Implementing lean standard work to solve a low work-in-process buffer problem in a highly automated manufacturing environment

Over the past few decades, a considerable number of studies have been reported on assembly lines or less automated factories. Little attention has been given to implementing lean tools to a highly automated manufacturing environment. It is, therefore, necessary to make a more highly automated factory lean by considering both the manufacturing system variability and demand uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to propose an effective lean tool to help practical lean participants successfully implement lean practices in a highly automated manufacturing environment. This study presents an example of how lean standard work is implemented and the throughput of a pacemaker workstation is improved by solving the low work-in-process buffer problem. A practical case from a photovoltaic module process with a semi-automated production line is used to illustrate the proposed method. The implementation results are promising. They showed a 37.5% labour reduction prior to the pacemaker workstation and a 304.7% increase in the daily throughput at the bottleneck workstation.