Design of an Autonomous Maintenance Plan and Kanban System for cost reduction in an Environmental Consulting Firm

Abstract

This study was conducted to apply engineering methodologies and tools in an environmental consultancy firm to address issues related to poor maintenance management of environmental equipment and inadequate responsiveness to customer demand. To tackle these challenges, two alternative solutions were proposed and evaluated for each problem, with Autonomous Maintenance and the Kanban Methodology being selected as the most viable approaches. The simulation of these solutions demonstrated significant improvements within the company. Regarding the first issue, equipment availability increased from 75% to 91%. Additionally, customer service efficiency improved from 15% to 21%, validating the effectiveness of the implemented tools. Finally, the economic analysis revealed a total benefit of S/ 6,869.74, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 21%, a net present value (NPV) of S/ 2,891.99, and a benefit-cost (B/C) ratio of 1.73. These results confirm that the applied solutions were both technically and economically viable, leading to substantial improvements in operational processes and customer responsiveness.