Application of Value Stream Mapping in a Variable Frequency Drive Manufacturing Industry

Implementation of Value Stream Mapping, a pencil-pad lean management method for optimizing the production line which is mass-producing Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs), is utilized during the course of this research for drafting the current state map to identify lean opportunities, reducible waste and improvement areas. The flow was physically observed by conducting a walkthrough of the process from the customer’s perspective, going backward from receiving the finished product to placing the order. Data, information, issues and concerns were jotted down for every process. All the verification documents, checklists and relevant records were thoroughly analyzed to get an overview of their necessities and significance at their points of application. The current state map was constructed with the help of a white board consisting of all the primary processes and data boxes. Information flow and secondary processes were also mapped. Summary and timeline were created for the value stream including the takt time, value-added and non-value-added work, time and their ratio. The future state map was constructed, and the comparison was done to graph the aftermath of the research. The manufacturing facility is poised to experience a rise in the overall monthly output of approximately 2880 units. There has been a significant reduction in non-value-added (NVA) time, decreasing from approximately 84 s at the bottleneck to 45 s.