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Reducing scrap at a multinational toy manufacturer in Malaysia
Author(s) -
Tan Yen Loo,
Tan Cheng Ling
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
global business and organizational excellence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.227
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1932-2062
pISSN - 1932-2054
DOI - 10.1002/joe.21898
Subject(s) - scrap , multinational corporation , lean manufacturing , kanban , competition (biology) , business , production (economics) , industrial organization , operations management , risk analysis (engineering) , marketing , economics , engineering , finance , microeconomics , mechanical engineering , ecology , biology
Faced with the rapid growth of digital games, the traditional toy industry is facing stiff competition. For many years, Southeast Asian countries have been attractive to manufacturers because of their low labor costs. To continue competing in this evolving market, they now need to become more efficient. This makes it essential to identify inefficiencies that contribute to defects and implement procedures to eliminate them. For one Malaysian manufacturer of toy cars that was losing more than MYR 1 million ($245,000) a year in scrap, a careful analysis of current processes highlighted several opportunities for improvement. Future strategies for reducing waste include the implementation of lean production techniques, such as 5S, kanban, and failure mode and effects analysis, along with upgrades in technology to reduce the likelihood of human error.