Lean Manufacturing in Latin America

This chapter discusses the concept of standardization, a concept that is usually given for granted. However, its understanding and use are critical in strategic thinking and decision-making processes. The discussion began in the early Industrial Revolution when the modern concept of standardization arose as a response to the need to satisfy the growing markets. It presents the key moments and actors in developing this concept and describes its importance in the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. It also discusses standards used in the IMS, QMS, and EMS for standardizing management systems and their documented procedures ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001. Finally, it presents examples of the integration of models, methods, and tools for reaching business profitability, the responses during the ramp-up and ramp-down stages in the product life cycle, and reaction cases to the crisis that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic period.

This chapter discusses the concept of Standardized Work (SW) as one of the basic tools in implementing Lean Manufacturing for improving processes and reducing variation, analyzing its origins and evolution, and its importance and success factors. The tools that make up the implementation of the SW are also described. In addition, a bibliometric review of SW is conducted to identify the main authors who have worked on the tool, the number of citations, and the journals that have led publications in SW. Finally, an application case in ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) manufacturing aims to reduce variations and ensure that operations are customized and controlled. The results obtained were adequate, with a 15% improvement in productivity. The SW tools were structured with the participation of the people involved and allowed for ideal conditions before applying other Lean Manufacturing tools.

This chapter discusses the Heijunka tool, its concept, origin, benefits, critical factors for its successful implementation, the main barriers to its implementation, the process, and a case study. In addition, a detailed analysis of the state of the art and the main contributions of several authors are presented. Finally, its application is explained in detail through the solution of a real case study applied to a company dedicated to producing cat food. The application case is presented from the approach to solving the problem, calculation of the takt time, calculation of the pitch, and sequence establishment to define the Heijunka box. A solution to the same problem without applying Heijunka is also presented so the reader can identify the benefits of using the tool.

This chapter analyses the concept of 5S, its origins, scope, main critical success factors, barriers, and a bibliometric analysis of 5S. It also presents a case study of the application of the five phases of the method in a Peruvian plastic plate manufacturing company, where the main objective is to obtain a positive impact on the productivity of the organization. The result of 0.72 plates produced/suns is evident after the implementation of 5S owing to order, cleanliness, and work environment, which led to the elimination of unnecessary time and activities that do not generate value, such as unnecessary inspections of the product at the end of the process.

This chapter presents the importance of the 5S methodology in the processes to maintain and seek continuous improvement in the conditions of organization, order, and cleanliness, as well as the optimization of working conditions, safety, work environment, personal motivation, and efficiency. Therefore, we present the characteristics of the 5S, some research on the 5S that has emerged during the last two decades, the benefits observed after the application, the process of implementation of the 5S, and a case study of the application.

This chapter discusses the Just in Time (JIT) manufacturing tool, analyzing its concept and evolution, its importance, and the benefits it offers when implemented correctly, as well as the barriers that are faced when putting it into practice. Similarly, some basic activities that must be considered at the time of implementation are indicated. In addition, a bibliometric review of the JIT concept in the industry is conducted, identifying the authors, institutions, and countries that generate the most scientific papers or are most cited. Finally, a structural equation model was presented to quantify the relationship between JIT and social and environmental sustainability. The results were validated with information from 411 responses to a survey applied to the Mexican maquiladora industry, and the direct effects were estimated to validate the three established hypotheses. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of the model is reported, in which the probabilities of the analyzed variables occurring in isolation, jointly, and conditionally are reported.

Jidoka combines automation with human touch (autonomation). This concept has attracted worldwide attention as a vital component of the Lean Manufacturing approach towards zero defects. This chapter provides an overview of Jidoka practices, including andon systems, poka-yoke devices, digital Jidoka solutions, and their applications. The purpose is not only to present concepts and definitions but also to discuss an evolutionary view of one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System, from the traditional Jidoka to Jidoka 4.0. A literature review of Jidoka applied in manufacturing processes is presented, including its origins, implementation processes, and expected benefits. In addition, this chapter presents barriers and critical success factors for implementing Jidoka on the shop floor as well as provides a quick bibliometric view regarding the scientific production on the topic published in the Scopus database between 2002 and 2023. Finally, a case study from the automotive industry is reported to illustrate a practical example of Jidoka 4.0.

This chapter examines the Kanban Board as a management tool, addressing its concept, origins, industry adoption, benefits, and implementation barriers. Additionally, it presents a detailed bibliometric analysis of the Kanban Board and Health Services, highlighting the United States as the country with the most significant contribution and impact in this field. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine stands out, having garnered 302 citations despite publishing only four documents, thus underscoring the importance of these papers. Furthermore, it explores the application of this methodology through a case study in a dental clinic, where waiting times were reduced by 70.45%. This chapter emphasizes the effectiveness of the Kanban Board, even in healthcare settings, and demonstrates its ability to generate significant improvements in operational efficiency.

