Value stream mapping and simulation for lean manufacturing: A case study in furniture industry

Abstract

Lean principles have been followed by many organizations in recent years due to the increase of tough competition in the market These principles focus on improving the efficiency of operations by eliminating and reducing wastes. Different techniques and methods have been applied in order to become lean. One of them is the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) which can be easily applied in a variety of industries. However, VSM is a static tool which only shows the current state of the organization. To deal with this shortcoming, simulation is widely used as a complimentary technique in which the assessment of the impact of proposed improvements can be easily analyzed. This paper presents an industrial case example combining VSM and simulation in furniture industry in which there are a lot of wastes to deal with. Both current and future state maps for a particular product family are described by VSM following the suggestions for improvement A simulation model is also developed to show the "before" and "after" scenarios in detail.