Productivity Improvement in Refrigerator Manufacturing Plant by Using Yamazumi—Line Balancing Technique

Assembly line balancing is an important practice in the manufacturing industry. It enables improvement in productivity by saving idle time and costs. This chapter presents productivity improvement of an assembly line in a refrigerator manufacturing unit in India. The study is carried out on the basis of observations made on the shop floor by using the technique of time and motion study. After collecting data, identification and reduction in the Muda (Waste), Mura (unevenness) and Muri (Overburden) was carried out. The Yamazumi charts were used to identify the stack of all the VAA, NVAA and SVAA in every activity. The main aim of the study was to improve productivity, fatigue reduction, cost optimization and safety using the 3M reduction and Line balancing method with the help of Yamazumi charts to ultimately achieve customer delight by manufacturing best quality products.