Applying Lean Principles to Improvement Project Monitoring in the DOT Department: Creation and Implementation of a New Matrix at FPT Industrial

This work addresses the creation of a new tool, the need for which arose during an internship at the FPT Industrial plant in Turin, within the continuous improvement team called DOT (Driving Operations Together). One of the main activities of the continuous improvement team at the plant is monitoring efficiency projects, meaning those continuous improvement projects that, once completed, will bring economic benefits over a twelve-month period. Monitoring is carried out through a dedicated tool called the Matrix. During the months of the internship, several critical issues and new scenarios emerged, such as the merging of four different business units into a single plant. These developments triggered the need for a new tool that would account for the new scenarios and address the identified issues. The work is divided into three chapters. The first chapter, titled Introduction to the Company and DOT Department, introduces the corporate context in which the internship initially took place, and later where the work described here was carried out. The same chapter also includes a theoretical section dedicated to explaining the principles of Lean Management, which originated in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s within the Toyota group and was later exported worldwide. These principles form the foundation of the continuous improvement team’s philosophy at FPT Industrial. The second chapter, Criticality and the Need for a New Tool, discusses and analyzes the critical issues that led to the need for creating the tool that is the subject of this work. The third chapter, The New Matrix, focuses the reader’s attention on the consultation and analysis of the new tool, which is already operational and was created entirely using Microsoft Office Excel. It highlights the most innovative aspects that have proven to be highly useful to the company. Technical elements will be analyzed, such as the use of complex formulas or Visual Basic code to meet specific needs, along with the new management possibilities enabled by this tool. The discussion will be supported by a series of images to simulate navigation within the file, making the reading experience more immersive. In conclusion, there is an additional chapter titled Conclusion, which highlights all the innovative improvements and goals achieved, while also pointing out some existing limitations and challenges.