Application of lean production techniques in the manufacturing industry

Lean production is producing in a short time, cheaply and error‐free, while satisfying customer demands. The aim is to decrease waste and to increase effectiveness by using lean production techniques. The mould room was selected as the pilot application area. For this purpose, several studies were conducted: 1) to determine and decrease the idle capacity and time waste in new mould production, maintenance and repair moulds; 2) to decrease the waiting time and material flow; 3) to diminish supply costs; 4) to turn the system into a FIFO system by decreasing the cycle time. At the end of the study, the efficiency was increased by 10%, the cycle time was decreased by 20% and the distance over which materials flow was decreased by 60%. The implementation of the designed production cells freed 120m² of space. 8,000 hours per year are gained with the elimination of the non‐value adding stations.