Browsing by Author "Rodrigues, Tiago Soares"
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- Understanding the real-world impact of Lean on Safety: insights from a case studyPublication . Rodrigues, Tiago Soares; Sá, José Carlos Vieira deLean tools are increasingly effective methods for achieving rapid changes within companies, typically resulting in increased efficiency, improved quality, as well as cost reduction and elimination of waste in performed tasks. These transformations are sought with the aim of improving organisational results, making them more competitive. However, the evaluation of a company depends not only on the results associated with products or services but also on safety, a factor that is becoming ever more essential for the organisation, carrying increasing importance not only for employees but also for customers. Workplace accidents resulting from lack of safety add no value to products and therefore must be eliminated. The thesis began with a theoretical analysis of the State of the Art, research that led to the creation of the Lean-Based Safety Leadership Framework as a new approach to achieving a safe workplace environment. This State of the Art review gave rise to the research question: “What is the impact of Lean tools on the safety of the Ropework department at Cotesi?” This study followed an action research methodology. The main objective focused on analysing, from the perspective of employee safety, the impact of the tools and methods associated with Lean philosophy. To achieve this objective, several Lean tools were implemented at Cotesi – Companhia de Têxteis Sintéticos, S.A., and the results of these implementations were analysed to allow conclusions about their impact on employee safety. Through literature review, it was possible to identify that most of the analysed Lean tools related to safety led to positive outcomes regarding their impact, thus enabling the creation of a framework proposing a new methodology to achieve safety improvements. Several Lean tools were implemented with positive results for the production process, creating conditions that allowed a reduction in setup times and making the process more efficient. There was also an increase in product quality through reduced breakages, decreasing waste and process variability. To assess the impact of Lean tools on safety, an objective evaluation was carried out through risk analyses before and after the interventions. This evaluation resulted in a 76.9% reduction in risk. Subjective assessments were also developed so the company could gauge the reduction in psychological risk levels among employees, since psychological condition can influence performance in the duplication of workstations. Upon completion of the implementations, it was possible to observe a 50% reduction in setup time for ring twisters and a doubling of production in finishing. Throughout the practical component of this work, it was also possible to use the proposed framework, thereby confirming its feasibility.