Major
Supply Chain Management
Minor(s)
Leadership Studies
Advisor
Hales, Douglas
Advisor Department
Supply Chain Management
Date
5-2018
Keywords
kanban, six sigma, green belt, process improvement
Abstract
Through the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process, our goal was to show VIBCO, a local manufacturing company, that its business could be improved with the help of various six sigma tools. Currently, its daily production includes a large variety of products, such as industrial vibrators, vibratory equipment, and mounting brackets and hardware. The particular production area that we chose to focus on, however, was the large turbine cell.
More specifically, the purpose of our project was to create a process improvement, through the use of a kanban system, to better manage the company’s production of large turbines. With this new system, the company is able to save both money and time, as well as better achieve its goal of “same day, next day” shipping. Before we started, the production of the large turbines was solely determined by a schedule, generated by one of the production controllers. This method, however, creates an abundance of waste, such as overproduction, inventory, and poor utilization of talent. Moving the production from an assemble-to-order system to a make-to-stock system was the best solution.
With any form of change, there is always going to be some pushback, and we experienced this firsthand. In the end, however, we were still able to successfully implement a trial for our suggested kanban system, allowing us to earn a lean six sigma green belt certification.
Kanban Benefits Analysis
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons