Labour productivity improvement in an automobile component manufacturer machine shop using lean tools

Abstract

Productivity Improvement has become an important goal for today’s automotive industry, as the customer demand is increasing every day. Organisation takes this as an opportunity to improve the business potential. Implementation of lean manufacturing tool results in productivity improvement and cost reduction in several companies. There is a strong correlation between productivity and labour productivity. Labour productivity improvement has a direct impact on business growth. This article presents a case study on application of lean manufacturing tool “Eliminate Combine Rearrange Simplify (ECRS)” in the manufacturing industry. This work is carried out in a medium scale automotive parts manufacturing company where all kinds of machining operation is taken place and the output of the product is supplied to vehicle manufacturer. This case study is illustrating increase in labour productivity in an automobile component machining line by applying the ECRS technique. Vertical Machining centre, Combination of tool, man and machine concept is used for implementing ECRS technique in the machining line. After implementation there is significant increase in labour productivity and reduction in throughput time and saving of space on the shop floor.