Application and success of the lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional Rayong

Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
3 
SUMMARY 
 
 
This paper concerns the working experience of a graduating student of management engineering 
in a foreign country, particularly in Thailand. 
Thailand is a very different country from all the European States as it will be described by the 
following chapters of the thesis, with several examples of true working life. 
Our approach to work, as opinion of the writer, but broadly shared among western countries’ 
people that work or had worked in Thailand, is one of the most different aspect between our 
cultures. This great difference originate from the education system, both in the schools and in 
the families context, and from their religion, that is Buddhist. 
We will see many examples that justify this argumentation, being aware that the target of the 
written is not to judge which of the two approach is better, but it is to give to the reader the 
overview of the Thai working environment, in order to take a better decision concerned the 
engagement in a new business in this country. 
Moreover, the scope of the writer is to fulfil the lack of the literature about the application of 
some management techniques, developed from the famous approach of the Lean Thinking and 
Kaizen culture, in the APAC zone, particularly in Thailand. 
It will be interesting to discover the problems found about the establishment of a Kaizen culture 
and a Lean manufacturing system, although these two management techniques were born in the 
TPS (Toyota Production System), the famous and widely emulated management system of the 
Japanese automotive factory. The expectation about the instauration of the Lean Manufacturing 
and Kaizen approach in a Thai production system could be that it would be easy to set them and 
to educate the people to them, because Thailand is part of the same economic zone called APAC 
as Japan, reason why Thailand should have a similar culture to the Japanese one. 
We will discover that the features of the Thai workers are quite different from the ideal kaizen 
factory’s employees, but with a strong standardization of processes and some psychological 
approaches or “tricks”, the tuning of this management system could be a great success. 
The thesis research is a proposal of the professor of the University of Studies of Udine Pietro 
Romano and the factory manager of Electrolux Professional Thailand Andrea Bet. They concur 
together to give the great opportunity to the students of Udine’s University to live 9-12 months 
in this wonderful environment, which both for private and for working context has an unique 
charm to discover.
Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
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INTRODUCTION 
 
 
In the first chapter of the treaty there will be explained the main topics faced during the thesis 
research, with a brief description of each. All the arguments concerns the application of lean 
manufacturing techniques in the Electrolux Professional Rayong (Thailand) environment, with 
particular attention to the refrigeration production line, which have been the main venue of the 
research. 
The second chapter explores the literature regards the past studies done in the APAC zone, 
mainly in Thailand. As introduction, it will be seen the brief history of the Lean Manufacturing 
(LM), looking at his first development in Toyota, during the after WWII period, thanks to the 
description of the Toyota Production System (TPS) made by Liker J. K. in his book The Toyota 
Way. Moreover, the material consulted have been mostly surveys about the success of the 
application of lean tools, it is possible to find surveys regards the automotive industries both in 
Thailand and in Malaysia, and logistics companies in Thailand. Moreover, it was found some 
document treated about the issues faced in China during the LM implementation. 
However, it was not possible to find any material concerning any practical application example, 
any story about real work life. For this reason, it was decided to propose, as main target of the 
study, the description of the lean manufacturing application with real work life examples, rather 
then aiming only to the synthesis of the results of those tools usage. The path anyway collected 
also the results of the work done, in order to motivate the correctness or the wrongness of the 
taken actions. 
In the chapter three, the thesis research question will be better explained in a structured way in 
order to have a clearer idea of the aim of the study. 
In chapter four there will be provide a detailed description of the work environment, place of 
research, Electrolux Professional in the Industrial Estate of the Rayong province. Moreover, it 
will be recounted briefly the story of the company and nowadays its organization. 
In chapter five will describe the situation found at the arrival on 12
th
 July 2016, to resume it, 
there will be presented a series of indicators of the AS IS state (the initial state of things). The 
same indicators will be used to decide the targets to be achieved and explain better the TO BE 
state (the future target state). 
The chapter number six is the core of the entire thesis research, it will describe deeply the path, 
the efforts, the battles faced to implement the lean techniques, object of the study. In this part 
of the thesis will be possible to find several practical examples of the barriers in the application 
of the lean manufacturing. Mainly cultural barriers have been faced and there will be revealed 
some best practise or sometimes some tricks to make the race to the improvement smoother. 
The chapter seven is a resume of the obtained results, comparing them to the AS IS state and
Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
8 
the planned objectives (TO BE state). There will explained with some comments the obtained 
results, thanks to the application of the lean techniques described in chapter one, not only 
focusing on the financial scores, but looking also with a long-term vision to the achieved 
improvement. 
The last chapter, number eight, will answer to the thesis research question, responding to several 
statements found in the literature in a specific way and, finally, the treatment will summarize 
the experience with some comments synthetize the conquered key learnings.
Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
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PART 1 
 
