In the current economic scenario, it is an increasing trend companies seeking to adapt their production systems to meet the new market demands, and at the same time to increase efficiency in their processes. Among the various methodologies available, lean manufacturing stands out as a valuable approach to have an efficient supply chain. Lean manufacturing seeks to eliminate waste, and to optimize the company resources. This paper describes the implementation of lean manufacturing concepts in a company that manufactures custom (ETO - Engineering to Order) products for road transportation (e.g. tow truck). Value Stream Mapping (VSM) was applied to one of the products of the company, which has a high variety of parts, materials, and assembly processes. VSM corresponds to a visual representation of the flow of materials and information for a product family, helping: (a) analyze the value stream in the current state, (b) identify the main sources of waste, (c) propose improvements to the current state, (d) add value to the customer. The results obtained were as follows: 75% reduction in storage time of raw materials, 49% reduction in the manufacturing lead time, 80% reduction in transport time of materials and products, 94% reduction in setup time of the assembly area, 75% reduction in waiting time, 50% reduction in positioning time of parts and subassemblies, and 20% reduction in processing time. This shows the potential application of lean concepts in ETO manufacturing environments, and the procedure proposed in this paper can be used as a reference by other similar companies.
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