Productivity improvement for offsite construction using Lean principles

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Fortis LGS Structures Inc. provides a light-gauge steel (LGS) construction option for Edmonton's residential and commercial market. As Fortis's factory operates for multiple projects simultaneously, the management team has come to recognize that it is critical to develop a system to measure productivity for the factory production, based on which Lean principles can be applied for improvement. At present, the following challenges exist that are targeted in this research: (1) the current manufacturing process lacks a continuous flow, which results in overproduction and delay. The current process is also hampered by deficiencies, defects, and rework; (2) the tools and equipment are used inefficiently and many non-value added activities exist in the process; and (3) resource levelling is not consistent throughout the process, failing to account for the different cycle times for each station. In order to measure and improve the productivity of Fortis's production line, the proposed research aims to address the following objectives: (1) Collect data for the current production process: Time study will be performed in order to capture the current state of the production process. (2) Production process improvement: Based on the developed current-state VSM of the production line, the team will focus on proposing potential solutions to improve the process. Ultimately a future-state value stream map (VSM) is expected to be implemented and simulated in Fortis's production. (3) "Check-and-Action": The proposed research will follow a Plan-Do-Check-Action (PDCA) process. The proposed project is expected to bring the following environmental, socio-economic, and health benefits to Canadians: (1) Improvement of productivity and cost savings for offsite manufacturing; (2) Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and CO2 footprint associated with residential/commercial construction; (3) Establishment of Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs), that represent "best practice" and are safe from an ergonomic perspective.