 
 
ADDRESSED ISSUES 
 
 
1.1 – Knowledge management (Kaizen culture) 
 
This topic is the most important one concerned with the location where the research took place. 
The reason of its value will be observed from the examples will be shown in this chapter and 
in the followings about the execution. 
Knowledge saving means to avoid the repeat of same errors made in the past and, as an obvious 
result, to save several economic resources due to the resurface of bad practises of the past like 
breakdowns of machines or reworking processes just to name a few. Moreover, to preserve the 
best practice and the mistakes is at the base of the famous kaizen concept of continuous 
improvement, which 
had been taught by prof. 
W. E. Deming to the 
Japanese as we will see 
in the chapter 2.2 of the 
literature, with the 
usage of the famous 
PDCA Cycle (Figure 
1.1.1) for the small steps 
of improvement. 
 
It is possible to compare 
the knowledge 
management in an 
industry, looking at it as 
an alive creature, to the 
memory of a person. 
The learning process of 
an individual is what characterizes more that person, and all the experiences lived in the past 
from someone have shaped that someone. If we could not remember what we had learned by 
•Check if the actions 
bring to solid 
improvements 
•If there was an 
improvement, 
must be 
standardized 
•Taking care about 
the action to 
improve 
•PIan is the most 
important phase 
and should be 
quite time 
expensive 
Plan Do 
Check Act 
Figure 1.1.1 - PDCA - Deming Improvement Cycle
Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
10 
our past experiences we would not be able to make the right choices, we would not be able to 
make choices at all, and then we would not be able to survive. 
The industries, the whole supply network of that industry, today must be seen as an organism 
that live in a high competitive environment, and therefore it is subject to the laws of the natural 
selection as it is a person. 
This is the reason why the knowledge management is one of the pillars of Electrolux Production 
System (EPS) and of the Kaizen culture at all. The target of preserving the knowledge in the 
company is to create the memories of what had been done in the past in the factory and record 
it in a standard way. 
The concept of standard is strictly linked with the knowledge management, it may be said that 
to standardize the knowledge in the factory means to save it in the best possible way and in the 
most shared way. 
The importance of standardize the knowledge takes a strong role in the case of high turnover of 
employees, as in the Thailand environment, because it is possible to transfer the know-how 
from the skilled people employed to the ‘brain’ of the whole industry. This critical activity gives 
the company the chance to teach to new 
employees much faster and to share with 
everybody the best practices learned in a single 
facility or just on one occasion only. 
There are more than one way that EPS uses to 
store the knowledge, valid tools for the 
operations are WI (working instructions), 
MOA (materials of assembly), JES (job 
elements sheet) and TWI (training within 
industry). 
1. WI (Figure 1.1.2) are short 
instructions, explaining the way to 
work in a single working station, these 
are documents that contains the macro-
activities to do (what), the best way 
known to do them (how), some key 
points or critical controls to do and 
photos showing operators working on 
them. All the WI must be updated and 
shown in the line. 
2. MOA are the lists of each component 
for each product in the line, present in 
every WS (working station). If some 
IDP CODE Line Title Station Date Complier Note
PROCESS INSTRUCTION
Cleaning & Foot & Fan ass'y - Counter
WI-PR-250 Refrigeration Cleaning & Foot & Fan ass'y - Counter RU6 18-Dec-15 Andrea C. Rev. 02
Inner body Pre-Assembly
Picture Working step Critical / Control point
ร ู ป ภ า พ ข ั ้ น ต อ น ก า ร ท า ง า น จ ุ ด ส า ค ั ญ / จ ุ ด ค ว บ ค ุ ม
1. Assembly foot with machine (2 
compartment model need to assembly 
foot with 2 plates at the right hand side of
  machine).
  ประกอบขาของเครื่องจักร (พาร์ทสอง
ตัวต้องประกอบเข้ากับขาขวาทั้งสองขอ
ของเครื่องจักร)
2. Assembly Stud by tightening with 4 
screws.
ประกอบสตัดให้แน่นด้วยสกรู 4 ตัว
1
2 Compartments - 4 foots & 2 plates
Figure 1.1.2 - Example of a page of WI – Courtesy of 
Electrolux
Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
11 
operator does not remember if some component should be assembled for a certain 
product, he/she should just take a look to the MOA of the station and the problem will 
be solved.  
3. JES are useful for the maintenance department. These are a sort of WI for the 
maintenance activities of every machine and therefore they must been attached in a 
visible position on every machine of the factory. 
In this paragraph we will see in details the last described tool, the TWI, the others, instead, will 
be seen later. 
As we can see from the Figure 1.1.3 the structure of the TWI document has three main parts: 
 
