CAPITULO CUATRO LA TRAYECTORIA DEL RÉGIMEN DE PATENTES MEXICANO

In   the   final   part   of   the   questionnaire,   the   respondents   was   asked   to   what   extent   they   work  with  Lean  principles  in  both  production  and  maintenance,  as  well  as  whether  they   use  various  Lean  tools  in  a  maintenance  context.  

Figure  26  -­‐  Lean  principles  in  production  and  maintenance  

Figure   26   displays   to   what   extent   the   companies   are   working   with   Lean   Production,   Lean   Maintenance   as   well   as   whether   the   respondents   have   knowledge   about   the   concept  of  Lean  Maintenance.  The  data  indicates  that  Lean  Production  is  fairly  common,   where  36  out  of  76  state  that  they  work  with  it  to  a  relatively  high  or  very  high  degree.   Lean  in  maintenance  is  however  adopted  to  a  low  extent,  where  only  7  out  of  76  work   with   it   to   a   very   high   degree,   and   an   additional   12   to   a   relatively   high   degree.   Furthermore,   21   respondents   indicated   that   they   are   not   at   all   working   with   Lean   Maintenance.  Note  however  that  a  majority  of  the  respondents  indicate  that  they  have  

rather  good  knowledge  of  the  concept  of  Lean  Maintenance,  where  9  out  of  76  have  it  to   very  high  degree  and  an  additional  33  to  a  relatively  high  degree.    

When   a   respondent   answered   with   any   of   the   alternatives   “No,   not   at   all”,   “Do   not   know”,   or   “Not   applicable”   regarding   the   extent   their   company   is   working   with   Lean   Maintenance,  they  were  instead  asked  if  they  have  discussed  to  start  working  with  Lean   Maintenance.  This  was  the  case  for  22  respondents,  out  of  which  5  answered  that  they   had  indeed  discussed  to  start  working  with  Lean  maintenance,  and  17  that  they  had  not,   or  that  they  did  not  know  whether  it  had  been  discussed.  

As   seen   in   Appendix   B,   there   are   no   differences   between   discrete   and   continuous   production  companies  regarding  the  extent  of  working  with  Lean  in  neither  production   nor   maintenance.   However,   a   larger   portion   of   the   respondents   who   represent   continuous   production   companies   considerer   themselves   to   have   good   knowledge   of   Lean  Maintenance,  where  16  out  of  24  have  relatively  high  or  very  high  knowledge  of   the  concept.    

Moreover,   working   with   Lean   Maintenance   tends   to   be   almost   exclusive   to   larger   companies,  as  seen  in  Appendix  C.  Out  of  the  16  companies  with  <100  employees,  only   one  indicated  that  they  work  with  Lean  maintenance  to  a  relatively  high  degree,  whilst   the  remaining  15  answered  that  they  work  with  it  to  a  relatively  low  degree  or  not  at  all.   In  contrast,  none  of  the  23  companies  with  >500  employees  stated  that  they  not  at  all   work  with  Lean  Maintenance,  and  11  indicated  that  they  work  with  it  to  a  relatively  high   or  very  high  degree.    

Figure  27  -­‐  Lean  Maintenance  tools  

Figure  27  shows  to  what  extent  the  companies  are  working  with  various  Lean  tools  in  a   maintenance  context.  It  indicates  that  having  daily  morning  meetings  for  maintenance   personnel  is  employed  in  a  majority  of  the  companies,  where  60  out  of  75  state  that  they   arrange  these  kinds  of  meetings  to  a  relatively  high  or  very  high  degree.  In  fact,  only  5   state  that  they  not  at  all  have  morning  meetings,  and  2  that  it  is  not  applicable  at  their   company.  Thereafter,  having  an  approach  to  schedule  work  orders  based  on  the  priority   of  the  maintenance  requirement  is  also  common,  where  51  out  of  75  respondents  state   they  to  a  relatively  high  or  very  high  degree  arrange  their  maintenance  in  this  manner.   Approximately  half  of  the  respondents  state  that  their  company  is  working  with  5S  in   maintenance  areas  and  visualization  of  work  orders  through  monitors,  whiteboards  etc.,   where  in  fact  17  out  of  76  work  with  5S  to  a  very  high  degree.    

The  remaining  tools  are  however  seldom  used  to  a  very  high  degree,  and  the  majority   states  that  they  are  utilizing  them  to  a  fairly  low  degree  or  not  at  all.  Standardizing  the   range   of   spare   parts   and   maintenance   tools,   or   reducing   the   inventory   levels   of   maintenance  storage  areas,  are  prevalent  in  31  and  28  out  of  76  companies  respectively.   Furthermore,   implementing   standardized   work   procedures   for   maintenance   operators   are  to  relatively  high  or  very  high  degree  done  in  23  out  of  76  companies.  Although  the   majority  of  the  companies  utilize  Andon-­‐signals  to  initiate  corrective  maintenance  to  a   fairly  low  extent,  there  are  still  8  who  claim  to  be  using  it  to  a  very  high  degree.  Finally,   applying  the  approach  of  Poka-­‐Yoke  to  prevent  maintenance  errors  are  only  done  to  a   relatively   high   degree   in   14   out   of   76   companies,   and   to   a   very   high   degree   in   an   additional  2.  Analysing  maintenance  activities  in  order  to  map  the  process  and  identify  

waste  by  the  use  of  VSM  is  almost  not  performed  in  any  company,  indicated  by  that  only   7  out  of  76  does  it  to  a  relatively  high  degree,  and  only  one  company  to  very  high  degree.      

On   average   there   are   no   major   differences   between   discrete   manufacturing   and   continuous  production  companies  regarding  the  extent  these  tools  are  used.  As  seen  in   Appendix  B  however,  it  is  indicated  that  discrete  manufacturing  companies  are  slightly   more   prone   to   use   visualization   for   work   orders   and   inventory   reduction   of   maintenance  storage,  whilst  continuous  production  companies  tend  to  more  frequently   schedule   their   work   orders   based   on   maintenance   requirement   priority,   as   well   as   standardizing  the  range  of  spare  parts  and  maintenance  tools.    

Moreover,   the   use   of   Lean   tools   follows   the   same   tendency   as   Lean   Maintenance   in   general,   where   it   in   Appendix   C   can   bee   seen   that   larger   companies   are   to   a   much   greater   extent   using   them.   For   example,   maintenance   work   orders   are   to   a   relatively   high   or   very   high   degree   scheduled   based   on   maintenance   requirement   priority   in   18   out   of   22   companies   with   >500   employees.   In   addition,   17   out   of   the   23   largest   companies  work  with  5,  and  22  out  of  22  have  daily  morning  meetings  for  maintenance   personnel.   In   contrast,   Andon   for   corrective   maintenance,   VSM   or   Poka-­‐Yoke   is   only   reported  to  be  used  to  high  degree  in  1  out  of  the  16  companies  with  <100  employees.      

Figure  28  -­‐  Set-­‐up  reduction  

The   data   in   Figure   28   shows   to   what   extent   companies   are   working   with   set-­‐up   reduction   using   SMED   or   a   similar   method   data.   It   indicates   that   few   companies   are   working   with   set-­‐up   reduction,   where   only   7   out   of   76   works   with   it   to   a   very   high   extent,  and  an  additional  20  to  a  relatively  high  extent.    

Moreover,   the   data   based   on   industry   type   indicates   that   set-­‐up   reduction   is   slightly   more  common  in  discrete  manufacturing  companies,  but  there  are  no  major  differences   depending  on  the  size  of  the  company.