Many companies, especially in the IT industry, are shifting from traditional waterfall project management approaches and adopting lean and agile engineering. Lean approaches ensure that managers or developers can deliver on their objectives faster due to efficient flow and minimal work in process. Agile teams leverage a diversity of skills and talents to deliver quality work (Rikkilä, 2013). Agile engineers test and collect feedback on project design and divide the work into measurable tasks to ensure greater accuracy and speedy completion of product development cycles (Hui, 2013). This report examines different lean and agile engineering approaches and describes how they are applied in real-world scenarios, focusing on the automobile industry.
Kaizen’s Case Study: Automobile Industry
Conclusion
References
Lean and Agile Engineering: A Case Study of Kaizen in The Automotive Industry
Introduction
Many companies, especially in the IT industry, are shifting from traditional waterfall project management approaches and adopting lean and agile engineering. Lean approaches ensure that managers or developers can deliver on their objectives faster due to efficient flow and minimal work in process. Agile teams leverage a diversity of skills and talents to deliver quality work (Rikkilä, 2013). Agile engineers test and collect feedback on project design and divide the work into measurable tasks to ensure greater accuracy and speedy completion of product development cycles (Hui, 2013). This report examines different lean and agile engineering approaches and describes how they are applied in real-world scenarios, focusing on the automobile industry.
Lean and Agile Methodologies
Basically, lean agile is a methodology that helps developers eliminate waste and improve efficiency. Unlike traditional waterfall project management, which is based on a defined, predetermined plan, lean agile focuses on reducing the tasks that do not offer real value (Hui, 2013). Lean agile ensures that all the people involved in the project are efficient. Moreover, lean agile methods adhere to the five core principles of (1) increasing value, (2) mapping value stream, (3) enhancing workflow, (4) establishing a pull system, and (5) seeking perfection (Hui, 2013). Due to this, lean agile approaches can help project developers to save money without compromising quality. It helps developers to refine processes, thus facilitating efficiency and continuous improvement.
There are several lean agile techniques used by different companies and industries. For instance, Kaizen is a Japanese lean approach that emphasises change through continuous improvement of operations and employees’ abilities. Kaizen aims to improve productivity gradually and systematically (Medinilla, 2014). Users of Kaizen seek to make the work environment efficient and foster a team culture that makes jobs safer and more fulfilling. They eliminate waste and standardise processes. Additionally, lean agile managers often follow the 5S principles of workspace productivity: sort, set in order, shine, standardise, and sustain. These steps suggest that project managers should review everything in a space, assess its necessity, and ensure everything is organised in an orderly manner. The process cleans and arranges procedures that enable task performance regularly. 5S ensures that the recommended processes are followed and consistently reviewed for ongoing improvement (Mind Tools, 2023).
Lean agile managers must address the 7 deadly wastes. These wastes include defects, motion, waiting, inventory, transportation, over-processing and over-production. The project manager addresses these wastes by optimizing the processes and delivering value to customers (Rikkilä, 2013). In addition, the company can minimise waste by transforming its value stream. According to Ni and Huang (2018), managers use a customer-centric approach to the work system design that helps organizations to visualize and address gaps, redundancies, and disconnects within the value delivery system (Hui, 2013). These actions lead to faster delivery, low cost, healthy work environments and high quality. Another lean approach is the SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die) which is a system that ensures that the company adopts quick changes thus significantly reducing time spent on tasks. SMED systems seek to convert several changeover steps to realize simplified and streamlined project development steps (Lean Production, 2023).
Similarly, lean agile developers use CAD/CAM/DFMA to deliver projects efficiently or effectively. DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) is used in the construction where the construction components are designed offsite in a controlled environment before their assembly on-site. CAD (computer-aided design and drafting), is a design and technical documentation software that assist developers to automate processes (Campi et al., 2021). On the other hand, CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) is software that automates manufacturing processes thus ensuring that the products can be delivered efficiently, on time and in large volumes. Fishbone diagrams also help lean agile managers to reduce resource wastages and achieve project goals. Fishbone diagrams help in the visualization of the project in a structured approach to identify the potential cause and effects of the project (Campi et al., 2021).
Lean agile methods use two main design approaches such as generative and additive designs. Generative design refers to a design exploration process where the designers and engineers input their design objectives, performance parameters, cost constraints, manufacturing methods and materials into the generative design software to deliver a suggested design or change to an existing product design (Briard et al., 2020). For instance, automobile companies use this approach to create designs that improve the performance of one part such as the seat bracket. Alternatively, additive designs seek to build the product from the beginning one layer at a time. In many cases, manufacturers use 3D printing as an additive process that creates three-dimensional objects using CAD model.3D printing lays down successive layers of the material to form particular shapes (Briard et al., 2020). These lean agile methods, techniques and tools have been applied in different ways in many automobile companies such as Toyota.
Case Study
Kaizen’s Introduction
Kaizen involves employees at all levels of the company collaborating to achieve incremental improvements in the manufacturing processes. It is a proactive approach intended to ensure that the company regularly improve their operations. Specifically, it calls for the combination of all talents within the organization. As a team, the employees act as the engine driving improvements (Androniceanu et al., 2023). Goyal et al. (2019) referred to Kaizen as continuous improvements. This is because, as a management philosophy, Kaizen explains that firms can only sustain their competitive edge if they invest in regular and continuous improvements at an efficient rate. In this regard, Kaizen focuses on cultivating a culture that supports the active engagement of employees to create and implement specific improvements in the company processes. In lean companies, Kaizen is considered a natural way of thinking for managers and employees to remain competitive while efficiently using limited resources (Androniceanu et al., 2023).
Nevertheless, Kaizen is not only a philosophy but also a lean, agile action plan. As an action plan, Kaizen organises events focusing on improving specific areas of the company. These events support teams and employees at all organisational levels and emphasise involving plant floor employees in the decision-making and operations of the company (Al-Hyari et al., 2019). It standardises work and allocates tasks based on the abilities and skills of specific employees. Therefore, Kaizen emphasises best practices for a particular process and finds appropriate improvements to them. To find improvements to a particular process, the Kaizen strategy process involves five main stages. First, the Kaizen user sets goals for the process. In setting the goals, the user should also provide the necessary background information that will support the development of plans to achieve the goals. Second, Kaizen users should review the current state of the company and develop plans for improvements. When reviewing the current state of the company, the user should focus on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the processes and suggesting possible alternatives to improve them (Androniceanu et al., 2023). After that, the user should draw up a plan for the alternative improvements and how to implement them for the company.
Third, the Kaizen user implements the suggested improvements to the process. Implementing improvements encompasses acting on the plan through efficient allocation of resources, deciding on team or employee tasks and setting guidelines and milestones to achieve. Fourth, the user reviews the implementation process and fixes what does not work. The user should always review the process to ensure that everything is working within the set guidelines and plans. The company should have a contingency plan to respond to challenges that it could face when certain tasks are not meeting their objectives (Androniceanu et al., 2023). Finally, the Kaizen user should report the results of the improvements and determine if there is a need for any follow-up items.
- Quote paper
- Anonymous (Author), 2025, Lean and Agile Engineering. A Case Study of Kaizen in The Automotive Industry, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1607986