a. WHAT: This section is dedicated to the explanation of the topic we are going to describe, 
normally in this column there are the pictures of every working phase or a component 
or an environment we want to show, with a short description of it. 
b. HOW: This part is the core section of the document, here we can write the detailed 
1 Adjust lateral walls (both right and left) on top level 1.1 Adjust the panel for only vertical inclination (along Z axis):
ก า ร ป ร ั บ ต ั ้ ง ฝ า โ ม ล ด ้ า น ข ้ า ง ( ด ้ า น ซ ้ า ย แ ล ะ ด ้ า น ข ว า) เ น ้ น
ส ่ ว น บ น
1.1 ป ร ั บ ต ั ้ ง ฝ า โ ม ล ท ี่ เ อ ี ย ง เ ฉ พ า ะ ด ้ า น แ น ว ต ั ้ ง เ ท ่า น ั ้ น ( ต า ม แ ก น Z ):
EFFECT: For BOTH MOLD at the same time
Once we are sure, checking the 2 edges at the base,  that the 
whole base follows perfectly Y axis (parallel to Y-Z plane), we 
must act at the same time on all the 3 insertion systems of the 
top of the wall. We will proceed in this way:
ผ ล ก ร ะ ท บ: ส า ห ร ั บ แ ม ่ พ ิ ม พ ์ ท ั ้ ง ส อ ง ใ น เ ว ล า เ ด ี ย ว ก ัน
เ พ ื่อ ค ว า ม ม ั่น ใ จ ว ่ า ก า ร ต ร ว จ ส อ บ ท ี่ ฐ า น ท ั ้ ง 2 ฐ า น ข อ ง แ ก น Y ไ ด ้ อ ย ่า ง ส ม บ ู ร ณ ์ แ บ บ ( ค ู่ ข น า น ก ับ ร ะ น า บ Y-Z) จ ะ ต ้ อ ง ท า ใ น เ ว ล า
เ ด ี ย ว ก ัน ใ น ท ั ้ ง 3 ร ะ บ บ จ า ก ด ้ า น บ น ข อ ง ฝ า ข ้ า ง ต ้ อ ง ท า ใ น ล ั ก ษ ณ ะ น ี้:
0) Before adjust the inclination we must analyze the data and 
be sure of what is the direction we want to adjust (see 
instruction of analyzing data).
0) ก ่ อ น ท า ก า ร ป ร ั บ ต ั ้ ง ค ว า ม เ อ ี ย ง จ ะ ต ้ อ ง ท า ก า ร ว ิ เ ค ร า ะ ห ์ แ ล ะ
ต ร ว จ ส อ บ ข ้ อ ม ู ล ท ี่ เ ป ็ น ท ิ ศ ท า ง ท ี่ เ ร า ต ้ อ ง ก า ร ท ี่ จ ะ ป ร ั บ เ ป ล ี่ ย น ใ น
ท ิ ศ ท า ง ท ี่ ต ้ อ ง ก า ร ( อ ้ า ง อ ิ ง จ า ก ต า ร า ง ก า ร ว ั ด ว ิ เ ค ร า ะ ห ์ ข ้ อ ม ู ล).
1) Unscrew the frontal screw of all 3 insertion systems
1) ค ล า ย ส ก ร ู  frontal screw ท ั ้ ง หม ด 3 ต า แ หน ่ง ข อ ง ฝ า โ ม ล
2) Unscrew the 4 screws that hold the matrix in place of all 3 
insertion systems
2) ค ล า ย ส ก ร ู 4 ต ั ว ข อ ง เ บ ้ า matrix ท ั ้ ง หม ด 3 ต า แ หน ่ง ข อ ง ฝ า โ ม ล
3) Move the matrix in the desired position for one insertion 
system
3) เ ล ื่ อ น เ บ ้ า matrix ใ ห ้ ไ ด ้ ต า ม ต า แ หน ่ง ท ี่ แ ผ ่ น ล ็ อ ค ข อ ง ฝ า บ น
ส า ม า ร ถ ส ว ม อ ัด ไ ด ้ 4) screw again the 4 lateral screws almost completely , but 
leaving a little gap to make the final adjustments
4) ข ั น ส ก ร ู ท ั ้ ง 4 ต ั ว ค ื น จ บ เ ก ื อ บ ส ุ ด แ ต ่ ใ ห ้ เ ห ล ื อ ร ะ ย ะ ห ่ า ง เ ล ็ ก น ้ อ ย 
