Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a method for eliminating or reducing waste from the manufacturing process. Introduced by Toyota in the year 1930, the term “lean’ was first coined in 1988. Lean manufacturing has since become standard practice in every industry.

In recent years, many manufacturing processes have been adopting a lean method for greater efficacy, efficiency, and profitability. But what do you mean by lean manufacturing? And why is it so important?

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is a continual process of minimizing waste and maximizing productivity within a manufacturing operation. Waste is anything that uses resources without adding value to what the customers will pay for.

Waste in industry processes, whether poor processes, idle workers, or unused supplies, is a drain on throughout, and lean manufacturing aims to remove all these.

What are the Five Principles of Lean Manufacturing?

 Lean manufacturing is built of five core principles for improving efficiency, productivity and includes:

1)    Define Value

The first lean principle, defining value, is also the initial step to becoming lean. This step involves businesses defining what customers value and how the services or products meet those values. Value requires:

·        Crafting products to fulfill the needs of customers

·        Eliminating features that specifically do not meet those needs

 

Many quantitative and qualitative techniques can uncover what customers actually want, how they want the service or product to be delivered, and the affordable cost.

 

2)    Map the Value Stream

The second lean principle recognizes and mapping the value stream. This step aims to use the customer’s value as a reference and find all the features that contribute to these values. Features that do not add any value to the end customer are identified as waste. By minimizing and removing unnecessary processes or steps, you can ensure that customers receive exactly what they need while simultaneously reducing production costs.

 

3. Create flow

The third lean principle of lean manufacturing is creating flow. After the waste has been removed from the value stream, the following step ensures the remaining steps flow efficiently with no delays, interruptions, or bottlenecks. Each factor, from employees and machinery to materials and delivery, must be considered ensuring products move seamlessly through the manufacturing process.

 

4. Establish Pull

With enhanced flow, time to market or customer can be improved drastically. This makes it easier to deliver products or services as required, as in “just in time” manufacturing. In addition, this means the customer can “pull” the service or product from you as and when needed. Products do not need to be manufactured in advance or supplies stockpiled, generating expensive inventory that requires managing, saving expenses for both the manufacturer and the customer.

 

5. Pursue Perfection

Wastes are eliminated by accomplishing the first four principles of lean manufacturing.  However, the fifth step is perhaps the most significant: making lean thinking and continual process improvement an essential feature of the corporate culture. Each employee in the organization must be involved in implementing lean.

 

What are the Wastes of Lean Manufacturing?

 

The Seven Wastes of Lean Manufacturing include:

 

1)    Overproduction: Manufacturing a product before it is essential instead of manufacturing “Just in Time”.

2)    Waiting: Most of the production lead time is tied up in the waiting process for the subsequent operation; usually, the material flow is bad, or the production cycle is too long.

3)    Transport: Excessive movement of material and handling adds costs and time to processes. Minimizing transport time to transport an item from one place to another leads to lean thinking.

4)    Over-processing: This type of waste reflects on doing work that does not value or probably brings more value than necessary. Such things can add extra features to a product or service that nobody will use, increasing business costs.

5)    Inventory: Excess inventory does not meet customers’ needs and does not add value. They increase storage space and depreciation costs.

6)    Excess Motion: Motion costs money. This includes movements of raw material, machinery, and employees—all unnecessary extra motion results in non-value-added time and increased cost.

7)    Defects: Defects in products affect time, resources, capital, and customer satisfaction.