World class manufacturing implementation in fiberglass industry: A performance analysis of operational excellence
Submitted: 2024-10-27
|Accepted: 2025-07-18
|Published: 2025-07-30
Copyright (c) 2025 Daniela Moya-Rodriguez, Angelica Alzate-Ibanez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Downloads
Keywords:
lean production, operational efficiency, performance, optimization, manufacturing industry, industry 4.0, World Class Manufacturing
Supporting agencies:
Abstract:
This study evaluates the effectiveness of World Class Manufacturing (WCM) implementation in optimizing operational performance within the fibreglass insulation manufacturing sector. The study employed a systematic approach utilising Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) as the primary evaluation tools. Data collection was conducted from 2023 to 2024, focusing on performance, availability, and quality metrics. Results show a significant improvement in OEE from 81.3% to 87.3%, validating the effectiveness of WCM in optimizing operations. The implementation fostered a culture of operational excellence, as evidenced by improved process understanding and increased employee engagement in improvement initiatives. Pareto analysis revealed several inefficiencies, enabling targeted interventions in line with WCM’s “zero waste” philosophy. The methodology was found to be adaptable to existing production systems, suggesting its viability for manufacturing environments in emerging economies. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the effectiveness of WCM in driving systematic improvement and organizational change, particularly in industrial development in emerging economies. The findings support the role of WCM in establishing sustainable operational excellence frameworks capable of meeting global competitive challenges.
References:
Al-Mashaqbeh, S., & Hernandez, E. M. (2024). Evaluation and Improvement of a Plastic Production System Using Integrated OEE Methodology: A Case Study. Management Systems in Production Engineering, 32(3), 450-463. https://doi.org/10.2478/mspe-2024-0042
Al-Rifai, M. H. (2024). Redesigning and optimizing an electronic device assembly cell through lean manufacturing tools and kaizen philosophy: an application case study. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 73(4), 1273-1301. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-04-2023-0180
Chiarini, A., & Vagnoni, E. (2015). World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with Toyota production system from a strategic management, management accounting, operations management and performance measurement dimension. International Journal of Production Research, 53(2), 590-606. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2014.958596
Ciccarelli, M., Papetti, A., Cappelletti, F., Brunzini, A., & Germani, M. (2022). Combining World Class Manufacturing system and Industry 4.0 technologies to design ergonomic manufacturing equipment. International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM), 16(1), 263-279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-021-00832-7
de Andrade, C. T. A., Gusmão, A. P. H. D., & Silva, W. (2021). World Class Manufacturing performance measurement using a maturity model and the FlowSort method. International Journal of Production Research, 59(24), 7374-7389. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2021.1970845
de Felice, F., Petrillo, A., & Monfreda, S. (2013). Improving operations performance with world class manufacturing technique: a case in the automotive industry. Operations management, 13. https://doi.org/10.5772/54450
Ebrahimi, M., Baboli, A., & Rother, E. (2019). The evolution of world class manufacturing toward Industry 4.0: A case study in the automotive industry. Ifac-Papersonline, 52(10), 188-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.10.021
Giovando, G., Crovini, C., & Venturini, S. (2020). Evolutions in manufacturing cost deployment. Global Business and Economics Review, 22(1-2), 41-52. https://doi.org/10.1504/GBER.2020.105029
Gupta, P., Vardhan, S., & Al Haque, M. S. (2015, March). Study of success factors of TPM implementation in Indian industry towards operational excellence: An overview. In 2015 international conference on industrial engineering and operations management (IEOM) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEOM.2015.7093740
Hassan, B. A., & Kadhum, A. A. L. (2023). Application of the environmental pillar within the world-class manufacturing methodology for the purpose of achieving environmental sustainability. International Journal of Production Management and Engineering, 11(1), 53-64. https://doi.org/10.4995/ijpme.2023.18696
Hayes, R.H., and Wheelwright, S.C. (1984) Restoring our Competitive Edge: Competing Through Manufacturing. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Hemanand, K., Amuthuselvan, D., Raja, S. C., & Sundararaja, G. (2012). Improving productivity of manufacturing division using lean concepts and development of material gravity feeder–a case study. International Journal of lean thinking, 3(2), 117-134.
Jasti, N. V. K., & Kota, S. (2021). Development of lean enterprise implementation methodology: an ISM approach. The TQM Journal, 33(2), 315-337. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-03-2020-0043
Kalantari, H., Nikabadi, M. S., & Zarei, A. (2023). Identification of world-class manufacturing strategies and their implementation requirements in food industry (case study: olive product). International Journal of Business Excellence, 29(2), 145-161. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBEX.2023.128654
Kundu, K., Cifone, F., Costa, F., Portioli-Staudacher, A., & Rossini, M. (2022). An evaluation of preventive maintenance framework in an Italian manufacturing company. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 28(1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/JQME-02-2020-0007
Muchiri, P., & Pintelon, L. (2008). Performance measurement using overall equipment effectiveness (OEE): literature review and practical application discussion. International journal of production research, 46(13), 3517-3535. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540601142645
Neirotti, P. (2020). Work intensification and employee involvement in lean production: new light on a classic dilem-ma. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(15), 1958-1983. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2018.1424016
Netland, T. H. (2016). Critical success factors for implementing lean production: the effect of contingencies. Interna-tional Journal of Production Research, 54(8), 2433-2448. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1096976
Petrillo, A., De Felice, F., & Zomparelli, F. (2019). Performance measurement for world-class manufacturing: a model for the Italian automotive industry. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 30(7-8), 908-935. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2017.1408402
Satolo, E. G., Leite, C., Calado, R. D., Goes, G. A., & Salgado, D. D. A. (2018). Ranking lean tools for world class reach through grey relational analysis. Grey Systems: Theory and Application, 8(4), 399-423. https://doi.org/10.1108/GS-06-2018-0031
Schonberger, R.J. (1986), World Class Manufacturing: The Lessons of Simplicity Applied, Free Press.
Schonberger, R. J. (2010). World class manufacturing: the next decade: building power, strength, and value. Simon and Schuster.
Singh, V. K., Kumar, R., Joshi, C. V., & Poddar, S. (2023). Improving operational performance with world class quality (WCQ) technique: A case in the Indian automotive industry. Materials Today: Proceedings, 72, 1561-1567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.09.387
Terra, J. D. R., Berssaneti, F. T., & Quintanilha, J. A. (2021). Challenges and barriers to connecting World Class Manufacturing and continuous improvement processes to Industry 4.0 paradigms. Engineering management in production and services, 13(4), 115-130. https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2021-0035
Tortorella, G. L., Giglio, R., & Van Dun, D. H. (2019). Industry 4.0 adoption as a moderator of the impact of lean production practices on operational performance improvement. International journal of operations & production management, 39(6/7/8), 860-886. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-01-2019-0005
Yamashina, H. (2000). Challenge to world‐class manufacturing. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Man-agement, 17(2), 132-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/02656710010304546
Zhong, R. Y., Xu, X., Klotz, E., & Newman, S. T. (2017). Intelligent manufacturing in the context of industry 4.0: a review. Engineering, 3(5), 616-630. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENG.2017.05.015
