Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Productivity enhancement and cycle time reduction in toyota production

system through jishuken activity – Case study
S. Ram Kumar ⇑, V. Nimesh Nathan, S.I. Mohammed Ashique, V. Rajkumar, P. Arun Karthick
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Technology, Coimbatore 641042, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Toyota Production System (TPS) is a process widely used in manufacturing industries which deals
Received 25 April 2020 with the waste management in firms. Jishuken is a form of problem solving technique which uses
Received in revised form 31 May 2020 Kaizen combined with a Kaizen blitz, but it involves more than solving a problem. Some of the undesired
Accepted 10 June 2020
activities that include non-value added movements, improper work floor arrangement, labour’s activities
Available online xxxx
ends in reduction of productivity rate. For such cases firms seeking ideal results which lasts for long term
of period. In our project we implementing the principles of Toyota Production System in the firm by look-
Keywords:
ing the problems involved in each activities by the process called Jishuken. We completed the time study
Toyota production system
Jishuken
for each processes of the firm and we collected the bottlenecks in each processes by Jishuken. The solu-
Non value added activities tions we proposed are meant to be permanent which yield higher productivity rate when compared to
Time study the old setup. Here in our project we increased the productivity rate, and reduced the cycle time and
Bottlenecks operator’s ideal time. We modified the arrangement of chutes in assembly line and increased the number
of chutes, position of the torque gun is fixed, additional arrangements for pre testing of horns– stage
before the final testing process to eliminate the number of reworking.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science.

1. Introduction Autonomous Study Group. ’It is reduced to Jishuken alone, which

All the manufacturing company wants to increase their overall
profitability by increasing their quality and productivity by reduc-
ing manufacturing time, supplementary works time, man power,
production cost and by regulating the present processes to the pro-
cesses which leads to the production improvement by using Toyota
production system which eliminates wastes (Muda). Kaizen, Kan-
ban, 5S are some of the tools which helps to achieve the above objec-
tive. This paper explores the enhancement of productivity in an
assembly line of a manufacturing company by cycle time reduction
in Toyota production system through Jishuken activity [1–4].
The remaining paper explores the literature review on the pro-
ductivity enhancement in a manufacturing firm, method study,
time study, methodologies, improvement done in the assembly
line to improve manufacturing, before this adjustment, after this
adjustment, result and discussion and finally the conclusion [5–9].
The word Jishuken comes from a Japanese phrase that
translates into ’ Kanban Process Department, section on Manager
⇑ Corresponding author.
is either converted into autonomousstudy groups or self-study
groups. Identify the specific area where the improvement is
needed. This team will include a leader as well as individuals from
different departments that will be affected by any changes [10–
13]. It should also include representatives from the quality control
and other processes. Each team member will be given specific
monitoring roles for which they will be responsible. Team mem-
bers will have to ask questions about various tasks relating to
the area where changes are required. This phase is used to gather
as much information as possible about the area before any changes
are made. The team leader will have a worksheet that will track
any issues, as well as countermeasures or solutions for those prob-
lems. The sheet should also define who’d make the changes identi-
fied. The team leader will meet with the various operators in the
areas where changes are to be made to discuss Kaizen changes to
be implemented.
The effectiveness of advancing the Toyota Production System
through innovation of the production line of automobile rear axle
unit proved in the work carried in past years [11–13]. Low Cost
Automation that promotes cost effective reference architectures

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.181
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering:
Materials Science.

