Repensando o aprendizado na indústria: o caso do ramp-up de uma oficina de virolas

Abstract

Historically, the concepts of learning and productivity in industry have tended to be used for the same purpose: to talk about the evolution of productivity over time. Much of this significance came from the more traditional approach in literature: the learning curves (LC). The present research will rethink these discussions about learning in industry, showing that the evolution of productivity is actually a consequence of the learning process. To this end, a case study will be presented on the ramp-up of a metal tube workshop (ferrules), positioning the facts and decisions that were made during this process and showing how this affected the learning process and consequently the productivity of the workshop. The methodology used is innovative within this discussion about learning curves, given that the field research was done during the learning process, while the studies on this subject always discuss the results of productivity a posteriori. In a broader context, the research was carried out in an industrial ironnickel plant in a remote area in northern Brazil, where the ferrule workshop was one of its support areas. The ramp-up of this industry did not follow what was planned in terms of time and efficiency. Similarly, the ramp-up of the ferrule area was also complicated, which makes the workshop a reflection (or a mirror) of that process in the industrial plant. Among the main activities that the dissertation contributes are: (1) definition of the mix of contracting and composition of the production cell, (2) specification of the purchase of equipment and selection of suppliers, and (3) definition of work organization models.