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Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing

Techniques (Case Study)

Article in Tehnički glasnik · February 2022

DOI: 10.31803/tg-20211010121240

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ISSN 1846-6168 (Print), ISSN 1848-5588 (Online) Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31803/tg-20211010121240 Received: 2021-10-10, Accepted: 2021-10-28

Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques

(Case Study)

Dilsad Guzel, Alireza Shahbazpour Asiabi*

Abstract: Lean manufacturing techniques are mostly applied in large enterprises and companies that produce more technological products. In this study, productivity has been
increased by the application of lean production techniques in SMEs that produces simpler products and has a lower education level of employees. For this, as the first step, Pareto
analysis is performed on the sales and production data of the previous year, and the target product family is selected for improvement. In the next step of the study, improvement
projects are determined with the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) method, and then productivity increases are achieved by using Kaizen, 5S, standard work, layout plan, and single-
piece flow techniques. As a result of the applications, a decrease was achieved in the production process times and the number of quality defects, and at the end of one year, a
29% reduction in total workmanship is observed.

Keywords: flow manufacturing; 5S; lean manufacturing; spaghetti diagram; standard work; Value Stream Mapping (VSM)

1 INTRODUCTION production waste, unnecessary waiting, unnecessary

transportation, over-processing, excess stock, unnecessary
In Turkey, like other countries in the world, SMEs have movement, and defects. Cost reduction and increase in
a great role in the growth of the economy. There are different efficiency in operations are realized by eliminating the waste
methods used to increase productivity, but the most used and in the process. To eliminate these wastes, techniques such as
more widespread among them is lean production visual control, 5S, VSM and Kaizen are applied from various
applications. The application of lean production techniques lean production tools [3].
has not been applied in detail in SMEs due to reasons such as
financial and human resources constraints. When we ask the 2.1.1 Lean Production Principles
owners and top managers of companies that do not apply lean
production techniques, they think that these methods are not The lean production system aims at low cost, fast
suitable for their scale and work. Womack et al. claim the
delivery, and a high-quality-oriented foundation. To achieve
applicability of lean manufacturing practices despite the size
this basis, the lean production system has 5 principles. Lean
of the firm [1]. When we search the publications, there are
very few articles that describe lean manufacturing practices production principles consist of identifying value, Mapping
in SMEs in detail. Therefore, this study has been prepared for the value stream, creating flow, establishing pull, Perfection
the purpose of generalizing lean production in SMEs and to seeking.
show that it is not dependent on the scale and the work done.
As a result, it answers the question "Do lean manufacturing 2.1.1.1 Value
practices increase productivity in SMEs?" This study consists
of 3 main parts: the first part includes the definition of lean A lean manufacturing system requires a change in the
manufacturing, the second part includes application methods, usual system and supports the distinction of "value" from
and the third part includes application and results. "waste", providing studies that will affect the transformation
of existing resources into products and/or products. Value is
2 LITERATURE REVIEW the basic concept in the lean production system. If we define
2.1 Lean Production the value briefly, it is the whole of all processes that will meet
the expectations and requirements of the customer in the
To understand what lean production means in a simple product and/or service formation process. The period starting
and detailed way, it is necessary to know the definitions of from the customer's request in the formation process of a
lean production and some basic lean concepts in these finished product, from the raw material entry to the product
definitions. Lean manufacturing constantly focuses on formation and delivery to the customer, consists of 5 steps
eliminating non-value-added activities and maximizing [4]: Processing Time, Control Time, Handling Time, Waiting
value-added activities by reducing production costs and Time, and Storage Time. When we look from the perspective
improving the quality of an organizational process. In of the customer, the questions of why he wants the product,
general, non-value-added activities add costs to operations what he needs, what the product qualities are, how much it is
without increasing the value of products. Non-value-added priced and when it can be delivered help to find value criteria.
activities are defined as waste in lean production. Any Process steps other than these transactions are products that
activity that the customer is not willing to pay for is the customer does not want to pay and do not add value to
determined as non-value-added and wasteful [2]. Non-value- them. It will be possible to manage customer value with the
added activities can be classified into seven wastes: excess steps in Fig. 1.

