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Frontiers of Engineering Management

ISSN 2095-7513

ISSN 2096-0255(Online)

CN 10-1205/N

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Front. Eng    2019, Vol. 6 Issue (2) : 183-192    https://doi.org/10.1007/s42524-019-0028-1
REVIEW ARTICLE
Review of seru production
Yang YU1, Jiafu TANG2()
1. State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Automation for Process Industries, Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
2. College of Management Science and Engineering, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116023, China
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Abstract

Seru production is regarded as a new production mode and derived from the production site of Japanese electronics industry. This production mode is proposed to overcome the low flexibility of the assembly line. Seru production has been successfully implemented in Japanese electronics industry, such as Canon and Sony. Benefits from Seru production include rapid response, good flexibility, and high productivity. Seru production has received extensive attention in academic research and production practice. This study reviews the background, characteristics, types, and operation of seru production. The advantages and applicable scenes of seru production are summarized from the perspective of business practice. We compare seru production and famous production modes, i.e., assembly line, cellular manufacturing, and Toyota Production System. The literature on seru production is surveyed and classified. Furthermore, future research directions are provided.
Keywords seru production      production mode      flexibility      literature review     
Corresponding Author(s): Jiafu TANG   
Just Accepted Date: 29 March 2019   Online First Date: 06 May 2019    Issue Date: 17 May 2019
 Cite this article:   
Yang YU,Jiafu TANG. Review of seru production[J]. Front. Eng, 2019, 6(2): 183-192.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/10.1007/s42524-019-0028-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/Y2019/V6/I2/183
Fig.1  Example of a divisional seru
Fig.2  Example of a rotating seru
Fig.3  Example of a yatai
Fig.4  Example of a pure rotating seru
Fig.5  Example of a hybrid seru system
Comparison Seru production Assembly line
Flexibility High Low
Volume Low High
Inventory Few finished-product and WIP inventories A large amount of finished-product inventory and WIP inventory
Production Make-to-order Make-to-stock
Organization management Multi-skilled worker, autonomy Division of labor, single-skilled worker
Production form Parallelization Serialization
Objective Highest efficiency of all workers To improve the efficiency of the slowest worker
Equipment investment Low High
Degree of automation Low, manual operation High
Worker enthusiasm High Low
Worker management Initiative improvement Passive management
Energy consumption Low High
Defective products Easy to trace Difficult to trace
Completeness High Low
Layout Straight line, U shape, petal shape Straight line
Preconditions Multi-skilled worker, high variety and low volume, variable varieties and volumes Mass production
Disadvantage Multi-skilled worker, difficult management Low flexibility, bottleneck, high investment, unsuitable for high variety and low volume
Advantage High flexibility, low investment, suitable for high variety and low volume, variable varieties and volumes Single-skilled workers, high efficiency in mass production, simple management
Tab.1  Comparison of seru production and assembly line
Comparison Seru production CM
Similarities Market environment High variety and low volume, variable varieties and volumes High variety and low volume
Layout U-shaped and other compact layouts U-shaped and other compact layouts
Worker Multi-skilled workers Multi-skilled workers
Differences Background Japanese industry in the mid-1990s European industry in the mid-1960s
Name of the unit Seru Cell
Facing the center Worker-oriented Machine-oriented
Objective To overcome the shortcomings of assembly line, i.e., low flexibility and bottleneck To improve the productivity of the job shop
Key technology Seru formation and seru scheduling GT
Processing type Mainly for assembly processes, such as inspection, packaging, and baling Machining, cleaning, forming, casting, and heat treatment processes
Equipment Simple, cheap, light, and movable Expensive and multifunction
Unit construction Seru formation and equipment layout Device grouping and device layout
Similarity Similarity of worker skill levels Part/product similarity
Multi-skilled worker Multi-skilled workers operating multiple tasks in seru Multi-skilled worker operating similar parts/products
Reconfiguration Rapidly reconfigure seru in accordance with market demand Unsuitable for frequent reconfiguration
Evolution Continuous improvement and evolution, from divisional seru to rotating seru and from rotating seru to yatai No evident evolutionary trend
Tab.2  Comparison of seru production and CM
Comparison Seru production TPS
Similarities Market environment High variety and low volume, variable varieties and volume High variety and low volume
Reduced waste Zero inventory, JIT, kanban Zero inventory, JIT, kanban
Differences Organization Multiple serus Mixed product line
Multi-skilled worker Must be multi-skilled workers Can be multi-skilled workers but not necessary
Due date Short Long or customer can wait
Variety change Small or no impact on the production system Large impact on the production system
Application area Electronics industry Auto industry
Exception process Relatively simple Automation
Equipment Simple, cheap, light, and movable Expensive and multifunction
Reconfiguration Rapidly reconfigure in accordance with market demand Unsuitable for frequent reconfiguration
Tab.3  Comparison of seru production and TPSa)
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