Overview of Lean Manufacturing

No discussion topic is more important today than Lean Manufacturing. Among automotive suppliers, it has been a survival issue for several years. Aerospace and consumer products industries are not far behind. Lean Manufacturing is a way of industrial life based on systematic application of proven management and production principles. It is focused on providing the customer with the value he or she seeks through a process that is free of waste. Waste is defined as anything that consumes cost or time without adding value to the product. The Toyota Production System, a good reference for lean manufacturing, cites the following categories of waste: 1. Overproduction - The production of more product than the customer wants now. 2. Inventory and Work in Process (WIP) - Raw material and production cost sitting in inventory. 3. Transportation - Movement of material and product that does not bring it closer to the customer. 4. Process Waste - Process cost and activity that does not add appropriate value to the product. 5. Motion - Movement of workers, machines, and material that does not add appropriate value to the product. 6. Waiting - Time expended by a employees or assets that does not add value to the product. 7. Defective Products - Parts that do not meet customer requirements. Today, nobody would argue for the keeping anything on this list; so why are companies finding it so difficult to make the transformation from traditional to Lean Manufacturing? There are as many answers as there are companies: Equipment or process unreliability can lead to "safety stock" inventory. Absenteeism, out-of-date processes, convoluted material and information flows, poor process documentation, inadequate training, and dozens of other causes can all create waste and derail Lean Manufacturing efforts. Lean manufacturing is a new way of operating for most companies. When product development and manufacturing are released from the burden of excess inventory, equipment, staff, and time, managers and employees lose their malpractice insurance. Equipment and processes must run reliably. Staff must report as scheduled. Information must flow swiftly and accurately. As one manager remarked to us recently, "We're working without a net here!" It takes getting used to. The transition to Lean Manufacturing requires very careful planning and execution. Cutting staff and inventory without fixing processes will damage customer service. Launching new products without adequate tooling and engineering time can have disastrous results. In all cases, the tasks, tools, and training to support the new way of operating must be put into place before Lean Manufacturing can be mandated. Key operating approaches like Pull Scheduling, Total Productive Maintenance, Total Quality Control, and Employee Involvement/Empowerment all play key parts in the development of a successful Lean Manufacturing program. So why pursue so many expensive and sometimes painful changes? The payoff is very exciting: It is not unusual for Lean Manufacturers to cut throughput time and conversion cost by more than half. New product introduction cost can be a quarter of historical numbers. It turns out that doing something once, and doing it right is both the lowest cost and the highest quality method of operating. Production flow and cash flow can become competitive weapons. The rest of the payoff is survival. Manufacturers are rapidly sorting themselves into two groups; the quick and the dead. It's time to choose.

See also: Lean Manufacturing Project Steps Lean Manufacturing Training

The Stanton Group www.stangroup.com