An Evaluation of Kitting Systems in Lean Production

Abstract: One of the key decisions for every assembly line is the decision about the materials feedingsystem which means the method of supplying materials to the operators. This decision affectsall of the other activities performed as well as the performance of the assembly line. In theindustry, kitting is practiced as a method of materials feeding among others such ascontinuous supply, batching and sequencing.Kitting is the name for the practice of feeding components and subassemblies to the assemblyline in predetermined quantities that are placed together in specific containers. In the industrykitting activities are used to solve the issues of:· Lack of space· Quality· Flexibility· Materials Handling· LearningKitting shows numerous benefits in all of five tracks if applied properly. Drawbacks of kittingare mostly caused by wrongly prepared kits, kitting too much or unnecessary parts. It isimportant to include all five of these aspects in business cases before the implementation ofkitting, otherwise kitting activities are likely to cause further problems.The main reason for kitting in Swedish industry is the space requirements. Most companiesare aware of other benefits such as quality and learning aspects but are not considering themas their most important reason to initiate kitting activities. Companies are also hesitant toinitiate kitting since it is an expensive solution compared to other solutions.The biggest limitation of kitting seems as increased number of materials handling and theuncertainty about the level of kitting. Past experiences made companies more hesitant aboutkitting implementations.Kitting in a lean production system is possible as long as kits are secured so that they are100% correct in the first place and there is no machine downtime caused by invalid kits.Additionally, waste should be continuously eliminated from kitting operations and workersshould be trained well to get involved with the processes.