Lean manufacturing system: An application in a ceramic factory

Rapidly changing technology causes consumers to reach the saturation point quickly and to constantly distribute needs and desires. This situation increases competition between companies and puts them under pressure. Since companies using classical production systems cannot increase prices in a competitive environment, they are seeking new ways to reduce costs in order to make a profit. The lean production systems, aiming to reduce all forms of waste such as errors, costs, inventory, irregular workflow, manufacturing defects, and customer dissatisfaction, are crucial for companies looking to turn the competition in their favor. Companies around the world that cannot reduce costs or compete with classical production systems have turned to the lean production system born out of lean thinking. The main goal of lean production is to reduce costs and increase quality and customer satisfaction by eliminating all waste that does not add value to production. Although the starting point of the lean production system is the automotive industry, this system has been accepted in many different sectors. In this study, applications on value stream mapping, eight basic waste concepts and lean production techniques were made in a ceramic factory and the results were discussed. With Kaizen practices, quality defects and machine downtimes were reduced in production processes, and total equipment efficiency was increased by 14% - 56%. The study reveals the effective and concrete results of lean production practices in the ceramic industry. Keywords: Value stream mapping, Kaizen, ceramic production, lean thinking, lean production