Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is a production management approach aiming at reducing lead time in environments with high product variety. The main goal of this research is to present a proposal for the implementation of some QRM concepts and tools for lead time reduction in a company which manufactures school supplies. The proposal followed the basic QRM project steps, concluding that four main reasons explained the long lead time found in the company: (i) allocation of resources made according to order sizes, (ii) set up time, (iii) machine failures, and (iv) large lot sizes. Six scenarios, based on QRM principles and techniques, were proposed and evaluated using Rapid Modelling Technology (RMT). The expected results indicate that the studied company can achieve a reduction of approximately 68% in the WIP level and 74% in the average lead time. This study contributes to spread out the QRM paradigm among researchers and managerial practice in Brazil.
Lead time reduction; Quick Response Manufacturing; Operations management; Case study
