Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School Spring 2017 Perceptions on the Status of Lean-Manufacturing in Thermoplastics-Manufacturing Industry Ning Jin [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Architectural Technology Commons, and the Technology and Innovation Commons Recommended Citation Jin, Ning, "Perceptions on the Status of Lean-Manufacturing in Thermoplastics-Manufacturing Industry" (2017). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 1916. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1916 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PERCEPTIONS ON THE STATUS OF LEAN-MANUFACTURING IN THERMOPLASTICS-MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science By Ning Jin May 2017 I dedicate this thesis to my parents Jianli Jin and Guimei Shao. Your endless supports and motivations carried me through all the difficulties and hardships. I also dedicate this work to my beautiful girlfriend Yuting Peng. Your love and understanding make me fearless. I love you all. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Doggett, Dr. Jackson, and Dr. Khouryieh for their great suggestions and excellent guidance. Without their direction, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible. iv CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Deficiency ....................................................................................................................... 1 Significance..................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose of the Research .................................................................................................. 2 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 2 Assumptions .................................................................................................................... 3 Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 3 Delimitations ................................................................................................................... 3 Definitions of Terms ....................................................................................................... 4 Literature Review................................................................................................................ 8 Main Concepts of Lean ................................................................................................... 8 Five key lean principles. ............................................................................................. 8 Muda ............................................................................................................................... 9 Kaizen ........................................................................................................................... 10 Lean Tools and Theories ............................................................................................... 10 The Foundation of Lean: Stability and Standardization ............................................... 11 5S. ............................................................................................................................. 12 Total Productive Maintenance. ................................................................................. 13 The Pillars: Just-in-time and Jidoka .............................................................................. 15 Kanban. ..................................................................................................................... 16 Production leveling. .................................................................................................. 16 Value Stream Mapping. ............................................................................................ 16 Poka-yoke. ................................................................................................................ 17 The Heart of the House of Lean: Involvement ............................................................. 18 Suggestion program. ................................................................................................. 18 The Benefit of Lean Implementation ............................................................................ 19 Polymers - Brief History ............................................................................................... 19 Polymers - Production Waste ........................................................................................ 21 Polymers - Common Thermoplastics............................................................................ 25 Polymers - Manufacturing Processes ............................................................................ 28 v Extrusion. .................................................................................................................. 28 Fiber spinning. .......................................................................................................... 30 Film casting. .............................................................................................................. 31 Film blowing. ............................................................................................................ 32 Injection molding. ..................................................................................................... 34 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 35 The Survey Design ........................................................................................................ 35 The Population and Sample .......................................................................................... 35 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 36 Instrumentation ............................................................................................................. 37 Method of Data Analysis .............................................................................................. 37 Threats to Validity ........................................................................................................ 37 Results ............................................................................................................................... 39 Respondent Demographics: Questions 1 and 2 ............................................................ 39 Results of Question 3 .................................................................................................... 39 Result of Question 4...................................................................................................... 40 Result of Question 5...................................................................................................... 42 Lean theories perceived as used most often. ............................................................. 42 Lean theories perceived as used less often. .............................................................. 43 Result of Question 6...................................................................................................... 44 Lean tools perceived as used most often. .................................................................. 45 Lean tools perceived as used less often. ................................................................... 46 Result of Question 7 and Question 8 ............................................................................ 47 Result of Question 9...................................................................................................... 50 Result of Question 10.................................................................................................... 50 Result of Question 11.................................................................................................... 51 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 54 Demographic Conclusions ............................................................................................ 54 Research Question Conclusions .................................................................................... 54 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 58 Recommendations for Future Studies ........................................................................... 60 References ......................................................................................................................... 62 vi Appendix A: The Questionnaire