This chapter discusses the concept of One-Piece Flow (OPF), its origins, scope, main critical success factors, and barriers. Also reports a small bibliometric analysis of OPF and Manufacturing and findings indicate that the United States of America is the country with the highest academic production on these topics, Lander, and Liker were the authors with the highest number of citations (150) and the International Journal of Production Research was the leading journal. In addition, it includes an application case where the material flow is shown at the implementation time in the production process of a packaging company working with a traditional batch system, and the fundamentals of OPF are implemented. The results show that OPF reduces delivery times by at least 34%, eliminating unnecessary transportation and activities that do not add value to the process, such as unnecessary product inspections.

This chapter discusses a lean manufacturing tool named takt time, analyzes its concept, its origin, its importance, the benefits it offers when implemented, and the critical factors for its implementation. In addition, a review of current cases in which methodologies with a central theme of takt time are applied. In addition, a bibliometric review of Takt time concepts in the industry is conducted, identifying authors, institutions, and countries that generate more publications and the most cited ones. Finally, a case study showed the importance of applying the Takt Time Tool in a productive process.

Within Lean Manufacturing, line balancing is crucial for distributing and assigning work evenly across assembly flow lines to eliminate bottlenecks and increase capacity. As such, bottleneck analysis is a complementary tool to achieve line balancing. While these are widely known tools, the upcoming changes in the global industry brought by digitalization, Internet-of-Things, automatization, and artificial intelligence in decision processes involve the need to understand their origins to make an adaptation, or evolution, of these tools to the new scenarios and challenges. Hence, the present chapter discusses the origins, relationships, impacts, limitations, opportunities, and applications of bottleneck analysis as a fundamental tool for line balancing in Lean Manufacturing. Finally, a case study is presented where the takt time is the basis for analyzing if the required production can be achieved even with the bottleneck, seeking that the current bottleneck governs the adjacent processes to obtain the required production. This work can provide important insights regarding the evolution and application of these tools while identifying future opportunities.

The successful implementation of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in a logistics company hinges on the active participation of logistics personnel. This can be a crucial catalyst for improving operational efficiency and maximizing productivity in managing tractor-trailer fleets, warehouses, and logistics processes. By applying TPM principles in this environment, the company can experience significant benefits, such as maintenance and availability of truck fleets, efficient maintenance, or adequate PM programs with autonomous maintenance activities in truck inspection and repair of minor failures, adequate participation in training programs for personnel, inventory management, cost reduction and efficient warehouse management. This chapter describes the concepts, evolution, benefits, barriers, and implementation process of TPM in the industry. It also includes a comprehensive literature review, highlighting the primary documents published, the authors who have been pioneers in this topic, and the scientific journals that publish it. Finally, a compelling case study is presented, offering a tangible glimpse into the advantages of implementing TQM in a company.

This chapter analyzes the Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) lean manufacturing tool, delving into its concept, development, relevance, and the benefits it offers when well implemented. It also addresses the obstacles faced during its implementation. Moreover, it is crucial to consider specific fundamental measures throughout the implementation phase. Moreover, a bibliometric study is conducted to examine the prevalence of the SMED concept in the industry. This research specifically focuses on identifying the authors, institutions, and countries that contribute the most scholarly works or are most frequently cited. In conclusion, a case study demonstrates how the use of SMED can improve the company's capacity to manufacture items within the designated timeframe, leading to increased adaptability, reduced expenses, and enhanced product quality. The findings demonstrate that adopting the SMED methodology substantially increased the On-Time Delivery (OTD) metric, escalating from 91 to 98%. Furthermore, there was an approximate 55.55% decrease in the changeover durations. The company's problem was successfully handled by running a two-sample test using the SMED approach.

The continuous challenge of a competitive market in the manufacturing sector leads companies to improve their productive capabilities. The overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metric comprises availability, performance, and quality factors. We maintain that the influence of these factors in calculating the OEE in the work dynamics must be considered to identify the management of the production system. Examples of virtual simulations of a line of operation are provided. These factors are modified to compare them with a general model and observe the daily effect in work centers. The result offered by the elaborate simulation helps in understanding the correct implementation of the OEE calculation methodology.

In this chapter, the application of the DMAIC methodology is presented as an important benchmark for improving the logistic aspect of healthcare services. In the initial stage, the conceptualization, origin, and evolution of the DMAIC methodology are reviewed. Then, a bibliometric analysis is performed to identify current opportunities and limitations of DMAIC within the healthcare field. This leads to the final stage, which consists of a case study of a social initiative focused on conceptualizing a health logistics network for vulnerable regions in Mexico. Through the application of the DMAIC methodology, the case study integrates Lean Manufacturing and 6 s tools. While 6 s provides statistical data to analyze variations in healthcare processes, Lean Manufacturing focuses on minimizing losses and continually improving them. The results corroborate the suitability of DMAIC in improving the logistic aspect of healthcare services.

