Lean Manufacturing Case Study: 
Upholstery
Date: January 2010                          Sector:  Upholstery                          Turnover: £7m                             Employees: 25

1. The Lean Improvement Team

Seating Manager, Quality Manager, Purchasing Manager, Stores Supervisor, 3 Operators



2. Objectives

  • Introduce better production planning
  • Increase productivity
  • Reduce lead time
  • Improve stock control
  • Improve staff morale
  • Highlight key areas for Improvement

3. Major Issues

  • Supplier/Overhead increased in price
  • Rapidly growing in size
  • Struggling to meet demand
  • Regular material stock outs
  • Poor staff morale
  • Lead times too long

4. Solutions

Blitz Event, Lean Awareness Training, Improvement Team, Value Stream Mapping, Line Balancing (TAKT), Waste Elimination, Pull System, New Layout,  5S Workplace Organisation, Action Plan

5. New Methods

  • One Pieice Flow
  • Capacity Control
  • Bills of Materials
  • Visual Management
  • 5S Housekeeping
  • Localised Kanbans
  • Improvement Meetings
  • Action Plan

6. The Results

  • Carried out a large number of improvements as a Blitz Event over a 2 month period due to increase in customer demand on the horizon
  • Increased productivity by 20%
  • Reduced floor space requirement by 43%
  • Introduced 5S Workplace Organisation to provide structure to change and involve more shop floor staff
  • Compressed department and reduced overall lead time from 5 weeks to 2 weeks by balancing the production line
  • Set up Improvement Team & used Value Stream Mapping to highlight current business issues
  • Improved staff morale by giving them an understanding of the ‘Big Picture’ and including them throughout the project
  • Provided staff with training in various Lean Manufacturing disciplines
  • Introduced Visual Management to show KPI’s and progress within the Production Facility

7. Lessons Learned

  • The Sales Department need to be more involved with the Production Department as a lack of understanding is causing conflict
  • Now operators understand waste they have identified spare capacity within the department
  • A lack of Standard Operating Procedures is causing variations in production time & quality
  • Department targets have given the operators a sense of involvement and something to aim for


8. Future Opportunities

  • Improve stock control methods via introduction of Supermarket Controls
  • Create Standard Operating Procedures to improve quality and reduce build time
  • Provide Sales Team with product training in situ
  • Improve supplier relationships and set up performance measures
  • Reduce amount of work sub-contracted


9. Ongoing Support

Introduced an Improvement Manager to the business to manage daily activities. Occasional meetings to discuss progress.