Eliminating Bottlenecks in
Manufacturing Industry

Situation – deep dive

ABC Ltd (name changed to protect confidentiality) is a leading distributor and service provider of in the HVAC value chain in GCC region. This assignment focused on increasing the production throughput by at least 25%, developing the information flow velocity through lean in non-manufacturing processes.

This project focused on:

• Increasing the throughput by redesigning their core assembly process via demonstrator inculcating lean methodology based on diagnostic study of their entire value chain.
• Gap identification between manufacturing and support functions. Design of future state to align support functions to Lean manufacturing.
• Visual factory production. Implementation of tracking & monitoring system.

Actions Taken – deep dive

SSA embarked on the transformation journey through an executive leadership workshop

• The Diagnose Phase (D1):
  In order for diagnosis to be accurate, SSA mapped the end-to-end Value Chain to identify the pain areas across the value chain. Identifying the effectiveness of the current processes and setting up the baseline for future transformation. Detailed capacity calculation of the entire facility being carried out to gauge the constraint processes and available capacity in hand.
• The Design Phase (D2):
  SSA charted a Future State Value Stream Map via Demonstrator for the constrained manufacturing operation to re-engineer it. Detailed study of future process flow based on lean principles, resource identification, infrastructure & MHE identification were carried out. Full facility future state designs for horizontal deployment based on demonstrator output were created.
• The Deployment Phase (D3):
  Deploying the demonstrator for the chosen product family and running it for few weeks. Collecting the data to demonstrate the success and debottlenecking the challenges in demonstrator. Post demonstrator success, SSA embarked on the horizontal deployment with readiness of the entire facility (resource allocation, MHE readiness, storage systems, Kitting requirement, physical relocation of machines). Keen focus was attributed to Visual management of the entire facility which was facilitated by facility wide 5S event. Developing the information management system with Lean KPIs to bridge the gap between support functions were carried out simultaneously through specific kaizen projects.

Results – deep dive

The news system promises to deliver the following outcome:

• The throughput (monthly volume) of the plant increased by 25%, and order fulfilment lead time reduced significantly.
• Re-engineered production process post horizontal deployment and achieved the desired throughput enhancement. Achieving the visual factory management across the facility.
• Bridging the gaps between support functions and manufacturing processes through specific Kaizens and CRM Module thereby ensuring Lean flow across the entire value chain.
• Developed management information system of performance tracking and monitoring which included core Lean KPIs.