Manufacturing process improvements using value adding process point approach

Manufacturing functions need to be capable of constantly developing new manufacturing lines, cells, and pieces of equipment in order to maintain their operational competitiveness. This paper explores a unique approach to analyzing and designing manufacturing processes referred to as the Value Adding Process Point (VAPP) approach. This approach particularly focuses on the points where value is added to materials in manufacturing processes. The approach is mostly used at Japanese companies and it has contributed to developing unique manufacturing lines, cells, and pieces of equipment that tend to be simple, slim, and compact, and require low investment cost. The approach has also contributed to achieving major improvements in different performance measures in manufacturing. However, the approach is rarely known internationally. Moreover, the amount of practical information on how to apply the approach at companies has been limited in the scarce literature on the approach. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the VAPP approach to a broader audience and also to provide practical information on how to apply the approach by describing a case study in which the approach was applied at a Swedish manufacturing company. At the company, the application was made in a manner of experiential learning. In this paper, it is described how the VAPP approach was applied, what outcomes were generated by the application, and how participants in the case study experienced the application of the approach. Discussions are made as to usefulness of the approach and effective use of the approach.xpre