Experienced Teacher/Coach/Mentor with a demonstrated history of working in academia and in the management consulting industry in Manufacturing, Office/Service and Healthcare environments.Highly skilled in Industrial Engineering (Time and Motion Study, SMED), Operations Management, Lean/Operational Excellence and Value Stream Design. Proficient in four languages with work experience across the world (Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia). Phone: +32476330295 Address: Eikenlaan 51 - Lille (Belgium)
Having short changeover times is becoming more and more important in manufacturing operations. De... more Having short changeover times is becoming more and more important in manufacturing operations. Decreasing lot sizes, shorter lead times, lower inventories are all characteristics of lean production systems. A good changeover performance of the manufacturing equipment is a key enabler for this. In reality machine designs are not always made with a fast changeover capability in mind. So, production people are often forced to use IE techniques such as SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die) to address this problem and reduce changeover times after equipment is put on the shop floor. There is clearly a need to incorporate fast changeover capabilities into the design of equipment. An initial set of guidelines has been established. However, several aspects of machine design which are primarily meant to reduce the changeover times, are also linked to the body of knowledge of Human Factors Engineering. A more HF friendly design also reduces the time and effort needed for changeovers. This paper investigates this relationship and shows this synergy.
Most publications on setup reduction are limited to describing the different 'technical' ... more Most publications on setup reduction are limited to describing the different 'technical' steps of the method with limited attention to implementation aspects. A broader approach is needed including a focus on change management. In this paper we will propose a framework that ties these different elements together in a concise and coherent approach that is broader than what currently can be found in the literature. A practical application will be shown.
This paper describes the development of a Lean scheduling system for job shop environments for im... more This paper describes the development of a Lean scheduling system for job shop environments for improving flow. The authors introduce a cyclic scheduling system with fixed interval length and time slots, which can be represented by a ‘production wheel’ (as a variant of EPEI scheduling) . An iterative procedure to design the production wheel is proposed. Using the MSSI heuristic method, the production orders have to be scheduled on the wheel of the first machine(s) in the production chain. This heuristic minimizes the number of set-ups and the total amount of changeover time within the scheduling interval. Due to the limited number of time slots on the production wheel, it is possible to keep the total Work-In-Process (WIP) under control and consequently, also the lead times. A case study in a manufacturing facility in Belgium shows that the introduction of this scheduling system can reduce the average lead time by over 40%. This paper also explains how the production wheel can serve as a visual management tool to monitor and control the process status and progress.
Pace rating has always been one of the main responsibilities for industrial engineers (IEs) when ... more Pace rating has always been one of the main responsibilities for industrial engineers (IEs) when manufacturing companies need standard times to use for planning, scheduling, cost efficiency and budget calculations. Although computer technologies have been applied to model, analyze, and visualize complex systems to help engineers solve specific issues, a simulation or visualization tool on pace rating that reveals and visualizes decision making patterns has as yet not been developed to help IEs perform worker's pace rating. This paper presents the development of a tool that can visualize response selection and execution, showing decision making patterns and help IEs to perform pace rating.
Lean manufacturing has been acknowledged as a methodology to eliminate waste, while six sigma has... more Lean manufacturing has been acknowledged as a methodology to eliminate waste, while six sigma has been regarded as a diagnostic tool to improve processes by eliminating variation. The important objective of both of the methodologies is to identify the most critical processes to generate savings for an organization. Lean sigma integrates these two methodologies into an effective hybrid method which combines the variability elimination tools from six sigma with the waste elimination methodology from lean manufacturing. Previous studies debate over the consistent result of the lean sigma methodology in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) considering their implementation barriers (size, resource, skill, time). Moreover, the unique characteristics of food sector such as variability in raw material, seasonality, low self-life and complexity of the supply chain make it even more difficult to implement lean sigma methodology in the SMEs operating in the food sector. In this context, this paper aims to study the application of lean sigma methodology in a medium sized confectionary (ginger bread) producing company in Belgium. The results shows that the company successfully applied lean sigma methodology and saved a huge sum of money by reducing overfilling/overweight of final product (ginger bread). However, there are number of barriers identified during the implementation process that mainly derived from the unique characteristics of the food sector on one hand, and of SMEs on the other. This study proposes a lean sigma framework to reduce the overfill and rework. The proposed framework integrates lean tools and six sigma DMAIC methodology to reduce overfill and rework to enhance the bottom-line results. The result of this study will help food SMEs to apply lean sigma methodology to reduce variability and consequent waste in their production process. Moreover, the results on barriers of lean sigma implementation in food SMEs will paves the way for further research.
Recent literature emphasized the importance of determining factors for successful adoption of lea... more Recent literature emphasized the importance of determining factors for successful adoption of lean manufacturing in different settings. This study explored different determining factors and their impact on lean manufacturing in food processing industries in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The characteristics of the food industries such as mandatory quality assurance requirements, perishability of the products and variability of raw materials obstruct a straightforward application of lean manufacturing. In addition, the challenges of “change” in SMEs are distinctive from those faced by large organization. In this context, this study explores the effect of determining factors on adoption of lean manufacturing in the food processing SMEs through multiple case studies. The nature of the process was found to be a very important factor in lean adoption. The low shelf-life of the food products and the extremely volatile demand and supply was a barriers to lean manufacturing adoption. The small size of the plant, the traditional set up and layout and the quality assurance requirements make it difficult to replicate lean in food processing SMEs. The study reconfirms that commitment of top management, culture, team work, and lack of skilled manpower impacted lean implementation.