เ พ ื่อ ง ่ า ย ต ่ อ ก า ร ป ร ั บ ต ั ้ ง ส ุ ด ท ้ า ย
ค ้ อ น ย า ง
Screw driver
ไ ข ค ว ง
Gum Hammer
WORKING PHASE:  Mold Adjusting instruction
N°
Key Point (How?)
จ ุ ด ส ำ ค ั ญ( ท ำ อ ย ่ ำ ง ไ ร?)
Reason (WHY? )
เ ห ต ุ ผ ล( ท ำ ท ำ ไ ม?)
Specific Tools:
เ ค ร ื่ อ ง ม ื อ พ ิ เ ศ ษ
IDP, JES
เ อ ก ส ำ ร ท ี่ เ ก ี่ ย ว ข ้ อ ง
Important Steps (WHAT?)
ข ั้ น ต อ น ส ำ ค ั ญ( ท ำ อ ะ ไ ร?)
ข ั ้ น ต อ น ก า ร ท า ง า น:  ค ู่ ม ื อ ก า ร ป ร ับ ต ั ้ ง โ ม ล
To avoid problems of horizontal inclination.  
For example, if we modify only the position of 
one of them, the upper side of the wall in the 
zone we are modifying will be more inside or 
more outside relatively to the other side in the 
X axis sense. But we do not want modify this 
direction from there.
เ พ ื่อ หล ี ก เ ล ี่ ย ง ป ั ญ หา ข อ ง ก า ร เ อ ี ย ง ใ น แ น ว น อ น 
เ ช ่ น ถ ้ า ป ร ั บ เ ป ล ี่ ย น ต า แ ห น ่ง ข อ ง ฝ า ด ้ า น บ น ภ า ย ใ น 
แ ส ด ง ว ่ า ก า ล ั ง ป ร ั บ ภ า ย ใ น ห ร ื อ ภ า ย น อ ก ใ ห ้ ม ี ร ะ ย ะ
ค ่ อ น ข ้ า ง ม า ก ข ึ้ น ไ ป ด ้ า น อ ื่ น ๆ ใ น ค ว า ม ร ู ้ ส ึ ก ท ี่ แ ก น X
 แ ต ่ เ ร า ไ ม ่ ต ้ อ ง ก า ร ป ร ั บ เ ป ล ี่ ย น ท ิ ศ ท า ง น ี้ จ า ก ท ี่ น ั่ น
N.B. This shrewdness is to avoid the problem 
of the expansion of the upper side of the 
lateral panels during the foaming process, 
because the pressure of the injection could 
open the upper side of the lateral panels.
NOTE. ค ว า ม ร ู ้ น ี้ ค ื อ ก า ร หล ี ก เ ล ี่ ย ง ป ั ญ หา ท ี่ เ ก ิ ด จ า ก
ก า ร ข ย า ย ต ั ว ข อ ง ด ้ า น บ น ข อ ง ฝ า ด ้ า น ข ้ า ง ใ น
ร ะ ห ว ่ า ง ก ร ะ บ ว น ก า ร โ ฟ ม เ พ ร า ะ ค ว า ม ด ั น ข อ ง ก า ร
ฉ ี ด ท ี่ ส า ม า ร ถ เ ป ิ ด ด ้ า น บ น ข อ ง แ ผ ง ด ้ า น ข ้ า ง
5
1
2
3
Figure 1.1.3 - Example of a page of TWI – Courtesy Of Electrolux
Application and success of lean manufacturing in Thailand, case study: Electrolux Professional 
12 
description of the know-how we would like to transmit to the trainee. It could contain 
the steps to assembly some components with the best “working tricks” we had learned 
in the past from the most skilled operators or process engineers, or maybe it could be 
found the process to follow during a maintenance activity, or moreover, if the topic is 
the general knowledge about some machine, the technical description of some functions. 
c. WHY: The third column of the sheet is what really make the difference against the other 
documents like WI or JES; indeed in this writings we can find the WHAT and the HOW 
