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Date Submitted: 11/06/2012 07:23 AM
Implementing Lean Manufacturing Through Factory Design
By Jamie W. Flinchbaugh
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Lehigh University, 1994
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 1996
Submitted to the Sloan School of Management and the
Department of Mechanical Engineering
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of
Master of Science in Management
and
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
May 1998
© 1998 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Signature of Author
Sloan School of Management
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Certified by
David E. Hardt, Thesis Supervisor
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Certified by
Janice Klein, Thesis Supervisor
Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management
Accepted by
Anthony T. Patera, Chairman of the Graduate Committee
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Accepted by
Lawrence S. Abeln, Director of Master’ Program
s
Sloan School of Management
Page 1
Implementing Lean Manufacturing Through Factory Design
By Jamie W. Flinchbaugh
Abstract
Factory design can play an important role in the diffusion of new technologies for
manufacturing. Historically, factory design impeded the electrification of factories
because there were significant interrelationships between the factory infrastructure and
electric manufacturing processes. These interrelationships could not be fully leveraged
partly because huge investments were tied up in the old factories but more importantly it
took a long time for people to understand all of the interrelationships that constituted an
entirely new technological system. I explore in this thesis that the diffusion of lean
manufacturing suffers the same fate as factory electrification, and therefore exploring the
interrelationships that make up lean manufacturing systems, including factories, will help
extend the adoption of lean manufacturing in U.S. factories.
I...