Having short changeover times is becoming more and more important in manufacturing operations. De... more Having short changeover times is becoming more and more important in manufacturing operations. Decreasing lot sizes, shorter lead times, lower inventories are all characteristics of lean production systems. A good changeover performance of the manufacturing equipment is a key enabler for this. In reality machine designs are not always made with a fast changeover capability in mind. So, production people are often forced to use IE techniques such as SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die) to address this problem and reduce changeover times after equipment is put on the shop floor. There is clearly a need to incorporate fast changeover capabilities into the design of equipment. An initial set of guidelines has been established. However, several aspects of machine design which are primarily meant to reduce the changeover times, are also linked to the body of knowledge of Human Factors Engineering. A more HF friendly design also reduces the time and effort needed for changeovers. This paper investigates this relationship and shows this synergy.
Most publications on setup reduction are limited to describing the different 'technical' ... more Most publications on setup reduction are limited to describing the different 'technical' steps of the method with limited attention to implementation aspects. A broader approach is needed including a focus on change management. In this paper we will propose a framework that ties these different elements together in a concise and coherent approach that is broader than what currently can be found in the literature. A practical application will be shown.
This paper describes the development of a Lean scheduling system for job shop environments for im... more This paper describes the development of a Lean scheduling system for job shop environments for improving flow. The authors introduce a cyclic scheduling system with fixed interval length and time slots, which can be represented by a ‘production wheel’ (as a variant of EPEI scheduling) . An iterative procedure to design the production wheel is proposed. Using the MSSI heuristic method, the production orders have to be scheduled on the wheel of the first machine(s) in the production chain. This heuristic minimizes the number of set-ups and the total amount of changeover time within the scheduling interval. Due to the limited number of time slots on the production wheel, it is possible to keep the total Work-In-Process (WIP) under control and consequently, also the lead times. A case study in a manufacturing facility in Belgium shows that the introduction of this scheduling system can reduce the average lead time by over 40%. This paper also explains how the production wheel can serve as a visual management tool to monitor and control the process status and progress.
Pace rating has always been one of the main responsibilities for industrial engineers (IEs) when ... more Pace rating has always been one of the main responsibilities for industrial engineers (IEs) when manufacturing companies need standard times to use for planning, scheduling, cost efficiency and budget calculations. Although computer technologies have been applied to model, analyze, and visualize complex systems to help engineers solve specific issues, a simulation or visualization tool on pace rating that reveals and visualizes decision making patterns has as yet not been developed to help IEs perform worker's pace rating. This paper presents the development of a tool that can visualize response selection and execution, showing decision making patterns and help IEs to perform pace rating.
Lean manufacturing has been acknowledged as a methodology to eliminate waste, while six sigma has... more Lean manufacturing has been acknowledged as a methodology to eliminate waste, while six sigma has been regarded as a diagnostic tool to improve processes by eliminating variation. The important objective of both of the methodologies is to identify the most critical processes to generate savings for an organization. Lean sigma integrates these two methodologies into an effective hybrid method which combines the variability elimination tools from six sigma with the waste elimination methodology from lean manufacturing. Previous studies debate over the consistent result of the lean sigma methodology in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) considering their implementation barriers (size, resource, skill, time). Moreover, the unique characteristics of food sector such as variability in raw material, seasonality, low self-life and complexity of the supply chain make it even more difficult to implement lean sigma methodology in the SMEs operating in the food sector. In this context, this paper aims to study the application of lean sigma methodology in a medium sized confectionary (ginger bread) producing company in Belgium. The results shows that the company successfully applied lean sigma methodology and saved a huge sum of money by reducing overfilling/overweight of final product (ginger bread). However, there are number of barriers identified during the implementation process that mainly derived from the unique characteristics of the food sector on one hand, and of SMEs on the other. This study proposes a lean sigma framework to reduce the overfill and rework. The proposed framework integrates lean tools and six sigma DMAIC methodology to reduce overfill and rework to enhance the bottom-line results. The result of this study will help food SMEs to apply lean sigma methodology to reduce variability and consequent waste in their production process. Moreover, the results on barriers of lean sigma implementation in food SMEs will paves the way for further research.
Recent literature emphasized the importance of determining factors for successful adoption of lea... more Recent literature emphasized the importance of determining factors for successful adoption of lean manufacturing in different settings. This study explored different determining factors and their impact on lean manufacturing in food processing industries in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The characteristics of the food industries such as mandatory quality assurance requirements, perishability of the products and variability of raw materials obstruct a straightforward application of lean manufacturing. In addition, the challenges of “change” in SMEs are distinctive from those faced by large organization. In this context, this study explores the effect of determining factors on adoption of lean manufacturing in the food processing SMEs through multiple case studies. The nature of the process was found to be a very important factor in lean adoption. The low shelf-life of the food products and the extremely volatile demand and supply was a barriers to lean manufacturing adoption. The small size of the plant, the traditional set up and layout and the quality assurance requirements make it difficult to replicate lean in food processing SMEs. The study reconfirms that commitment of top management, culture, team work, and lack of skilled manpower impacted lean implementation.
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Papers by Dirk Van Goubergen