Exploring the impact that Lean Manufacturing has on flexibility in SMEs.

This Doctoral Thesis describes the use of Computer Simulation and Case Research to assess flexibility gains induced by the introduction of three Lean Manufacturing practices. The investigation starts from the gathering of information about the manufacturing process of a selected Small-Medium Enterprise. After this field study, Value Stream Mapping is used for visualizing flows of products and information along the production system. Then, starting from the current arrangement of the company, computer simulation is adopted to assess the flexibility improvements arising from Cellular Manufacturing, Just-in-Time, and Single Minute Exchange of Dies. Leveraging on the outcome of this evaluation, the contribution of different lean techniques is segregated through a factorial Design of Experiment. In this work the combined use of Computer Simulation and Case Research is extended to the research on Manufacturing Flexibility within Small Medium Enterprises. The knowledge on this under investigated context is enhanced collecting quantitative data. Moreover, building on the factorial Design of Experiment, a new 5-steps method is proposed with the aim to apprise the cost-benefit ratio of lean techniques for flexibility improvement. Finally, from a managerial prospective, this work provides a supporting method for the decision-making process propaedeutic to Lean Manufacturing introduction.