The Application Of Lean Production In Mobile Phone Assembly Industry

The thesis introduces the achievements of Foxconn International Holdings Limited (FIH) in promoting lean production, making production system transformation, and establishing its own lean production system-Foxconn Production System, with the purpose of providing some valuable experience in lean production to China’s production enterprises.As customers’demand for personalization and diversification increases, Foxconn, the world’s largest contract maker, should respond to market changes and meet customers’needs in terms of production scheduling, and shift from "Low Mixed High Volume" to "High Mixed and Low Volume". In this respect, Foxconn will face a great challenge:transformation of existing production model (including workshop, production line, production scheduling method, and management mode etc.). Only by transforming production model, can Foxconn cut inventories and production costs, reduce wastes, and improve production efficiency.Lean production has been promoted by many production enterprises since Toyota introduced it to the world. It has become a key for production enterprises to reduce costs and improve production efficiency. Both tools and management principles included in lean production are worth learning. Lean production is a typical representative of modern production models, which includes many practical production and management techniques such as continuous flow production, stabilized production, leveling production, and pull production (by means of kanban). These techniques can help enterprises eliminate wastes in production process, reduce inventories and enhance production efficiency.The thesis shares achievements of Foxconn in applying techniques and management methods included in lean production, establishing benchmark production lines, improving automatic logistics lines, and adopting cell production model, provides proof of the practicality and popularity of lean production, and points out that lean production can be applied to the assembly field of different products.Lean production includes a whole set of management techniques needed in production. As long as enterprise managers are aware of the advantages of lean production and apply associated lean production techniques to realize production model transformation, they will surely reduce wastes, cut costs, and improve efficiencies for their companies.