descriptions, but the TWI target is to preserve the knowledge for the whole industry and 
then it must contains also the deeply explanations of the reasons. It is this part that 
increases the value of the document, because, for example, a new engineer that study for 
the first time the functioning of some machine could understand immediately why that 
machine had been set in a certain way, or maybe he could understand that in the past had 
been made some errors cause of some misunderstandings. 
The last two smaller sections are customized on the typology of knowledge we want to save, 
for example if we are talking about maintenance of a certain machine there will be two columns 
where to place the specific tools to use (TOOLS) and the departments that should be involved 
(WHO), for example Maintenance and/or Operators. In other versions there are the document 
to refer for the specific task (JES, WI…) 
The TWI tool is the higher form of knowledge preserving that the company owns, thanks to the 
explanations of the reasons it is the base for process engineers,managers or, generally, all kinds 
of trainee to understand process and procedures created in the past and it is the prerequisite 
where to start to improve. 
The TWIs, created during the thesis research period, regard the deeply knowledge preserving 
about a fundamental machine of the line followed, the foaming machine, where all the bodies 
and the components, like doors or beams or studs, of all the families of refrigerators produced, 
have to be processed. 
The foaming machine 100 kg for bodies (Figure 1.1.4/1.1.5) is made up of two main machines: 
 The mechanical side is the biggest one, visible in the picture with the orange and yellow 
frame, its function is to contain physically the power of expansion of the foam. The 
machine has an automatic movement system to insert the bodies to foam and to fix their 
position thanks to the mould inside. The main problems that we faced due this part of 
the machine were dimensional (out of specifics) and/or scraps due to deformation of the 
metal sheets. 
 The chemical side is the machine with the two quite big tanks where is stored, at the 
right temperature and pressure, the two chemicals used: Polyol premixed with R134a 
(90% Polyol) and Isocyanate. The task of this machine is to inject with high pressure 
the foam inside the bodies, when these are already inside the containing mask. The two 
injection heads are on the top of the mechanical side. The two machine communicate