This chapter discusses the TQM manufacturing tool, analyzing its concept and evolution, its importance, its benefits when properly adopted, and the barriers it faces when put into practice. Similarly, some of the critical factors for success are presented, and a series of suggested steps are followed at the time of implementation. Additionally, a quick bibliometric review of the TQM philosophy in the industry was conducted, identifying the authors, institutions, and countries that contributed the most scientific papers and those most cited. Finally, a case study is presented for the pulp and paper industry. It presents the implementation of a control-charting approach, an essential element of the TQM philosophy. The approach corresponds to individual measurement control charts based on a fuzzy approach as an alternative to traditional control charts in the search for customer satisfaction with the moisture content of the paper. The results showed that charts based on the fuzzy approach are more flexible because the amplitude between the control limits is larger than that in charts based on a traditional approach, allowing it to handle the uncertainty from the measurement system or the nature of the process.

This chapter investigates the main concepts of Gemba, reporting on its concepts and evolution since its origin in Japan. It indicates how it was adopted by Western companies, the critical success factors that facilitate its implementation or adoption, and the barriers that managers may encounter. Similarly, the implementation process recommended by some authors is described, and a bibliometric analysis is performed to identify the trend in this topic, the primary authors, the most productive journals, and the most cited ones. Finally, a case study is reported, in which Gemba walks are used to analyze how to reduce errors in the license labeling process in a production line. The results indicate that Gemba allows errors to be quickly identified in collaboration with employees; therefore, its use is widely recommended.

This chapter presents the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), a lean manufacturing tool. It includes the concept, origins, and evolution of this tool, its implementation process, and the benefits, critical success factors, and barriers to its implementation. In addition, a bibliometric review of PDCA cycle implementation is presented, highlighting the authors, countries, and institutions that have published the most or are most cited. Finally, a case study on inventory management in a warehouse is presented to demonstrate the benefits of PDCA. In this case, a company presents problems of duplication of product keys and lack of stock, which causes the misdelivery of customer orders. This results in financial losses to the company. To solve this problem, we used the PDCA cycle to create a system for identifying and unifying product keys in a warehouse area to avoid losses generated by the inconvenience of erroneous keys. The results showed improvements in inventory management, which resulted in savings of $180,435.49 MXN. The information in this chapter will assist companies in successfully implementing the PDCA cycle.

This chapter delves into the RCA manufacturing tool, examining its development and significance and the benefits it offers when properly implemented. In addition, it explores the critical success factors for adoption and recommendations for implementation. Moreover, a bibliometric review was conducted to analyze the RCA-based problem-solving approach in the industry, identifying the authors, institutions, and countries that have contributed the most scientific papers and those that have been most cited. Lastly, an applied case study is presented, demonstrating the step-by-step implementation of an RCA based on the 8D’s methodology to resolve a quality issue detected by a customer in a corrugated cardboard box. Using One-Way ANOVA, the cause of the problem was initially validated. The effect was then quantified, enabling the customer to identify the critical quality variable that needs to be maintained. It is important to note that RCAs do not necessarily require substantial investment to eliminate the root cause of a problem. Instead, the use of statistical tools and methodologies, whether classical or based on artificial intelligence and big data, can provide a cost-effective solution.

Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a visual and analytical technique used in process improvement to identify, analyze, and optimize the flow of materials and information within a system. It provides a comprehensive view of a process from beginning to end, allowing organizations to pinpoint inefficiencies, reduce waste, and enhance customer value delivery. By involving cross-functional teams in the mapping process, VSM fosters collaboration and facilitates continuous improvement initiatives. It is a dynamic tool that supports businesses in streamlining their operations, increasing efficiency, and maintaining a customer-centric focus for sustained success.

This chapter discusses the manufacturing tool Key efficiency indicator (KPI). It began by reviewing the definitions and concepts of the primary research carried out on the reported tool to explain the implementation process and the benefits its application brings to organizations. A case study was conducted to increase the efficiency KPI of the assembly line of a German automotive electrical harness company, where the state of the production line was determined with lean tools such as the CTQ diagram (Critical Quality Parameters), the SIPOC diagram (Supplier Inputs Process Outputs Customers), and the Value Stream Graph (VSM), which together with the process metrics, showed a real panorama of the line. To analyze the root cause, the factors that intervene, and based on the results, the techniques applied to solve the causes that generate the lack of compliance with the efficiency KPI were determined. The average uptime of the line before the improvements was 1245 min per day, and with the implementation of the lean tools, it increased to 1350 productive minutes per day, demonstrating a significant efficiency increase in the line of 8% of productive minutes per day.