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 Dilsad Guzel et al.: Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques (Case Study)

systems is subject to flow interruptions with usual systems

and wrong practices in most organizations. The continuous
flow aims to keep everything working and to progress
continuously.

2.1.1.4 Pull System

The pull principle, which relates to creating flow, is the

process of starting production with customer demand and
triggering the previous process from the product to the raw
material, instead of the thought of producing and selling in
traditional production. With the pull system, fluctuations in
Figure 1 Managing customer value
demand can be transferred to previous operations,
intermediate stocks can be reduced, and simpler production
All transactions that do not add value in the process of
can be achieved by eliminating waste [6].
product and/or service formation, that is, do not contribute to
the transformation process of the product and/ or service, are
2.1.1.5 Search for Perfection
called waste. Taiichi Ohno (1988) defined waste as "a
resource-consuming activity that does not create value. In
It is a process that does not have a waste type, is free
other words, it is an activity that does not add value but
from all waste and creates value as defined by the customer.
creates costs. The list of wastes is: Faulty Production,
By changing the culture of organizations mostly, it enables
Overproduction, Excess inventory, Waiting, Overprocessing,
them to be directed towards continuous improvement and to
Unnecessary Transport, Extreme Movements, Unused
develop the organization. One of the most important tools for
Knowledge/ Talent.
this is Kaizen. Kaizen makes employees seek improvement
opportunities. They also contribute to the pursuit of
2.1.1.2 Value Stream
excellence by supporting the organization's change and
development. The pursuit of perfection comes from an effort
The value stream is the concrete set of actions required
to achieve more perfect, in a continuous cycle, by thinking
to achieve a particular product and is achieved through the
that it can be continuously improved. The stages of
three critical management functions found in every business.
organizations seeking excellence are accepting the change
The value stream includes all the stages from one producer
and starting within their body, showing their stakeholders
to another producer and the end user in the process of
where they have reached with the change and finally making
transforming the raw material into the final product, and it
improvements [7].
contains an incredible amount of waste. There are three types
of activities in production:
• "Value-creating" activities (such as dyeing, assembly,
2.2 Lean Manufacturing Techniques
weaving) that transform in the direction desired by the 2.2.1 VSM
customer
The value stream is the set of value-added and non-
• "Mandatory" jobs that do not create value but are
value-added activities needed to produce a product along the
necessary for the customer to do the job (such as
main streams essential to each product. The main flows
molding, adjustment, transportation)
applicable to each product are (l) the production flow from
• "Non-value and avoidable" tasks such as waiting,
raw materials to the customer, (2) the design flow from
counting, sorting, error, repair
concept to installation (product development process) [8].
We usually connect this flow with lean manufacturing, and
When value streams are examined, it is seen that
this is the zone that lean techniques are tried to be
activities that do not create value, that is, waste, consume
implemented. The value stream viewpoint means working on
most of the time and resources. Elimination of these wastes
the big picture, not just one activity, and improving all
will bring radical improvements in time and cost. Once value
processes, not just parts. If you really look at the whole and
is fully defined, the value stream map for a given product is
follow all the paths from the raw material to the customer,
fully drawn by the lean business, and the wasteful steps are
you will need to survive a value stream through many
eliminated, it's time for lean thinking to take the next step.
companies and factories. However, mapping a flow of this
What remains is to ensure a continuous flow of value-
bigness is too much and difficult to begin with. The first thing
creating steps [5].
that appears in the production flow is the material movement
flow in the factory. But there is another flow that tells each
2.1.1.3 Continuous Flow
process what to do next: the information flow. In lean
production, information flow is as important as material flow.
It is the uninterrupted flow of processes in the product
You need to map both. The question you have to ask yourself
and/or service formation process that the customer wants to
is, "How should we flow information so that one process only
buy. The continuous flow principle in lean manufacturing
produces what the next process wants, when it wants to?

