Implementation of Continuous Flow in the Cabinet Process at the Schneider Electric Plant in Tlaxcala, Mexico

Abstract

This work presents the development and improvements obtained by the implementation of continuous flow in the cabinet process at Schneider Electric's manufacturing plant in Tlaxcala, Mexico. The areas involved were the demand-planning, materials-planning, and manufacturing processes and warehouse operations. The implementation process, which consisted of shared planning, analysis of control operations, and synchronization of lean manufacturing techniques, led to increased communication among personnel within departments at the Schneider Tlaxcala plant (STP). In addition, this implementation produced the following benefits: (1) improvement of demand coverage in high-demand seasons without exceeding the production capacity, (2) reduction of shortages and delays in the assembly line with associated savings of approximately $3.5 million, (3) reduction of 17.5% in the overproduction of stamped parts and thus on the daily holding inventory, (4) setup time reduction of 77%, and (5) elimination of product flow between the cabinet process and the warehouse to reduce delivery lead time to the assembly line. The fifth benefit was made possible because STP was able to supply the cabinets directly to the assembly line in two days. As a result, the company released 49 storage spaces and improved its customer service by 5% because it could make the final products available to customers at the appropriate time (i.e., on schedule). After 24 months, these improvements led to total recurring savings of approximately $1 million considering an investment of 1.25%. In addition, Schneider Electric was able to successfully replicate this methodology in similar manufacturing plants in North America.

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