Value Stream Mapping to Improve Workplace to support Lean Environment

¹ Department of Production and Operation Management, Faculty of Technology Management and Business, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Malaysia
² Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia
³ Department of Civil Engineering, School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: aizat@uthm.edu.my

Abstract

In recent years, lean manufacturing is being followed by various sectors in order to keep their competitiveness in the global markets. Lean manufacturing plays a vital role in improving the efficiency of operation by eliminating or reducing wastes. Nonetheless, most of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) lack sufficient knowledge or information on the benefits of implementing lean manufacturing. The main objective of this study is to apply value stream mapping, one of lean manufacturing tools, for improving the productivity in a SME by eliminating non-value added activities. In this study, lean manufacturing was adopted at a SME, particularly a food industry. Value stream mapping was served as main tool to identify the wastes and improvement opportunities in production line. Subsequently, different lean manufacturing tools such as Kaizen Burst, one piece flow, and 5S were applied to eliminate or reduce identified wastes. Based on the future state value stream mapping, final results showed that the total operation time and non-added value activities time were successfully decreased from 1993 seconds to 1719 seconds, and 234 seconds to 104 seconds, respectively. The findings of this study indicate that value stream mapping is an effective approach to eliminate the wastes and improve the productivity.