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 Dilsad Guzel et al.: Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques (Case Study)

VSM follows the steps shown in Fig. 2. Note that the "Future returned in the original place after use [15, 16, 17]; c. Shine:
State Map" is highlighted because your goal is to design a Cleaning the workplace and equipment regularly. The source
lean value stream. The current state map is useless without of indiscipline, inefficiency, faulty production, and work
the future state. The future state map is the most important accidents is dust and dirt [15, 18]; d. Standardize:
thing. The first step is to draw the current situation by Standardization and documentation of methods, use of
collecting information from the production area. This standard procedures. Standards should be fluent, clear, and
provides the information you need to design the future state. easy to understand [15, 18, 19]; e. Sustain: Maintaining the
Also, if you notice, the flows between the current and future continuity of the established procedures, regularly auditing
situation go both ways. This shows that current and future the working methods, making the 5S method a habit and
developments are studies that affect each other. Ideas about integrating it into the culture. In general, the first three steps
the future situation will be formed while drawing the current are easily applied in the enterprises, but because the fourth
situation map. Similarly, the future state plot will reveal and fifth steps are not implemented, it returns to the old
important previously overlooked information about the situation after a short time. The simple yet powerful 5S
current state. The final step is the preparation of an technique helps identify and eliminate workplace problems
implementation plan and start to application it. A one-page [20]. It also helps to have an efficient and high-quality
implementation plan defines how we will achieve the future workplace. [21].
state. Then, when the future state is reached, a new future
state map should be drawn [9]. 2.2.4 Kaizen

Kaizen consists of two words, Kai (development) and

Zen (continuous), expressing improvement and continuous
improvement [22]. Kaizen predicts awareness of problems
and gives clues to identify these problems, it is an important
management support covering many management practices
used in organizations [23].

2.2.5 Standardized Work

Berger et al. identified the Standard Work as an

important tool for continuous improvement [24]. One of the
safest and most effective ways to use resources such as
people, machines, and materials efficiently and to make
operations sustainable is to apply a standard operating
method. Work Standardization can be defined as a set of
Figure 2 Value stream mapping steps analysis tools that results in a set of standard operation
procedures (SOPs). SOPs show which work steps are
2.2.2 Spaghetti Diagram followed by the activities performed within the target time.
SOPs helps us to eliminate the take-time fluctuation
The spaghetti diagram is an easy yet strong instrument problems. With the increase in demand, we can gradually add
for imagining motion and transportation [10]. Such as workers. If the amount of demand decreases, it can gradually
diagrams are a well-established tool that seeks more effective remove workers from the production line [24, 25].
layouts [11]. When the transportation routes are sketched, it Standardization is to determine the lower and upper limits of
is often simple to spot potentials to reduce waste in quality in the organization and to ensure that products and
movement. The spaghetti diagram was used to follow and services are produced above the determined level [26].
draw worker movements to try to find unnecessary motions
that could be eliminated. Furthermore, analyzing the current 2.2.6 U-Line Manufacturing System
state may be useful for comparing it with recommended
improvements. [12]. In its overview, the entrance and exit of the U line should
be in the same place [27]. With both ends of the line on one
2.2.3 5S Method side, a narrow U shape is formed. The advantages of U-
shaped lines are reducing the number of workstations,
The 5S is a Japanese technique of organizing the balancing the line, visibility, and flexibility. Guerriero et al.
workshop, in a clean, efficient, and safe mode, to gain a Stochastic simply described the flexibility of the U-Line
productive workspace [13]. The 5S is the starting point for layout and suggested that flexibility makes it easier for this
companies that want to be recognized in the world class [14]. line to increase or decrease the number of workers when
The 5S technique consists of five steps: a. Sort: Separation demand is experienced. As for the installation results of the
of necessary and unnecessary items and elimination of U-Line, minimum workstation, minimum labor, and a
unnecessary items; b. Set in Order: Systematic arrangement workflow can be determined [28].
of necessary items and so that they can quickly be taken and

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2.2.7 Flow Manufacturing 5) Determining work in process parts numbers

6) Calculating of total production time and lead time
The principle of flow production is to produce an 7) Drawing the timeline of the current state map.
element at a time at a rate equal to the cycle time. The
successful implementation of flow manufacturing requires
U-line layout, multi-skilled workers, standardized cycle time,
designing operator work as standing and walking way.
Miltenburg et al. recommended that the pull through or over
long process flow can be balanced by introducing the
customized operation in the workstation in order to balance
the operation with the workstation cycle time [29, 30]. Mixed
flow model is made smooth by designing workstation with
quick change and small batch size.

