Value Stream Mapping. A Case Study of ThyssenKrupp

Table of Contents

Abstract

1. Introduction
1.1 ThyssenKrupp

2. Literature Review
2.1 Value Stream Mapping

3. Value Stream Map Methodology
3.1 Current State Map
3.2 Current State Map with Opportunities
3.3 Future State Map

4. Conclusion

References

Abstract

The automotive industry is one of the largest and competitive sectors in Germany. It offers great opportunities for the application of lean tools to eliminate waste, improve operational processes and gain competitive advantages. ThyssenKrupp are a key supplier in the automotive industry and utilise Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to highlight and reduce non-value-added activities in their manufacturing operation.

This paper demonstrates and analyses the current state of the material and information flow across the supply chain at ThyssenKrupp. The objective of the prepared VSM is to identify causes of waste and reduce them in order to improve the production processes and meet the customer demands. Potential sectors of improvement are identified as Kaizen bursts. By developing and implementing of a desired future state map with a more efficient overall production system, ThyssenKrupp can sustainability improve the productivity and remain competitive. The improvements are focused on takt time, change over time and inventory levels, which leads to a reduction of the lead time.

Keywords: Value Stream Mapping, Lean manufacturing tool, Kaizen bursts, Lead time, Takt time, Change over time, Inventory levels

1. Introduction

The progressive globalisation of our world offers the automotive industry new opportunities, while simultaneously the market becomes more competitive. Supplier and manufacturer are continually striving to reduce waste and increase the productivity by adapting the concept of continuous improvement. Lean manufacturing instruments, such as Value Stream Mapping (VSM), support to enhance the existing production process. A value stream encompasses all value adding and non-value adding actions (Salunke and Hebbar 2015: 931). This report utilises the technique of VSM to visualise the information and material flow in the manufacturing process of the automotive supplier ThyssenKrupp. By drawing the Current State Map, potential areas for improvement and minimisation of waste in the entire supply chain for the steel production are highlighted. The Future State Map shows an improved manufacturing process based on the developing and implementation of an action plan.

1.1 ThyssenKrupp

The study was carried out on ThyssenKrupp, which is a German multinational corporation based in Essen. ThyssenKrupp encompass various business units, for instance ThyssenKrupp VDM, and is focused on industrial engineering, construction and steel production. ThyssenKrupp VDM is part of the stainless-steel segment and leading supplier of high-performance components (e.g. nickel alloys). The components are supplied in form of sheets, rods, wires and strips (Hintsches et at. 2010: 174).

ThyssenKrupp VDM’s manufacturing streams are illustrated in Figure 1:

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Figure 1: ThyssenKrupp VDM’s production flows (Hintsches et at. 2010: 174)

The manufacturing process begins with the melting of the supplied raw material. The material is distributed into various manufacturing streams and further processed. At the end of the production process the finished product will be packed and loaded, and finally shipped to the customer. In the descripted manufacturing process the costs and demand exceed the capacity on a regular basis. In particular, the sheet production (SH3006 & SH2507) offers potential for reduction of waste and improving the productivity. This paper will use Value Stream Mapping to highlight, demonstrate and decrease of waste in the sheet production stream of ThyssenKrupp.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Value Stream Mapping

VSM is a lean manufacturing tool which visualises and scrutinises all the value added and non-value-added steps of the current manufacturing process from the supplier (raw material) to the customer. The objective is to highlight and reduce waste regarding of all non-value-added activities, such as waiting or walking time, in the production processes. The potential sectors of enforcement are identified as Kaizen bursts. From the findings in the Current State Map, an action plan for the reduction of waste is prepared. A created Future State Map demonstrates the improved production processes according to the customer needs (Sheth et al. 2014: 310).

3. Value Stream Map Methodology

VSM is a visual lean tool that shows and highlight causes of waste in the current material and information flow of the entire manufacturing process. The objective of VSM is to improve the productivity. It analyses and maps the current state to highlight the waste and by preparing and implementing of a future the state map, the waste is decreased, and higher efficiency achieved (Belokar 2012: 152-153). The following steps were adopted for the enforcement of VSM in ThyssenKrupp:

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Figure 2: Implementation steps for Value Stream Mapping (Singh et at. 2015: 7)

The first step is to select a critically product family. After that, one part of the production stream is selected and analysed (Sheth et al. 2014: 311). For ThyssenKrupp, the steel production in particular, the manufacturing of sheets has been extensively anlysed, because it was the most critical product regarding lead time.

3.1 Current State Map

For the drawing of the Current State Map of the steel sheets production, all relevant information must be collected by observation and documentation of the value-added and non-value-added actions (Sheth et al. 2014: 311). Relevant data are for instance the measuring of the time for different processes, number of operators and shifts. The data collection was done by using a stopwatch and walking along the shop floor (Salunke and Hebbar 2015: 932). The Current State Map of ThyssenKrupp is illustrated below:

Figure 3: Current State Map

The Current State Map of ThyssenKrupp steel sheets production shows all the details of each manufacturing step. By analyse the current situation and define future objectives, potential areas for improvement can be highlight.

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