Application of Lean Tool (Value Stream Mapping) in Minimisation of the Non-Value Added Waste (A Case Study of Tractor Industry)

Lean manufacturing has been proved to be an effective management philosophy for improving businesses in a competitive market by eliminating non-value added waste and improving in process operations. Value stream mapping is an important tool used to identify the opportunities for various lean techniques. The present research mainly focuses on the description of a model that is developed to contrast the “before” and “after” scenarios in detail in order to obtain the various benefits such as reduced production lead time, lower work in process inventory [1] and proper utilisation of the workforce. The current manufacturing system has been compared with the proposed pull (Kanban) system which shows the benefits of the proposed lean manufacturing system over the existing traditional manufacturing system. The present research work has been carried out at typical tractor industry which shows 50.5% reduction in total lead time in the future state value mapping of the crank case and the number of operators involved in processing of crank case has also been reduced from 22 to 18.