7ENT1128 - CW1 - Planning Document to Implement Kanban systems in Company of Choice– A3: Lean Manufacturing & Services Assignment

Assignment Brief

Imagine you are starting your new role as the “Vice President of Lean Manufacturing Systems” at your corporation (You may choose the corporation but not Volkswagen or Toyota for your corporation).

As the VP of Lean Manufacturing Systems, you will be responsible for the implementation of Lean Manufacturing Methodology and the associated tools across the Corporation, so having a good plan of action to engage the company in Lean Manufacturing Methodology is important.

Take a few hours and do a little research to see if lean manufacturing methodology, particularly Kanban systems, is in use at your corporation. Consider that a Kanban system is a means to achieve Just-in-time (JIT) production. It works because each process on a production line pulls just the number and type of components the process requires, at just the right time. The mechanism used is a Kanban card.

Using the A3 tool, (along with study tools that are well laid out in Study Net, the online library and other UH resources) layout simplistically where the company is, in terms of engagement in Kanban systems technique and draw up a simple plan with real, tangible actions to improve the company’s usage of Kanban systems to optimize its operations.

When you lay out your A3, imagine that you will be sharing this with the Board of Directors, so that they can understand and approve your plan, so explaining what it will do and why we need to do this is important. For this assignment, you are to:

• Develop a simple Report of A3 using the appropriate headings to share with the Board of Directors (Introduction /Current Situation/Proposal/Action Plan/Follow-Up Activities). See Guide 1 below.
• Introduction – what is your chosen company, and a little background – what is the A3 about?
• Perform a full Current Situation Status and Analysis on why Kanban systems are important and lay it out on the A3, note if the company is already using Kanban systems to some level, consider how much more it could benefit from implementing it fully. Most companies will do Kanban systems to some level, but this is about getting to Toyota levels.
• Produce a Proposal to share what Kanban systems will do for the company and what the result should be.
• Then lay out a full Action Plan to implement your Proposal, considering the effect on the organisation
• Show how you will track your progress on the Action Plan and consider Follow Up Activities.

To gain a basic understanding of your chosen company’s Manufacturing and Productivity Continuous Improvement Process and its engagement in Lean Manufacturing Methodology (TPS), research online for articles related to TPS adoption by Corporations, look at the prior year’s annual reports or on the company websites or use your methodology for research.

Note to help when searching, these are often similar acronyms

• Ford is FPS (Ford Production System
• Airbus is the APS (Airbus Production System)

Module Learning Outcomes

• LO1 Comprehensively understand lean manufacturing techniques and the Toyota Production Systems (TPS) and their applications to various contexts, including service sectors.
• LO3 Compare and contrast models and techniques.
• LO4 Justify and evaluate manufacturing processes by applying Lean Manufacturing Techniques and Theory of Constraints (TOC)