Design and implementation of a continuous improvement framework, focusing on material and information flow, for the manufacturing of organic photovoltaics

Abstract

Konarka Technologies is an organic photo voltaic solar panel manufacturing startup and is currently in the process of ramping up their production volumes. The MIT team has worked on numerous improvement activities that helped improve different aspects of the manufacturing plant. This thesis specifically focuses on my work that involved implementing a continuous improvement framework for waste reduction in material and information flow, through Shop floor reorganization Kaizen event, while briefly describing other improvements that were implemented as a Team. These included an online barcode part tracking system and Kanban cards Information boards, a Production scheduling tool to help achieve an efficient production plan and finally a Kaizen Board to help continue the improvement activities carried out during the course of this research. These systems were successfully implemented and the improvement activities and associated training sessions helped in increasing employee participation and initiative in improving the operations of the shop floor.