Lean manufacturing in maintenance, repair and overhaul industry

• Main Author: Ho, Ki Han.
• Other Authors: Appa Iyer Sivakumar
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Systems engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Industrial engineering::Engineering management
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/16214
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Wastes are non-value added materials that can considerably reduce the productivity of any manufacturing industry. Not being able to manufacture efficiently may cripple a company’s inability to meet the changing demands of its customers. This can have detrimental effects as customers may source out other companies to meet their needs. Lean manufacturing methodologies offer ways to eliminate such wastes in an effective yet inexpensive manner. It takes an all rounded approach when solving problems, targeting not only the technical glitches but also the people who operate it. On the other hand, due to the fundamental differences in the operating procedures of the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) industry as compared to their manufacturing counterparts, lean manufacturing methodologies will need to go through certain refinements so as to suit the MRO scene. Nevertheless, lean techniques still serves the purpose of eliminating non-value added (NVA) processes so that the service operations can meet up with their customers’ demands just-in-time. Practical applications of these methodologies have to be investigated so as to study their effectiveness and also discover their shortcomings. Implementing lean in any organisation can also bring about drastic changes to the working environment. Hence, every staff in the company must learn to embrace these changes with the right attitude.