SIMULATION BASED ASSESSMENT OF LEAN MANUFACTURING RESILIENCE AND PERFORMANCE

Abstract

In today’s increasingly uncertain industrial landscape, manufacturing systems must be both efficient and resilient. While lean manufacturing is widely adopted for reducing waste and optimizing performance, its impact on system resilience remains contested. This thesis investigates the dynamic relationship between lean implementation and system resilience through simulation-based experimentation. Using Discrete Event Simulation (DES), two versions of the same case study are modeled, one representing the system before lean implementation and the other after. Various disruption scenarios are introduced to evaluate how each system responds over time, with a focus on system performance degradation and recovery. The findings reveal that lean and resilience are not inherently in conflict. Instead, their relationship depends on system design, the nature and timing of disruptions, and operational constraints of the manufacturing setting. This thesis aims to offer a more balanced perspective on the tradeoffs between lean and resilience methodologies.