Please cite this article as: S. Ram Kumar, V. Nimesh Nathan, S. I. Mohammed Ashique et al., Productivity enhancement and cycle time reduction in toyota
production system through jishuken activity – Case study, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.181
2 S. Ram Kumar et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
and development approaches for production and transportation
that properly integrates human skill and technical solutions [14–
15]. Machine layout, operator idleness, operator fatigue and time
loss in an assembly line of a horn manufacturing industry using
the concepts of time study, method study and work design [16].
Investigation on Toyota’s Jishuken process in context of strength-
ening Toyota Production System and analyze both the technical
and management aspects of Toyota’s Jishuken process [17].
1.1. Kaizen and 5S
Involving to the current process is very important for Kaizen.
Observe the production line thoroughly and make a study and find
the problems. Discuss with the team members and think some of
the solutions and fix the solutions and then implementing the
ideas in the line. Then the line is observed again and after time
study is taken and repeats the same process again and again. If
the line give additional production than before this line can be said
as Jishuken line. The 5S’s are Sort (Seiri), Straighten (Seiton), Scrub
(Seiso), Standardization (Seiketsu) and Sustain (Shitsuke).
1.2. Toyota production system
Eliminating of wastes such as follows transport, inventory,
movement or motion, waiting or delay, over production, over pro-
cessing, defects. The following principles are followed to achieve
the above objective Reduced Setup Times, Small-Lot Production,
Employee Involvement and Empowerment, Quality at the Source,
Equipment Maintenance, Pull Production, Supplier Involvement.
2. Methodology
Work study is a generic term for those techniques, particularly
method study and work calculation, which are used in all its sense
and which lead systematically to the investigation of all the factors
affecting the effectiveness and economy of the situation being ex-
amined in order to bring about change.
Method study is a systematic method of examining the method
of doing a job, often including human movements. So to increase
productivity, it’s the process of evaluating the processes used in
the work flow. This is about doing the job in a better manner, with
less time and effort. That is why it’s also termed as work
simplification indicated in Fig. 1 The overall procedure for the
method study includes: identifying the hurdles; clustering the
work into elements; analyzing each element to determine the most
economical manufacturing procedures for the quantity involved,
with due regard to operator safety and job interest; applying
proper time values and following through to assure that the pre-
scribed method is put into operations.
Fig. 1. Layout of the shopfloor.
Please cite this article as: S. Ram Kumar, V. Nimesh Nathan, S. I. Mohammed Ashique et al., Productivity enhancement and cycle time reduction in toyota
production system through jishuken activity – Case study, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.181
3. Problems identified
3.1. Existing set-up and problem description
Problem 1 - Takes the pre horn assembly in left hand and place
four nuts by using two hands and put it in the fixture. Then screw it
and place it in the belt using left hand. This is followed by taking
the assembled horn in right hand and places it in the fixture. Then
take the bracket in right hand and places over it. Then take washer
in left hand and nut in right hand and place over it. Then tightens
the screw. And keep it in the belt using the left hand.
They are using same fixture in both the processes and ideal time
is more in both the stages.
Problem 2 - First takes the horn in left hand and fits in the
machine using right hand. Checks the horn sound. Tune the horn
for the correct sound. If there are changes even after tuning it, then
it is sent to rework by turning back. The horn is removed by press-
ing a pedal in right leg and by using left hand place it in the belt.
The operator takes the horn in the left hand and places the horn
in the same hand after completing the testing.
Problem 3 - First takes the housing and sucks the air. Then place
it in a fixture. Then fix one gasket and then fix diaphragm assem-
bly. Then again place a gasket over it and then fix the trumpet.
Finally put the screws. Then give it to next process. First take the
housing in left hand and suck the air in it. Take it in left hand
and place in the fixtures. Then take the gasket in the right hand
and fix it. Then take diaphragm steel in left hand and place it, then
take the gasket in right hand and fix it. Then take the trumpet in
left hand and place it. Then 4 screws are to be placed by both
the hands. Then by using left hand place the pre horn assembly
in the belt.
In this stage the operator will move to take the gasket from his
sitting position.
4. Result and discussion
In this case study, the assembly line layout, idleness of the
worker, worker lethargy, time loss, and non value added activities
are investigated based on the concepts like method study, time