3 METHODOLOGIES

There are various methods for current state analysis and

increasing productivity in companies. In this study, we
follow 5 steps as shown below:
Figure 3 Pareto analysis of one-year sofa group sales data
1) Drawing current state VSM for identifying wastes
2) Selection of improvement projects by brainstorming
As shown in Fig. 4, the current state value stream was
with department workers
complete by the following steps. At the end of calculations
3) Using lean manufacturing techniques for applying in
and analysis in the value stream, problems were identified,
improvement projects:
and improvements projects determinate on a departmental
a) 5S and Kaizen method used for general settings in
basis.
workshops
b) Spaghetti diagram used for analyzing and improvement
4.2 Current State VSM Analysis Results
walking distances in a frame workshop layout
c) Standardization Work used for decreasing cycle time in
According to the results obtained from the analysis of the
upholstery process
current state value stream map, the following problems have
d) Standardization Work used for decreasing paint faults in
been identified in the production processes as shown in Tab.
paint shop
1.
e) U-Line Manufacturing System used for cycle time
improvement in upholstery process Table 1 Process Based problems
f) Flow Manufacturing (One piece flow) used for fabric Production
Problems
sewing process. Process
4) Comparison of productivity criteria before and after Frame Unnecessary transportation, Unnecessary movements,
manufacturing Unorganized workplace
application in production processes.
Painting mistakes, Faulty products, Unorganized
Painting
workplace
4 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS Waiting, Unbalanced operations, Unorganized
Fabric Sewing
4.1 Furniture Manufacturing Current State Value Stream Map workplace
Waiting, Unbalanced operations, Production without
Upholstering
flow, Non-standard operations, Unorganized workplace
For drawing the current state map in this factory based
on methodology, at first, we select a product family by using
Pareto analysis method. In this case, we collect one-year sale 4.2.1 Frame Workshop Layout Improvement Applications
data and after that, by drawing Pareto graphics, find the
products that were most sold last one year as shown in Fig. When the workflows of the top-selling GST, FLX, STL
3. product families are examined, the frame section is the first
The below steps have been followed for drawing the stage of the production process. As determined in the current
GST current state value stream map: situation value stream map analysis, unnecessary
1) Collection of customer order information (Monthly transportation, unnecessary movements, waiting, excess
customer demand, weekly working days and daily stock, and excess production wastes were determined in this
working hours) section considering the wastes above, a project to improve
2) Determination of information flow from customer order the frame workshop layout has emerged. The following steps
to shipment have been applied to realize this project:
3) Determining planning strategy in the current state 1) Examining prescriptions and routes,
4) Identify manufacturing steps and all data related to them 2) Determining the parts and machine groups by
(cycle time, changeover time, number of employees, considering all the alternative machines that the parts in
working rate,) the production can be processed,

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 Dilsad Guzel et al.: Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques (Case Study)

3) Creation of the part-machine matrix, 8) Selecting the most beneficial option from the different
4) Using clustering method according to operation machine layout options evaluated according to the rules
similarities in part-machine matrices, below:
5) If there is an exceptional situation in the operations, I Material flows are in such a way as to prevent returns,
separate clustering (orienting to one-piece flow with II Develop machine competencies,
clustering), III Choose the one with the maximum total profit according
6) Holistic analysis of the clustering method, to the selected product/products.
7) Designing different options for the frame workshop 9) If the distance and time obtained from the comparison of
layout to minimize the delays in the value stream the existing and new settlement is useful, apply that
according to the clusters made, option. The clustering result is shown in Tabs. 2, 3 and
4.
FURNITURE
COMPANY
CUSTOMER
PRODUCTION
PLANNING
SUPPLIER
Fabric, Button,
Thread, Sponge,
Timber, Hardboard,
MDF Board, Paint

Materials are
given as a
minimum order
of 4-5 months.

