A Simulation Enhanced VSM Approach for high-Mix Manufacturing Environment

摘要

As market requirements change, manufacturers are experiencing the transition from low-mix to high-mix production, handling a larger number of product variants to stay competitive and avoiding reduction of system performance. Value stream mapping (VSM) is a preferred method of implementing lean manufacturing principles in various industries with the aim of improving system performance. However, most applications are limited to low-mix environment. This paper combines VSM and discrete event simulation (DES) to model and improve the performance of a high-mix production system. The as-is model based on VSM is verified using current state production data. Accordingly, the simulation result shows the potential of improving system performance by implementing lean manufacturing principles, which provides a reference to the case company.