Analysis of current state of information and production flow

This report is based on an analysis of the current situation which have been made in Habo Plast’s production and is primarily based on collected data of qualitative character. The company lacked a detailed analysis of how the work in their production proceeds. The absence of standardised and visible job descriptions results in a considerable amount of time is spent on non-value-creating activities. The purpose of the study was to analyse Habo Plast’s production flow of the three selected items, identify the bottlenecks of the flow and find improvements which can contribute to the company achieving its goals of reaching a revenue of 30 million. Flow analysis, interviews and observations made in production, form the basis for answering the study’s questions. Collected data are analysed against the study’s theoretical framework for the development of improvement proposals. The results highlight the system’s bottlenecks and the areas of improvements. Habo Plast needs to work continuously with the Lean tools 5S, SMED and 5 Why to enable a basis for continued improvement work.Concrete improvement proposals developed to limit non-value-added time: - Purchase of new tools and placement of these by the machines to reduce the setup time by tool changes. - Marking the hoses at the material containers upstairs will lead to saved time when change of material or machine. - Acquire a material container with a tap for an easier and more time-efficient refilling. - Introduce notification and display for clarification when material is added. A way to ensure that the material containers do not go empty. - Introduce standards for replenishment of material to reduce the material handling. Needed quantity of raw material in relation to parti size to be manufactured. - Additional service of stock balance for raw materials to the order system Prodtime enables the system to notify when stock balance for each material is too low. - Clear operating instructions for each machine. This makes it possible to bring in extra staff when needed and enable a standardized way of working to reduce set-up times. - Proceed from planned parti sizes and working with forecasts will lead to better overview and structure of what should be manufactured as well as reducing the amount of tool changes. - Design of a new production layout. In order to find the most optimal solution for material and product flow in Habo Plast’s production which leads to shorter distance of transport and probably a more efficient flow.