Cost reduction and quality improvement through Lean-Kaizen concept using value stream map in Indian manufacturing firms

As customer’s demands are continuously hiking for low price quality products, Indian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are struggling and facing challenges in order to meet these demands at the lowest cost. This research paper demonstrates the process for significant cost reduction and quality improvement in an Indian SME by applying Lean-Kaizen concept using a popular lean tool named value stream map (VSM). A current stream state map of ‘gear sector’ was prepared from data collected by taking personal visits to the selected manufacturing industry. After carefully investigating the current situations, a future state map was developed in which non-value add activities (NVAs)/waste were identified and eliminated. The 5-why method was used to identify root causes of these waste in the process. One Kaizen event was proposed to bridge the gap between the current and future state of selected industry. Through Kaizen event, a major quality problem which significantly contributed to rejection cost of nearly 1250/- INR per day was eliminated. The data obtained after Kaizen event was analyzed and reported benefits such as quality improvement, cycle time reduction time saving, customer satisfaction and zero defects are presented as finding. Through the present work, it is evident that the implementation of Lean-Kaizen concept helps to tackle inefficiencies in the processes and provide opportunities for reducing cost by applying small–small changes across the organization.