Frame workshop
layout improvement

WOOD STRUCTURE WOOD

PREPARATION PAINTING FOAMING
STRUCTURE

3 4 9
13
RAW MATERIAL WAREHOUSE

Hardboard 8 MM-0.042 m2 Quantity 1 Quantity 1 Quantity 1 Quantity 1

Hardboard 18 MM-0.201 m2 C/T (min) 120 C/T (min) 440 C/T (min) 14 C/T (min) 165
Wood-0.253 m3 Weekly Production 15 Weekly Production 15 Weekly Production 15 Weekly Production 15
S1 - 2 PCS S2 - 5 PCS Weekly Production Capacıty 137
Weekly Production Capacıty 66 Weekly Production Capacıty 78 Weekly Production Capacıty 641
3th Class Wood-0.559 m3
Capacity Utilization Rate 22.73 % Capacity Utilization Rate 19.23% Capacity Utilization Rate 2.34% Capacity Utilization Rate 10.95%
Plywood Poplar-3.340 m2
Working Time 2805 Working Time 2805 Working Time 2805 Working Time 2805 S3 - 0
MDF Board-2.115 m2 Work Rate 90%
Work Rate 95% Work Rate 95% Work Rate 80%
MDFLAM Board-0.115 m2
Fabric-20.614 m2 SOFA
UPHOLSTERY PACKAGING

Dividing work into PRODUCT WAREHOUSE

small pieces in fabric
15 2 GST sofas- 10
sewing workshop PCS
Quantity 1 Quantity 1
FABRIC CUT FABRIC FABRIC SEWING
C/T (min) 10
CUTTING SEPARATION C/T (min) 410
Weekly Production 15 Weekly Production 15
Weekly Production Capacıty 97 Weekly Production Capacıty 532
1 1 15
Capacity Utilization Rate 15.46% Capacity Utilization Rate 2.82%
Quantity 1 Quantity 1 Quantity 1 S6 - 2 PCS Working Time 2805
Working Time 2805
C/T (min) 30 C/T (min) 15 C/T (min) 230 Work Rate 95%
Work Rate 95%
Weekly Production 15 Weekly Production 15 Weekly Production 15 S5 - 10 PCS
Capacıty 88 Weekly Production Capacıty 177 S4 - 0 PCS Weekly Production Capacıty 173
Capacity Utilization Rate 17.05% Capacity Utilization Rate 8.47% Capacity Utilization Rate 8.67%
Working Time 2805 Working Time 2805 Working Time 2805
Work Rate 95% Work Rate 95% Work Rate 95%

38.54
32.20 DAYS 0 0.67 DAYS 1.67 DAY 0 DAY 0.67 DAY 3.33 DAYS DAYS
120 440 14 165 410 10 1159 MİN

39.54
32.20 DAYS 0 0 3.33 DAYS 0.67 DAY 3.33 DAYS DAYS
30 15 230 410 10 695 MİN

Figure 4 GST current state value stream map

In the next step, the number of parts made on the layout. Detail of spaghetti diagrams shown on Fig 5 (see
machines for each product was determined. The total number Appendix).
of parts processed in the 10 machines was determined to be To calculate the effect of the study on the company, the
200 in the GST sofa, 166 in the FLX sofa and 126 in the STL improvement amounts were multiplied by the annual sales
sofa (Tab. 5). amounts and added together. As a result, 868.67 km less
According to Table 5, rules have been created for the walking of the employees and at the same time 14477.79
machine layouts of the products. These rules are: minutes, that is, 241.30 hours (approximately 30 working
I According to the clustering method, in the new layout, days), were gained to the company (Tabs. 6 – see Appendix
the M2 machine and the M1 machine should be close to and Tab. 7).
each other.
II The M5 – M6 – M7 machines should be close to each 4.2.2 Paint Workshop Standardization and Visual
other. Management
III The M8 – M9 machines should be close to each other.
When we list the problems in the paint workshop in the
As the next step, the spaghetti diagram method was used current situation value stream map, the color tone difference
for the benefit analysis of the current situation and the in the products has been determined as the biggest and most
designed future situation layout plan. Spaghetti diagrams of common problem. To eliminate the problem, root cause
the products were drawn for current state, and distance was analysis was performed and as a solution, standardization and
calculated based on the movements of the 3 main raw visual management from lean production techniques were
materials (Hardboard, Wood, MDF hardboard). Then the applied. For standardization, a paint mixture recipe was
layout established based on constraints and distance was created for each color and placed on the worktables in the
calculated again for comparing current state and future paint shop with a painted sample (Tab. 8).