This chapter discusses the concept of cross-functional teams (CFTs), highlighting their development and application, mainly in manufacturing organizations, as an essential tool for sustained performance for the business. Furthermore, it provides a valuable analysis of how CFTs have developed over the years, their importance, and benefits, particularly the essential factors that have positively influenced CFTs. Additionally, it provides a valuable analysis of the shortcomings of the functional departments and the associated conventional teams in the workplace, which are being replaced by CFTs—teams integrating different disciplines and skills, seeking greater collaboration in the workplace. In this respect, the chapter provides an evolution and the relevant research at each stage, covering various decades, beginning from 1990–2000 and highlighting the relevant research streams up to recent years. Each decade captures the critical focus of CFTs for the manufacturing industry, such setbacks as effectiveness and efficacy resulting from a lack of authoritative capacity on the part of CFT members. In the subsequent decade, increasing globalization and CFTs led to the new challenges of managing multiculturalism. In recent years, the new challenges have been the impact of the complex and novel business problems associated with technology and the associated benefits and lessons. Thus, organizations’ need for CFTs cannot be overemphasized in a competitive world. Finally, the chapter addresses the complex nature within which the CFTs operate, which differs from conventional teams. It highlights factors influencing well-functioning CFTs and some examples of organizations with benefits of CFTs in place.

This study examines the level of integral leadership used by managers in the manufacturing industry in Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) and the impact of leadership style on social, operational, and environmental performance. The literature review included over 180 articles on leadership, social, operational, and environmental performance, and it allowed us to design a questionnaire. The dimensions and factors of each latent variable were integrated into a questionnaire applied to the Mexican Maquiladora industry. One hundred fifty-six valid questionnaires were obtained and analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) to validate the three hypotheses or relationships between variables. The findings indicate that leadership impacts three industrial performances: social, operational, and environmental. This study provides a framework for developing leaders in the Mexican maquiladora industry, demonstrating that investing resources in developing integral leaders is better.

This chapter explores the relationship between Lean Manufacturing (LM) and sustainability in the context of Colombian metalworking companies. While LM emphasizes customer value maximization and waste reduction, sustainability concerns have become increasingly pivotal in global manufacturing. However, integrating sustainable practices into daily operations remains challenging. This study employs a survey-based empirical approach to analyze 133 Colombian manufacturing companies, revealing LM’s positive effects on the triple bottom line (TBL) performance pillars—people, profits, and the planet—when evaluated individually. Despite a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the effects of LM in the TBL, this research contributes valuable evidence of LM's positive impacts on sustainable performance under the TBL framework. The findings offer practical insights for LM implementation, addressing the need for improvements in sustainable performance without compromising economic and operational expectations. Moreover, the results provide opportunities for collaborative efforts between government, universities, and industries to develop policies and programs that enhance competitiveness and align with global sustainability expectations in Latin American manufacturing.

This chapter integrates sustainability principles into lean manufacturing, emphasizing the key factors contributing to sustainability adoption. Focusing on automotive manufacturing plants in Northeast Mexico, this study underscores the role of factors such as the implementation of energy management systems, promotion of gender equality in the workforce, human development through training initiatives, improvement, including utilization of clean, renewable energy, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, enhancement of worker productivity, and reduction of solid waste materials. The analysis delves into the relationship between these factors and lean manufacturing principles, outlining their combined impacts on sustainability adoption. By bridging economic, environmental, and social considerations, the insights generated provide a pathway for organizations to achieve long-term economic prosperity while fostering overall well-being within the business and the broader community.

This chapter addresses the concepts of Circular Economy (CE) as an alternative tool for implementing lean to improve manufacturing processes, analyzing its origin, evolution, importance, and success factors. It also describes the tools that comprise the implementation of Lean Manufacturing (LM). In addition, a bibliometric review of lean and CE is performed to identify the principal authors who have worked on the tool, the number of citations, and journals that have led to lean and circular economy publications. Finally, an application case to develop a polypropylene composite with Tetra Pak® aimed to improve the hardness property by implementing a lean and circular economy through a design of experiment (DOE). A statistically optimal formulation for this property yields an excellent 70 Shore A hardness result.

Worldwide, businesses are not only interested in becoming economically profitable but are also seeking to incorporate sustainability into their processes to meet increasing pressures from customers to be environmentally and socially sustainable. Therefore, they seek strategies that allow them to optimize their resources, as well as environmentally and socially friendly. A good approach to pursuing this is Lean Manufacturing, which contributes to an organization’s competitiveness by improving productivity and quality by eliminating waste along a product’s or service’s value stream. This study shows that even though Lean Manufacturing has no intention of reducing environmental impacts, it can contribute to improving the use of natural resources and enhancing the well-being of people.