Waste Elimination in the Assembly Process using Lean Tools

A highly dynamic competitive environment leads industrial companies to constantly re-evaluate their processes and strategies. Globalization, strong competition, as well as ever-evolving trends are putting pressure on businesses to increase their flexibility to respond immediately to these trends and to develop the ability to produce products based on consumer demands. Continued efforts for greater flexibility are supported by the Lean concept, which is considered one of the most efficient production concepts. Lean methods are a recognized traditional approach to eliminating waste and streamlining production processes. In recent years, a new Industry 4.0 paradigm has been defined. As a counterpoint to the usual methods, it brings new technological approaches. By integrating these two philosophies, it is possible to achieve strategic goals, reduce costs, increase competition, etc. The aim of the paper is to point out the possibilities of applying lean tools to eliminate waste in the assembly process. With the help of lean tools, the identified shortcomings and waste are eliminated, bottlenecks and inefficient flows in the production process are identified. In this paper, we point out the importance and need for the application of lean methods in industrial enterprises, in order to identify the causes of unnecessary waste of resources (e.g. material, human resources, financial resources, etc.).