DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM USING VALUE STREAM MAPPING: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

: Many logistics companies have faced intense competition in the domestic and international markets due to the effects of globalization and the rapid development of technologies. In order to achieve a competitive advantage over other companies, managers transform their organizations by applying some management philosophies, such as the Just-In-Time philosophy, the Six Sigma concept, Lean Manufacturing Systems, etc. The group of lean tools consists of numerous techniques and approaches for business improvement. One of the most commonly used is Value Stream Mapping, which is implemented in this paper. Paper analyzes the production system of a company in Serbia that deals with plastic processing. The company’s current state was analyzed using VSM, and as a result, potential areas for improvement in the production process and internal transportation were identified. In order to improve the production process, the paper suggests solutions to the problems that were pointed out, led by the flexibility of combining VSM with other methods as one of its key strengths. The results indicate that a system configured according to the ideal VSM would produce more products per shift, reducing waste, delays, and total costs to achieve sustainable production. This paper identified some of the key potential gaps as guidelines for further research in this area.