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Ng, Choon Hoe (2008) Competitive Advantage through Operational Excellence in Manufacturing. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

SIPLACE Center Asia (SCA) is an original equipment manufacturer for surface mounted technology placement machine. It has been ranked in the top three positions of the global market for the past decade. But in recent years, many competitors are putting a fierce fight for bigger piece of the global market share. The sales volume of SIPLACE placement machines has been declining and thus profits are decreasing at an alarming rate. It is known that SIPLACE products are more expensive compared to other competitors. Despite promoting higher performance and better quality, pricing has a big impact on customer���¢��������s decision. Therefore the growth strategy has been revised to focus on cost leadership so that better pricing can be offer to customers and hopefully to regain back market share.

One way to achieve cost leadership is to adopt Lean Manufacturing in the supply chain. A new Lean framework was introduced for SCA since traditional Lean framework liked Toyota Production System is catered for organization wide level. The proposed framework covers three key aspects: Process, Product and People which are vital for Lean Manufacturing. Various Lean tools liked value stream mapping, cellular manufacturing, JIT, Kanban, Heijunka, 5S, standardized work, Poka Yoke and Kaizen have been deployed for each of the key aspects. These Lean tools have enabled SCA to identify the seven Muda wastes in the supply chain and improvement activities have been planned for further action.

Once the identified wastes are eliminated, benefits like lead time and cycle time reduction, lesser floor space, lower inventory, less rework due to quality issue, increased competency can potentially help SCA to reduce its production cost and gained competitive advantage. This implies that SCA will be able to offer better pricing for its SIPLACE machines to the customers and at the same time achieved operational excellence. A new Lean implementation roadmap was also been proposed to ensure successful deployment of Lean Manufacturing to the supply chain. It is noted that Lean Manufacturing deployment is a continuous cycle so that a Lean culture is sustainable within the organization. Continuous improvement is a key element of operational excellence for any manufacturers. Moreover management and workers commitments are equally important to ensure success in this organizational change.

Item Type:	Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Keywords:	Lean manufacturing, value stream mapping, cellular manufacturing, kanban, heijunka, poka yoke, kaizen, 5S
Depositing User:	EP, Services
Date Deposited:	11 Nov 2008
Last Modified:	21 Mar 2022 16:04
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/21760

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