Implementation of Lean Methodology and Ergonomics for Production Management and Productivity

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Nava Cabinet Solutions is a cabinetry manufacturer providing complete cabinet solutions in the form of kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, hutches, and custom cabinetry to homebuilders and homeowners. Its main challenge is to effectively plan its production activities in order to meet production targets, while establishing a benchmark for upholding the health and safety of workers. By achieving this, they hope to eliminate waste in their process while increasing customer satisfaction through on-time delivery of quality products. The proposed research aims to identify and implement lean best practices for planning and managing production and benchmarking health and safety baselines at the collaborating company's plant. The research strategy integrates lean value stream mapping and a benchmarking survey, as well as evaluation and implementation of construction management techniques. This research will be executed in 5 stages: (1) benchmark current production and safety practices; (2) study Nava's production process; (3) develop and test proposed construction management techniques; (4) document current physical demands at each workstation and set improvement targets; and (5) establish a strategy for future research and development. The ultimate goal of this research is to increase the plant's flexibility to fulfill production demands on schedule while expanding its capacity to manufacture efficiently a wider range of cabinet models to satisfy the increasing demand for customized cabinet systems. Considering the extent of construction operations in Canada, the residential construction sector stands to benefit from research which applies lean principles to construction planning, management, control and safety principles in order to improve productivity and increase customer satisfaction through increased fulfilment rate and reduced backorders. In this regard, this research will focus on providing best practices for operation flow based on construction manufacturing principles in a factory setting. Successful management and improvement through this research will enable the industry partner to compete profitably in the market while also providing tested methods/solutions to benefit the industry in general.