Lean Manufacturing System as a Functional Subsystem of the JSC “Osipovichi Automobile Units Plant” Quality Management Systems

Abstract

In the current economic environment, minimizing production cost drivers associated with suboptimal business process organization and inefficient resource utilization represents a significant potential reserve for improving the efficiency of industrial enterprises. Efficiency - understood as the ratio of effectiveness to costs - constitutes the core objective of the Kaizen approach, which inevitably follows the emergence of breakthrough materials, technologies, and complex technical systems. The aim of this study is to address the challenges of implementing a lean manufacturing system in industrial enterprises of the Republic of Belarus that hold quality management systems certified to STB ISO 9001. The paper presents the results of an analysis of the existing problems. It is established that the duplication of system functions is the primary reason for the limited adoption of lean manufacturing systems. The necessity of functional integration between the two systems is substantiated, and a mechanism for its implementation is proposed. Target-based differences between the systems are identified: STB ISO 9001 directs the quality management system toward customer-oriented effectiveness, whereas the lean manufacturing system is oriented toward supplier-oriented efficiency. A conceptual framework is proposed in which the lean manufacturing system operates as a functional subsystem of the quality management system. Within the methodology for their integration, a dual-loop loss diagnostic model has been developed, encompassing the identification and analysis of organizational malfunctions and their resource-based signs. The model enables the identification of the full range of loss sources. A toolkit for the quantitative assessment of losses is proposed, based on modified FMEA and functional cost analysis methods. This toolkit ensures reliable ranking of loss sources according to a unified “cost of loss” criterion. The developed methodology supports the full spectrum of lean manufacturing system functions - from identifying root causes of inefficiency and their resource-based signs to quantitatively prioritizing corrective actions. The outcome of its application is the proper functional interaction between the quality management system and the lean manufacturing system as an integrated system oriented toward efficiency. Testing results at the Osipovichi Automobile Units Plant OJSC confirmed the practical utility of the methodology.