Value Stream Mapping as a Tool to Identify the Opportunities for Various Lean Techniques: An Auto Industry Case Study

Growth of business world these days created tighter market competition, because existing industrial market become more global and have penetrated inter-states boundary. The goal of every company is to satisfy customer with exact product, quality, quantity, and price in shortest amount of time. Those conditions forced manufacturing operations to continually striving to reduce lead time of their operations. It can only be achieved if company is able to create and to implement effective and efficient processes in each of its line of their business. For this purpose lean tools are used because lean focus on continuous improvement of a company towards ideal through relentless reduction of waste. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a Special tool of lean that uses symbols known as the language of Lean to depict and improve flow of material and information. Value Stream Mapping Purpose is to provide optimum value to customer through a complete value creation process with minimum lead time. This paper presents a case study on Value Steam Mapping (VSM) approach in an Indian auto industry. The research begins with collection of process information through which current value-stream map is created and it reflects current scenario of operation site. Considering problems in current state of production, a future value-stream map was suggested to bridge gap and to serve as a guide for future lean operations. The future state results in 22 % reduction in processing time, 33.7 % reduction in lead time and 17.6 % addition in value added ratio and 50% reduction in inventory.