Lean Manufacturing
Lean Manufacturing is the generic name given to the Toyota Production System that focuses on enhancing the use of value adding resources by the elimination of wasteful activities. The vision of Lean Manufacturing is as follows:
To have a lean, flexible and disciplined common production system...
...employing groups of capable and empowered people who work safely...
...and deliver products that consistently exceed customer's expectations...
...in quality, cost and time.
Lean Manufacturing focuses on eliminating 'Waste' in the way how a company uses its
- people
- equipment
- material
and delivering to the customer what they want, and when they want it.
In this context the definition of 'Waste' is as follows:
- Anything that adds cost (time, resources or space) but adds no value to the product or service in the eyes of the customer. The key to Lean Manufacturing is to recognise the 'Waste' that is all around us.
The seven deadly sins of 'Waste' are related to under-utilisation of people, their skills and knowledge, as follows:
- Overproduction: Too much, too soon.
- Waiting: People and/or operations waiting because of a lack of materials, parts, supplies, equipment, or information from a previous process or an external supplier.
- Conveyance: Moving stockpiles around.
- Unnecessary Processing: Performing operations that are not required to manufacture or assemble the product, or what the customer requires.
- Inventory: Excess raw material, work-in-process or finished goods as a result of overproduction or poor material flow.
- Motion: Movements of material, equipment or people which do not add value to the product, caused by disorganised work plan or layout.
- Scrap and Rework: Any repair is waste.
The Manufacturing Support Group of TWI can provide training modules for the following twelve lean tools and techniques:
- Standardised Work
- Visual Management
- Error Proofing
- Quick Change Over
- Andon Call System
- Synchronous Material Flow
- Total Productive Maintenance
- Work Groups
- Value Stream Mapping
- Policy Deployment
- Master Schedules
- Process Confirmation
The vision of lean manufacturing can finally be summarised as follows:
Lean is not a set of defined rules, but an evolving goal...
...which we strive to reach and becomes a way of life.
Members should contact TWI's Manufacturing Support Group msg@twi.co.uk for further details or check the following web pages:
Computerised facilities layout planning - a guide to best practice
What is 'Lean Manufacturing' and how does it differ from 'Just-in-Time Manufacturing (JIT)?
