An Integrated Value Stream Mapping and Simulation Approach for a Production Line: A Turkish Automotive Industry Case

Lean production practices are increasing day by day, especially in manufacturing companies, and in parallel with this situation, the importance given by companies to lean production concept is also increasing. Companies need continuous improvement, to be innovative, to identify problems in the system in a limited time and act in order to maintain their competitive strength in today’s environment. In this paper, under the roof of lean thinking and lean manufacturing concept, a literature review and simulation study for a manufacturing industry have been made on improvement studies, especially in the automotive sector, in an adaptation to Industry 4.0, and on the methods, frameworks and modelling used in these studies. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to guide the sectors to improve their processes by analysing the current situation with the concept of lean and making use of the necessary technologies and models. In the research, current and future situation analysis were made using lean production approach, the system was simulated with ARENA software and its performance was measured. Accordingly, a financial analysis of the proposed improvement and a decision were made.