Resumo

MEXICANO SANTOYO, Adriana et al. Improvement of soil mechanics laboratory processes applying Lean Manufacturing tools. RIDE. Rev. Iberoam. Investig. Desarro. Educ [online]. 2023, vol.14, n.27, e544.  Epub 22-Jan-2024. ISSN 2007-7467.  https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v14i27.1641.

Currently, productivity is an essential tool in organizations, this is achieved with the improvement of processes through the use of various tools, philosophies and engineering methodologies available in an open manner. The lack of productivity results in losses that have an impact on high costs and low income and therefore few or no profits. There are techniques that can be used by small and micro enterprises (SMES) to make better use of available resources. This paper proposes the use of Lean Manufacturing tools such as 5'S, spaghetti diagram, Kanban boards among others to optimize processes in a soil mechanics laboratory, where the quality of various materials used in construction is analyzed. During the implementation of the tools, work items were redistributed, and control processes was improved. As a result, a 44.88% reduction was obtained in the movements required by the personnel to carry out various activities, 32.37% of the work area that was wasted was released, which allowed execute activities in parallel, improving the workflow and reduced waiting. By implementing Kanban boards, control and organization was achieved, making easier the management of the laboratory staff to follow up on the processes, carrying out the activities in an orderly manner.

Palavras-chave : Lean manufacturing; continuous improvement; redistribution.