Deployment of Lean Six Sigma and KAIZEN Techniques: A Case Study of the Concrete Production Plant for the 750 MW (5 * 150 MW) Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro Power Project

Abstract

With the fourth industrial revolution on the verge of disruption, businesses and production companies around the world are trying to emulate the success of Toyota’s remarkable production system with a view of reducing waste and im proving quality. Lean production has been the secret for Toyota to b e as the most profitable automaker in the world. This paper presents a survey and reviews on how process improvement techniques such as the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and KAIZEN may be implemented to realize reduced lead time in production processes and to attain the desired quality in concrete. The case study is based on the concrete production plant for the 750 MW (5 * 150 MW) Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro Power Project, which may be considered to have been one of the largest concrete batching plant with a total production capacity of 32 cubic meters. The analysis of the effectiveness and impact of the operation and management methods, i.e. , LSS and KAIZEN techniques, were carried out over a period of approximately two years. Through literature review, evaluation of these philosophies was done by first defining waste in materials, time and work force at the concrete production plant. The KAIZEN, which is management techniques focusing on employees’ involvement to ensure continuous improvement and a high success rate of lean implementation at the plant, was applied and used thus creating a feedback kind of plant management technique review mechanism overtime. The complete implementation of the lean production system involves considerable organizational change while maintaining the true north. Furthermore, not only can these methods be used to realize Industrial Value Chain through lead time reduction and quality optimization of concrete but also provides applied management and economical improvements with assured reduced Takt-Time realization at the production plant.