A Handson Kanban Simulation Kit for Lean （精益的Handson看板仿真工具包）.pdfVIP

Paper 199, ENG 105 A Hands-on Kanban Simulation Kit for Lean Manufacturing Shaojun Wang and Doug Koch Southeast Missouri State University swang@, dkoch@ Yifeng Ren Sabreliner Corp. yifengr@ Abstract The Kanban technique for lean manufacturing has been used in the United States for more than 20 years. Even though many mathematical models describing Kanban operation have been developed, and the software for production simulation is available, delivering the full lean concepts to manufacturers is still a challenge. It is difficult to develop a generalized mathematical model for the Kanban system incorporating all of its salient features. The objective of this paper is to introduce a lean manufacturing simulation kit developed recently. The simulation kit is called “Multi-product assembly line controlled by a Kanban mechanism for lean manufacturing.” Three Lego products—an ambulance, a helicopter, and a sailboat— are assembled on the production line. The simulation demonstrates lean manufacturing concepts, such as 5S, one-piece flow, Kanban mechanisms, kaizen events, and visual control. Product assembly flow is based on the pull principle and customer-demand-oriented production. During the simulation, Kanban circulation, work-in-process (WIP) level, cycle time, change over time, lead time, lot size, and throughput are recorded and analyzed. With the kit, the lean manufacturing theory behind Kanban operation has been visually revealed. Manufacturers can easily understand the Kanban principle and its applications. Introduction Lean manufacturing is a practice developed by the Toyota Corporation after WWII for reducing waste in a manufacturing