New layout development integrating lean approach in a MTO company : FICEP S.p.A. case study

The latest economic crisis, the increase of uncertainty and the rise of customers’ needs and requirements motivate companies to look for new methodologies in order to increase their effectiveness and be more competitive within the market. The Lean approach represents the main competitive leverage to achieve these goals, the new philosophy which disrupted in the last decades the management model of many western companies, guaranteeing their success in their business. This Thesis illustrates, through a real case study, the implementation of the Lean Thinking principles in a MTO manufacturing company, characterized by a high mix of product with low production volume. The analysis has been conducted in the Gazzada Schianno production plant of FICEP S.p.A. during a six months internship. The aim of this work is to apply the Lean approach in a company characterized by atypical conditions, indeed, these methodologies had been developed in a circumscribed and limited contest: MTS manufacturing companies. The application of the mentioned principles and the analysis of the implementation of some Lean initiatives, targeted to the case, would be illustrated highlighting the main difficulties and critical factors of success. The study focuses on initiatives implemented in the production department of one product family of the company. The first period of the internship was addressed to the drafting of the production system of the product family under study and its supporting systems, as internal logistic, with the aim to highlight the main inefficiencies and grasp into their root causes, in order to define, in a further step, all the Lean methodologies and tools suitable for the case. Finally, some Lean improvements have been identified and applied, first on an isolated environment, through a series of pilot projects with incremental changes. Afterwards, they have been applied on the shop floor by the development of a new layout, allowing the company to answer to the market with the same resources. The main Lean tools this work will mention and apply are the Seven Waste, which have been detected, analyzed in depth and eliminated, the Five S methodology, defined by the Toyota Production System, and the Value Stream Mapping. In addition, being one of the goal of the company the introduction of a never ending cycle of continuous improvement, the whole work was driven by the adoption of the A3 thinking approach and the development of its tool sheet. The case, moreover, demonstrates the importance of human aspect as an essential element in order to achieve results but also the most difficult to manage when developing and implementing organizational changes.