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One of the main challenges that a low-volume high-variety (LVHV) product manufacturing industry faces is to improve customer ontime delivery (OTD) against the original promised date (OPD) in a make-to-order (MTO) situation. A systematic root-cause analysis is carried out in the LVHV industry to find the true root cause and eliminate it. This paper proposes a methodology that incorporates the lean thinking methodology, a lean live tracking (LLT) tool, and cross-functional team (CFT) approaches to improve OTD. These are tested using real-time data from an industrial valve manufacturing LVHV firm, resulting in an average OTD improvement from 30 percent to 90 percent in about eight months. OPSOMMINGEen van die hoofuitdagings waarmee ʼn lae volume, hoë variëteit produkvervaardigingsindustrie gekonfronteer word, is om betydse aflewering te verbeter in ʼn maak-op-bestelling situasie. ʼn Sistemiese worteloorsaakanalise is van stapel gestuur in dié industrie om die ware oorsaak op te spoor en te elimineer. Hierdie artikel fokus op ʼn metodologie wat van lenige denkmetodologie, regstreekse lenige monitering, en oorkruis funksionele spanbenaderings gebruik maak om betyds aflewering te verbeter. Dit word getoets aan die hand van regstreekse data van ʼn industriële klepvervaardiger en die resultate toon ʼn gemiddelde verbetering wat wissel tussen 30 en 90 persent gedurende ʼn periode van agt maande. INTRODUCTIONLean manufacturing (LM) is a proven manufacturing philosophy that shortens the time between the customer's order and the product-build-to-shipment by eliminating sources of waste. The current marketplace needs optimised design-for-use, frequent design changes, and smaller production runs of greater variety, all with fluctuating demands. These demands make the manufacture of lowvolume high-variety (LVHV) products a complex process. The main road blocks to implementing LM in such industries are a lack of understanding of the correct lean tools, and people's attitudes [16]. Customer responsiveness and product quality are improved by adapting LM and lean thinking. Ontime delivery (OTD) is one of the top industrial metrics that needs to be met by the firm's original promised date (OPD) to the customer. To improve OTD, on-time receipt (OTR) of material from suppliers and subcontractors is required. To achieve any realistic and sustained improvement in OTD performance, all the functional units and associated systems must be considered. Applying lean techniques in the office is more critical than on the shop floor to eliminate waste and to achieve the targeted customer response [17]. Realising the importance of such an approach, this study proposes a solution to improve OTD performance. The system and the people involved in the planning and manufacturing for the control and maintenance cycles of LVHV situations are integrated with a user interface to support CFT operations through basic and transactional data. The detailed research analysis, the performance of internal operations, and the methods of component sourcing strate...

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