any time, constantly strives to maintain harmony in the flow of materials and data, and constantly strives for perfection. Surprised by Japan’s growth, many companies in the U.S. and developed countries have sought ways to design and manufacture products faster and more efficiently, working hard to emulate or implement TPS.

These manufacturers began to use a variety of practices identified as key elements of the lean approach, such as Just-in-time, Kanban, shortening setup time, production organization, quality circles, and more.

Figure 2. Key elements of the lean approach

Results. As a result of clear implementation, many companies that report initial successes often find that improvements remain local and that companies cannot continue to make continuous improvements. One of the reasons for this, in our opinion, is that many companies or individual managers who take a lean approach do not have a full understanding and as a result have not been able to achieve all the benefits that Toyota uses. Disappointed by Toyota's inability to replicate its performance, these companies think the secret, unaware that Toyota's success lies in its cultural roots.

However, Toyota has successfully introduced its production system worldwide, including in the United States, and New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) is a clear example of success. The purpose of this article is to provide insights into some of the studies by understanding and evaluating cost-effective practices in some of the largest companies in India, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

From the point of view of lean production as a field of professional practice, there is still a need to define a lean approach. It consists of models, methods and tools, skills and other forms of knowledge that make up any practice.

Reference:

1.  Womack, Jones, and Ross, “Machine that change the world”, Taylor&Francis press, 1990.
2. David Mann, “Creating A Lean Culture (Tools to sustain lean conventions)”, third edition, CRC press, 2015.
3. R.C.S. Mehta, N.S. Gaira, “Basic manufacturing processes (theory and practice)”, MVLearning press, London 2017.
4. David M. Anderson, “Design for manufacturability: how to use concurrent engineering to rapidly develop low-cost, high-quality products for lean production” second edition, Taylor&Francis press, 2020.
5. Sherif D. El Wakil, “Processes and design for manufacturing” third edition, CRC press, 2019.
6.  K. Abduvokhidov, Y. Ismoiljonov, B. Komilov, “Quality management systems in healthcare: myths and reality”, 7universum.com, 2021.
7. Y. Ismoiljonov, “Zamonaviy ishlab chiqarish tizimi elementlarining amaliy taxlili”, Scientific and technical journal machine building, Andijan, №1 (3) 2021.