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Table 2 GST sofa clustering matrix Table 4 STL sofa clustering matrix
GST SOFA CLUSTERING ALGORITHM STL SOFA CLUSTERING ALGORITHM
PART / PART /
QUANTITY M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10
MACHINE QUANTITY M1 M2 M5 M6 M7 M10 M3 M8 M9 M4
MACHINE
P1 2 1
SP1 1 1
P2 2 1
SP2 1 1
P3 4 1
P4 2 1 1 1 SP3 1 1
P5 3 1 1 SP4 1 1
P6 4 1 1 SP5 2 1
P7 2 1 1 SP6 2 1 1
P8 2 1 1 SP7 1 1
P9 6 1 1
SP8 4 1 1
P10 1 1 1 1
SP9 2 1 1
P11 1 1 1 1
SP10 2 1
P12 2 1 1 1
P13 2 1 SP11 2 1
P14 1 1 1 SP12 2 1
P15 2 1 1 SP13 1 1 1
P16 1 1 SP14 2 1 1
P17 4 1 1 SP15 1 1 1
P18 2 1
SP16 2 1
P19 2 1
SP17 8 1 1
P20 2 1
SP18 2 1 1
P21 4 1 1 1
P22 1 1 1 SP19 4 1 1
P23 2 1 1 1 1 1 SP20 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
P24 2 1 1 1 1 1 SP21 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
P25 1 1 1 1 SP22 1 1 1
P26 2 1 1 1 SP23 4 1 1 1
P27 1 1 1 1
SP24 1 1 1 1
P28 4 1
SP25 7 1 1
P29 2 1
SP26 2 1 1
P30 2 1
P31 2 1
SP27 1
P32 4 1 1
P33 2 1 1
P34 2 1 1 Table 5 Number of parts made on each machine based on product
P35 4 1 1 1 Total number of Total number of Total number of
Machines
P36
P37
1
5
1
1
1
1
1
parts (GST) parts (FLX) parts (STL)
P38 1 1 1 M1 40 21 31
P39 2 1 1
M2 60 33 38
P40 2 1 1
P41 2 1 1 M3 29 53 22
P42 2 1 M4 37 21 0
P43 4 1
M5 11 16 14
M6 7 10 9
Table 3 FLX sofa clustering matrix M7 11 4 4
FLX SOFA CLUSTERING ALGORITHM M8 5 6 2
PART /
QUANTITY M1 M3 M2 M5 M4 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10
M9 0 2 2
MACHINE
M10 0 0 4
FP1 2 1 1
FP2 2 1 1
FP3 2 1 1 Table 7 One-year total improvement
FP4 4 1 1 1
Product Name/ Improvement By Annual Sales Amount
FP5 2 1 1
FP6 2 1 1 Improvement Type GST FLX STL Total
FP7 1 1 1 Total Part - Steps
665550 284404 135880 1085834
FP8 4 1 Number
FP9 4 1 1 1
Total Distance (m) 532440 227523,2 108704 868667,2
FP10 2 1 1
FP11 4 1 1 1 1 1 Total Time (min) 8874,00 3792,05 1811,73 14477,79
FP12 2 1 1 1
FP13
FP14
4
2 1
1 1 1
Table 8 PLM Product Paint Recipe
FP15 2 1 X Color Quantity (grams)
FP16 4 1 A 8000
FP17 2 1 B 1500
FP18 4 1
FP19 4 1
C 500
FP20 1 1 D 250
FP21 1 1 E 200
FP22 2 1 F 250
FP23 6 1 1
FP24 2 1
G 20
FP25 6 1 1 1
FP26
FP27
8
8
1
1
1
At the same time, model-color charts were prepared to
FP28 1 1 1 ensure control by comparing the dyed products with the
standard product color (Fig. 6).
As a result of the improvements, the number of
malfunctions due to wrong color painting before the project
decreased from 10 in April and 7 in June to 2 in July (Fig. 7).

