Value-focused Design of Lean Production Systems Based on a System Dynamics Approach

Lean principles are the central core of many industrial companies for improving their production system. In order to be able to optimize their manufacturing and logistics processes, companies have to choose the most suitable lean principles to solve problems or to reach their target state. To solve this decision problem, it is important to identify objectives based on values of the decision-maker and to determine effects of lean principles and objectives. This paper presents a value-focused thinking driven identification of objectives and a system dynamics approach for understanding the interdependencies and dynamics of lean principles and objectives. This provides a transparency and better understanding for these interactions for the decision-maker in the decision-making process. Based on this knowledge, the most effective lean principles for the design of the production system can be chosen and successfully applied.