challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and globalized markets. Some developed countries can adopt innovative

characteristic of this approach is that it acts at the speed of Lean and uses engineering tools to solve problems and to

demonstrate how the measurement system error could affect the achievement of the single-minute exchange of die

manufacturing company located in Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua, México), which has a late delivery rate that causes

delays in the final assembly lines. Implementing the suggested strategy increased on-time deliveries from 77% to

99.36% in six weeks.

product quality, customer satisfaction, and overall organizational efficiency [1]. According to Kholil et al. [2], the

internal factors make this a difficult challenge to solve, including internal process capabilities, maintenance strategies,

stated that by maintaining high levels of machine availability, minimizing downtime, and effectively managing

production schedules, manufacturers can improve their ability to meet customer demands, fulfill delivery commitments

and remain competitive. To achieve increased machine availability, companies must work on becoming more flexible

and with little economic investment; therefore, they use continuous improvement (CI) approaches [7], [8], which play

Furthermore, CI initiatives, such as Total Quality Management, Lean Manufacturing (LM), and Six Sigma (SS), are

critical in achieving flexibility [10]. These initiatives emphasize the importance of process improvement, employee

training, and flexible production processes as key elements [11]. The benefits of such CI programs are that they enable

organizations to adapt to changing and uncertain environments, stabilizing performance on the one hand and improving

adaptability to change on the other [12]. This adaptability is critical for organizations to remain flexible in dynamic

unlike LSS, which is more oriented to CI projects that can take, on average, 12 months to obtain results and determine

In Mexico, using these continuous improvement tools is of great importance as it is a country with a developed

manufacturing sector that contributes to the national economy. For example, by 2023, there were 579,828 companies

in the manufacturing sector in the country, of which 486 were in the state of Chihuahua and 330 in Ciudad Juarez,

representing 70% of the total in the entire state. These companies generate approximately 3 million jobs nationwide,

500,000 in Chihuahua state and more than 300,000 in Ciudad Juarez. This means that 60% of jobs in this sector in the

state are generated in Ciudad Juarez, representing 11% at the national level [19]. Therefore, it is important to examine

process's Cpk index was -1.64, out of the specification limits. The LS approach solves the problem using process

On the other hand, Gracia & Moctezuma [17] present another application of LS in a gear and chain assembly process;

the process had problems with on-time deliveries due to the addition of a new model, and a daily shipment sequence

was required, gaining greater flexibility. Initially, the process had an on-time delivery rate of 66%, and by applying

the LS, a work team was integrated to solve the problem. Using LM tools, the production line was balanced using takt

impacted the manufacturing lead time from 26.07 to 17 seconds, equivalent to a 35% improvement. Consequently, the

percentage of on-time deliveries increased from 66% to 100%, and the sequence of shipments complied with. This

and factors that result in nonconforming parts in the casting and machining processes are identified. The design of

This indicates that LSS increases the quality levels of the process. However, it is necessary to wait six months to see

acceptable, the original philosophy of these approaches, which is to bring processes to Six Sigma levels, has not been

achieved. This approach stands out for LS and presents a more attractive form for companies because of its reaction

time. It acts at the speed of lean, identifies the causes of problems, and resolves them in weeks, preventing companies

Therefore, this study aims to present the application of Lean Sigma in a manufacturing process with a problem-solving

approach using industrial engineering principles. The novelty of this study is that results can be obtained in weeks, but

it also shows that the error percentage of the measurement system could result in a milestone in achieving SMED. By

solving the problem quickly, manufacturing companies can be flexible and cope with external factors, such as changes

This case study was conducted in a company that manufactures gasoline pumps in the automotive sector. The demand

for the plastic injection molding process fluctuated, and the number of parts delivered to the final assembly process

which consists of 5 stages, as shown in Figure I, which includes the steps and engineering tools used.

data from the production process under initial conditions to determine the condition of the problem in terms of process

capability. It starts with the formation of a multidisciplinary team dedicated full-time to the problem under analysis so

that personnel from different departments can contribute ideas from different perspectives. Including the production

supervisor, process engineer, manufacturing engineer, quality engineer, planning, and, if possible, at least two

operators who perform the operation function are recommended. Once the work team is formed, it meets to identify

obtaining the reports of the last weeks, where the value or performance of the response variable can be visualized, and

tests are performed to confirm the normality of the data. If they are not normal, it is necessary to determine the type of

distribution they follow for better analysis. Next, a control chart is created for individual data using Minitab software

to analyze the trends and behavior of the response variable; however, the work team continues to monitor it to see

trends and relate the out-of-control points with special events that occur in a specific period. Subsequently, a capability

analysis is performed using the previously collected data and the specification limits to determine the parts per million

team finds the potential causes that are generating the problem. First, the team engaged in brainstorming, where each

participant brainstormed why the problem occurred, and the round continued until the ideas were exhausted. The

moderator then refined the ideas to eliminate repeated ideas. With the list of ideas reduced, the nominal group technique

was used to weigh ideas for each participant. Once the ideas have been weighed, the sum of the ideas is obtained, and

the idea with the highest score is chosen. Finally, the 5 whys technique is applied, which consists of asking five times

why the problem occurs, and the technique is stopped once a cause is found that does not point to a person or a

The purpose of the preliminary stage is to document the activities involved in the model change, which is performed

by mapping the process. It is recommended that a video of the process be captured to perform a detailed analysis,

where the activities and times are recorded. Once the activities are identified and listed, the next step is to classify them

that can be carried out externally are listed. In this step, checklists can be developed to validate that external activities

have been completed before the machine is stopped. Finally, in stage three, an action plan is made to work on process

improvements that require investment to reduce the time of internal activities, some of which can be to perform

activities simultaneously, purchase more tools, design and implement fixtures, and poka yokes, among others.

Once the SMED technique was implemented, the team monitored the duration of the model changeover time. It makes

a control chart comparing before and after to determine if there is a significant reduction.

previous step is practical for the response variable. After improvements were made, data were collected on the response

- Macro Problem Statement: The production schedule in the molding area is not followed. On average, 30% of the

time, the program is not completed on time, resulting in delayed delivery to the internal customer.

projection shows that the annual cost amounts to $372,000.

- Performance: The measurement scale was equivalent to the % of compliance with the program.

- Period: It was estimated that defects generally occur when downtime is triggered.

- Specifications: Compliance with the program should exceed 99.2%.

It is important to note that the company's goal of achieving an on-time delivery rate above 99.2% was unmet, and the

annual loss was $372,000.

Next, the work team collected information on the on-time delivery rate using six months of production reports. A total

of 120 data points were plotted weekly, resulting in 24 subgroups. The data was then subjected to a normality test, as

shown in Figure III. A p-value above 0.100 indicated that the data was normal.

The team used the nominal group technique with a generated list of ideas, and each member assigned weights to the

ideas. Table II shows the scores for each of the ideas, and it was found that the time required to change the model was

the major contributor to not delivering on time.

1. Conception and design of the study

2. Data acquisition

JLGA has contributed to: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

FHV has contributed to: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Hernández Gobertti.