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 Dilsad Guzel et al.: Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques (Case Study)

At the same time, since we have divided the work into

small parts (4 parts), the waiting time for the next process
(Upholstery) from sewing has decreased from 508 minutes to
180 minutes on average (Fig. 9).

Figure 6 Model-color charts

Figure 9 Work division chart in sewing process
15
10 4.2.4 Implementation Lean Techniques in Upholstery
10 7 Workshop

5 2 As a result of the evaluation of the current situation value

stream map, it was determined that there were delays in
0 delivery. When we went to the cause of this problem, it was
April June July
determined that the reason for the delays was the long
Figure 7 Number of Failures Due to Color Mismatch (Monthly) duration of the upholstery process. For the continuation of
the steady-state analysis, historical data were collected and
4.2.3 Dividing Work into Small Pieces in Fabric Sewing analyzed. The processing time consists of four parts: 1.
Workshop Material preparation time, 2. Search for tools, 3. Upholstery
process time, 4. Waiting time for semi-finished products
In the current situation, the set (2 sofas and 2 bergère) from previous processes. Another result obtained in the
belonging to the order in the sewing workshop are all made analysis of the times is that different employees complete the
by a single employee. When this working method is applied, same job at very different times. Finally, to solve the problem
problems arise due to the long duration of the sewing process, 5S, one-piece flow and Kaizen from lean manufacturing
waiting in the next processes and backlogs after cutting. At techniques were used.
the same time, in cases where the employee is off, the work
done by that employee is stopped and, due to this reason,
delays occur in the next workflow. In this improvement, a set
consisting of 4 parts was distributed to separate personnel,
and a one-piece flow was ensured. In this way, the waiting
time of the upholstery section has changed from the sewing
time of 1 set to the sewing time of 1 piece. In addition, when
we analyzed employee-based product sewing times, it was
determined that there were great differences between them.
To solve this problem and increase the productivity of the
total employees, each employee was given the fastest job in
the work distribution. As the first result of the improvement
project, while the average processing time of 3 employees
(BK-RG-UY) was 620 minutes before the project, it
decreased to 508 minutes after the project implementation
(Fig. 8).
Figure 10 5S implementation in workbench

4.2.4.1 5S Project in Upholstery Workshop

As seen in Fig. 10, raw materials and work tools were

placed next to the worktable in a mixed state and in an
undefined state. For this reason, it seemed that the search for
materials and tools took a long time during the work. To
eliminate the waste of searching for materials and tools, 5S
Figure 8 Employee based sewing processing time (Min) and Kaizen application was used. First, the necessary and
unnecessary materials were separated, and the unused

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 Dilsad Guzel et al.: Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques (Case Study)