study, Jishuken in Toyota production system. Solutions are devel-
oped to reduce the cycle time, to enhance the productivity and to
improve the efficiency of the operator. For example, if the manu-
facturing unit has an average demand of 1500 products for each
shift of 450 min, then the takt time will be 18 s. By implementing
the solutions given by us, the takt time will be reduced to 15 s, so
we can produce 1800 products for each shift. The first solution is to
combine two stages into a single stage so the idleness in both the
stages can be eliminated. By implementing this we can also reduce
 S. Ram Kumar et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
one operator in each line, and we can create a new assembly line.
The second solution is based on the motion study, which is devel-
oped to reduce the operator fatigue. The third solution was based
on the unwanted movement of the operator, based on the ergo-
nomic principles by changing the position of the gasket stump.
5. Conclusion
Proposed solutions
Solution 1 – operation improvement by combining two Stages
to reduce cycle time.
Takes the pre horn assembly in left hand and place four nuts by
using two hands and put it in the fixture. Then screw it and then
take the assembled horn in right hand and place it in the fixture.
Then take the bracket in right hand and places over it. Then take
washer in left hand and nut in right hand and place over it. Then
tightens the screw. And keep it in the belt using the left hand.
By combining both the stages ideal time will be eliminated.
Solution 2 – operation improvement by changing the direction
of the operator to reduce cycle time.
First takes the horn in left hand and fits in the machine using
right hand. Checks the horn sound. Tune the horn for the correct
sound. If there are changes even after tuning it, then it is sent to
rework using left hand. The horn is removed by pressing a pedal
in right leg and by using right hand place it in the belt.
So the operator don’t want to turn back, to give the horn for
rework process and the operator will take the horn from his left
hand as well as he place it by using his right hand so the cycle time
will get reduced.
Solution 3 - operation improvement by changing the position of
the gasket stump.
Fix the gasket stump at the working bed stand, so the operator
does not need to move to take the gasket.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Please cite this article as: S. Ram Kumar, V. Nimesh Nathan, S. I. Mohammed Ashique et al., Productivity enhancement and cycle time reduction in toyota
production system through jishuken activity – Case study, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.181
3
Acknowledgements
All persons who have made substantial contributions to the
work reported in the manuscript (e.g., technical help, writing and
editing assistance, general support), but who do not meet the cri-
teria for authorship, are named in the Acknowledgements and have
given us their written permission to be named. If we have not
included an Acknowledgements, then that indicates that we have
not received substantial contributions from non-authors.
References
[1] H. Sabatini, V. Sharanya, G. Sakthivel Anand, K. Deepak Lawrence, J. Int.
Manage. Practice 4 (2) (2010).
[2] Kakuro Amasaka, J. Adv. Manuf. Sys. 8 (1) (2009) 5–26.
[3] Phillip Marksberry, Fazleena Badurdeen, Bob Gregory and Ken Kreafle, JMTM
21, 6.
[4] G. D. Krupakar, Dr.C.S. Chethan Kumar, International Journal of Application or
Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM) Volume 7, Issue 6, June
2018 ISSN 2319 – 4847.
[5] Mukesh Kumar Barua, Parag Chaporkar, S. Nagarajan, R.A. Malairajan, Int. J.
Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2010.
[6] Kakuro Amasaka, Hirohisa Sakai, J. Adv. Manuf. Sys. 9 (2) (2010) 85–99.
[7] Athira Krishna, Dr. Sini V Nair, International Journal of Innovative Science and
Research Technology Volume 3, Issue 1, January – 2018 ISSN No:-2456 –2165.
[8] Jorn-Henrik Thun ,Martin Druke, Andre Grubner, Informa Ltd Registered in
England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer
House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK.
[9] B.-H. Lee, H.-J. Jo, Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered
Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,
London W1T 3JH, UK.
[10] Takahiro Tomino, Paul Hong, Youngwon Park, Int. J. Logistics Syst. Manage. 9
(2011) 2.
[11] N.M. Nidhiry, R. Saravanan, Adv. Prod. Eng. Manage., 9. 139-151, doi:
10.14743/apem2014.3.183.
[12] Nidhiry, Mathew, R. Agilesh Saravanan, Scheduling Optimization of FMS Using
NSGA-II Nidhish, (2014).
[13] Vadivel, Sivaram, Advanced Materials Research, (2014) 984-985. 1261-1268.
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.984-985.1261.
[14] K.Manikanda Prasath, International Journal of Research in Engineering and
Technology, (2014) 03 423-429.
[15] S. Dinesh, A. Antony, Godwin, K. Rajaguru, V. Vijayan, Mechanics and
Mechanical Engineering, (2017) 21. 17-28.
[16] V. Vijayan, T. Karthikeyan, Int. J. Recent Trends Eng. 1 (5) (2009) 77–81.
[17] R. Venkatesh, V. Vijayan, A. Parthiban, T. Sathish, S. Chandran, International
Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, (2018) 9. 922-927.