Production
System
Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy focusing on
reduction of the seven wastes to improve overall customer value:
- Over-production
- Transportation
- Inventory
- Motion
- Waiting time
- Processing Itself
- Defective Product (Scrap in manufactured products or any type
of business.)
By eliminating waste (muda), quality is improved, production time and
costs are reduced.
To solve the problem of waste, Lean Manufacturing has several
"tools" at its disposal. These include constant process analysis
(kaizen), "pull" production (by means of kanban) and mistake-
proofing (poka-yoke).
Key lean manufacturing principles include:
- Pull processing: products are pulled from the consumer end
(demand), not pushed from the production end (Supply)
- Perfect first-time quality - quest for zero defects, revealing &
solving problems at the source
- Waste minimization – eliminating all activities that do not add
value & safety nets, maximize use of scarce resources (capital,
people and land)
- Continuous improvement – reducing costs, improving quality,
increasing productivity and information sharing
- Flexibility – producing different mixes or greater diversity of
products quickly, without sacrificing efficiency at lower volumes
of production
- Building and maintaining a long term relationship with suppliers
through collaborative risk sharing, cost sharing and information
sharing arrangements.
Lean is basically all about getting the right things, to the right place,
at the right time, in the right quantity while minimizing waste and being
flexible and open to change. More importantly, all of these concepts
have to be understood, appreciated, and embraced by the actual
employees who build the products and therefore own the processes.
The cultural aspect of lean is just as important as the actual tools or
methodologies.
Lean thinking got its name from a 1990’s best seller called "The
Machine That Changed the World : The Story of Lean Production".
The book chronicles the transitions of automobile manufacturing from
craft production to mass production to lean production.
The seminal book "Lean Thinking" by Womack and Jones, introduced
five core concepts:
- Specify value in the eyes of the customer
- Identify the value stream and eliminate waste
- Make value flow at the pull of the customer
- Involve and empower employees
- Continuously improve in the pursuit of perfection.
Finally, there is an understanding that Toyota's mentoring process
(loosely called Senpai and Kohai relationship) so strongly supported
in Japan is one of the ways to foster Lean Thinking up and down the
organizational structure. The closest equivalent to Toyota's mentoring
process is the concept of Lean Sensei, which encourages companies,
organizations, and teams to seek out outside, third-party "Sensei"
that can provide unbiased advice and coaching.
We at Lean Production System dot com and our patrners WLConsult
and Lean Academy International provide businesses Worldwide with
third-party "Sensei".