materials were transferred to the warehouse, then a unique of the assembly line is that the processing times are balanced.
workbench was designed by brainstorming with the For this reason, 2 people have been allocated for the back
employees for the necessary materials. In this workbench, upholstery operation, and the operations of cushion,
places for all materials to be used have been reserved and assembly and throw pillows have been combined. As a result
arranged. After the implementation of the 5S project, a 50% of this work distribution, the longest processing time was
improvement was achieved in the time of searching for determined as 65 minutes. As the next step, the operations
materials and vehicles. are sequenced to ensure one-piece flow and forward
movement of materials (Fig. 13).
4.2.4.2 Visual Operation Standard Form for Upholstery
Table 9 GST sofa upholstery operations and work times
When the same product is made by different personnel, Process No Process description Process time(min)
GST-OP1 Sofa base upholstery 69
it has been determined that there are differences in GST-OP2 Sofa case upholstery 59
production times. To find the root cause of this problem, GST-OP3 Sofa back upholstery 130
work and time-study analyzes of the product-based GST-OP4 Sofa cushion upholstery 23
upholstery process were made on different employees. As a GST-OP5 Sofa assembly 24
result of the work study analysis, it was determined that GST-OP6 Sofa throw pillow upholstery 9
Total 314
different employees made process in different order of
operations. As the first step of this improvement, the standard
work steps of the process were defined with the employees.
In the next step, the operations to be done in each step are
visualized and added to the form to make the operation
standard form easy and understandable (Fig. 11 – see
Appendix). To measure the post-implementation effects of
the project, the monthly average processing times of the GST
seat were compared before and after the improvement. The
average of GST sofa upholstery time before the project was
Figure 13 GST sofa new upholstery process layout and operation steps
488 minutes and after the project to 420 minutes, 13,94%
improvement was achieved in the process time (Fig. 12).
When we apply the new working method, 5 workers
produce a sofa every 65 minutes, so the total time spent on
upholstery will be 330 minutes, and when we compare it with
the old method, the following benefits are provided:
1) Reduced operation time by 90 minutes,
2) Quick adaptation of new workers to jobs as the process
is broken down into smaller pieces,
3) Elimination of waiting and stockpile problems in
downstream processes,
4) Reducing the number of semi-finished products and
Figure 12 Upholstery process mean time before and after project implementation increasing the number of finished products in daily
production,
4.2.4.3 U-Line and Flow Manufacturing System Project in the
Upholstery Process 5 CONCLUSION
In the review of the current working method, it has been The question of lean production practices in SMEs will
determined that all activities of the upholstery process are lead to an increase in productivity was answered by
carried out by a single employee. Therefore, unbalanced implementing lean production techniques in the sofa
work occurs in the packaging process, and the delivery time manufacturing company. The current situation analysis was
is extended. At the same time, when we look at the operation carried out by establishing a value stream mapping system
steps of the upholstery process in the work study, it has been and past data monitoring system in the sofa production
determined that the process consists of four main parts. Since factory. Lean manufacturing techniques were applied in
the back upholstery process was a bottleneck, eliminated bottleneck operations (Frame, Paint, Sewing and Upholstery)
unnecessary work with the Kaizen method, and the on the most produced and sold product. Reduction in time
processing time was 130 minutes. Process steps and related and erroneous transactions are prevented. In the next step, the
time shown in Tab. 9. work was divided into small lots to achieve the main goal of
After examining the time and operation data in Tab. 9, it lean production, and a one-piece flow was achieved. As a
was determined that the process took a short time to be done result of the one-piece flow application, an improvement of
in small pieces, and, therefore, it was decided to break up the 65% was achieved in waiting times. When we look at the
process and establish the assembly line. One of the most general results, lean production practices were implemented,
important issues that we should pay attention to in the design and annual labor times were improved by 29%. As for the

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 Dilsad Guzel et al.: Increasing Productivity of Furniture Factory with Lean Manufacturing Techniques (Case Study)

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Appendix

Figure 5 Comparing future state and current state spaghetti diagram

Table 6 Distance improvement calculation and results

Old Settlement Plan New Settlement Plan Old Settlement Plan New Settlement Plan Old Settlement Plan New Settlement Plan
Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total
Part - Distance Time Part - Distance Time Part - Distance Time Part - Distance Time Part - Distance Time Part - Distance Time
Steps (m) (min) Steps (m) (min) Steps (m) (min) Steps (m) (min) Steps (m) (min) Steps (m) (min)
Number Number Number Number Number Number
GST Sofa FLX Sofa STL Sofa
Wood 2370 1896 31,6 1554 1243,2 20,7 771 616,8 10,3 688 550,4 9,2 1284 1027,2 17,1 930 744 12,4

Hardboard 322 257,6 4,3 328 262,4 4,4 390 312 5,2 232 185,6 3,1 212 169,6 2,8 196 156,8 2,6

MDF Board 104 83,2 1,4 64 51,2 0,9 386 308,8 5,1 239 191,2 3,2 104 83,2 1,4 79 63,2 1,1

Total 2796 2236,8 37,28 1946 1556,8 25,95 1547 1237,6 20,63 1159 927,2 15,45 1600 1280,0 21,33 1205 964,0 16,07

Gain Total Part - Steps Number 850 Total Part - Steps Number 388 Total Part - Steps Number 395

Total Distance (m) 680,00 Total Distance (m) 310,40 Total Distance (m) 316,00

Total Time (min) 11,33 Total Time (min) 5,17 Total Time (min) 5,27

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Figure 11 Visual operation standard form of upholstery process (GST sofa)

92 TECHNICAL JOURNAL 16, 1(2022), 82-92

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