Committee Chair

Alp, Neslihan

Committee Member

McMahon, Edward H.; Gibson, Barry

Department

Dept. of Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The XYZ Corporation is located in Lafayette, Georgia. The company produces cooking ranges for the North American market. It has 1500 employees with a daily production capacity of 1000 to 1500 cooking ranges. The company is implementing lean manufacturing techniques to improve their performance. One of their projects is to develop a distribution system, which will help in streamlining the internal distribution of Very High Pressure (VHP) adhesive tapes. The aim of this research is to develop a lean distribution system by applying techniques of lean manufacturing systems. To understand the existing process of distribution, a flow diagram was created. Waste or non value added functions were identified by applying the Functional Analysis System Technique (FAST) diagram, which is a tool used in value engineering or value analysis projects. The existing process is identified with three kinds of waste: waiting, unnecessary motion, and overproduction. Waiting and unnecessary motions were eliminated from the receiving process using the concepts of the set theory, a tool used in systems engineering. At the same time, over production in assembly lines was not eliminated due to unknown reasons. The research further applies a concept from systems thinking called tragedy of commons, to identify the root causes of over production in the existing process. Based on the results, the necessary recommendations are provided to restructure the management system at the production floor or assembly level of the organization. This will allow the line operators to understand the benefits of having low cost manufacturing for their survival in this competitive world.

Acknowledgments

The successful completion of this thesis is credited to various people, who have been a part of my life. During the course of my educational life at The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, apart from gaining knowledge in the field of industrial engineering, I learned lot about life and how to overcome obstacles. I want to express my deepest gratitude and sincere thanks to Dr. Edward H. McMahon for supporting me through out my education at UTC. I also want to thank him for helping me to understand the philosophy that "problems are there to find solutions." I want to thank Dr. Neslihan Alp for timely help, without her support I would not have completed this thesis. My sincere thanks to Dr. Prem Chopra for providing guidance with my problems and helping me to understand the concept: "worrying is waste of energy and time." I also want to thank Dr. Cecelia Wigal for providing me with resources in technical writing during the course of study. I also want to thank UTC writing center for helping me to complete this thesis successfully. I want to thank Ms. Annette Webb for helping me not only in this thesis but also providing internship experience in materials management. I want to thank Mr. Barry Gibson, for sharing his valuable knowledge in lean manufacturing and people interaction skills. I also want to thank my family friends Ramamurthi Krishnamachari, Balamurugan Subrahmanian, and Prathaban Selvaraj for their moral support. Last but not least, I also want to thank my friends and roommates: Matt, Elbert, Shankar, Anirban, Sumita, and Mehul for their cooperation and support.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

12-2004

Subject

Lean Manufacturing; Value analysis (Cost control)

Keyword

lean manufacturing; Toyota Production System; value analysis;

Discipline

Industrial Engineering

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

viii, 82 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

LB2369.2 .P723 2004

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

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