Production Management Model to Reduce Cycle Times Using Lean Manufacturing in a Company in the Metalworking Sector

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to address one of the most frequent problems of the metalworking sector companies which processes present high variability due to a bad management of their setup times. In this sense, a four-phase management model based on lean manufacturing was developed by applying VSM and SMED. This model was validated in a metalworking SME, specifically in its welding process, which achieved a reduction of 87.7% in preparation time, 3% in cycle time and 4.2% in production capacity.