Value stream map and Visilean® for prefabricated concrete panels management

Abstract

The lack of process flow planning causes waste of time and material. The value stream map helps workers understanding the flow, identifying waste and planning for the future state. Visilean® helps automate production control. The main objective of this work is to propose a method to improve process flow planning of prefabricated concrete panels based on the application of Value Stream Map and Visilean® to manage the movement of parts in the factory. Results show value stream maps for project, production and installation processes allowing suggestions for improvements to operational procedures. There are four scenarios in this research to achieve a just-in-time method. Comparing the scenarios, the longest scenario is the Current one, which is based on the data collected in the factory without any changes on the flow. The Future 1 scenario had a small improvement compared to the current scenario. The Future 2 scenario reduced 25% of the time of the current scenario. The Ideal scenario has reduced more than 50% of the time of the current scenario. This research showed that the Value Stream Map and Visilean® are great tools to use in managing the flow of prefabricated panels.