Lean Manuf

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...