Using tools and techniques to optimize the body shop at Nissan, Rosslyn

Abstract

Congestion is a problem not unfamiliar to any manufacturing plant. This is also the case in the Body Shop area for the X90 project at Nissan. Problems that arise from congestion include a longer lead time, safety hazards, over-packing, over manufacturing, frustrated operators and an overall less productive manufacturing line. Many tools and techniques are already in place to address congestion, such as Lean Manufacturing, Methods Engineering, Six Sigma, Kanban pull system, TOC and other industrial engineering concepts. Some of these will be investigated in-depth in this paper’s Literature Review to determine ways to improve on the current manufacturing line in the Nissan Body Shop. To understand the overhead problems, analysis will be done on specific workstations. Journals and research done by peers in the Industrial Engineering field are reviewed to determine the best tools for solving issues highlighted in the Problem Statement. An action plan on how each problem will be addressed is included in the Solutions Methodology chapter of this document.