Lean Manufacturing - production improvement

Definitions

· Value - A capability provided to a customer at the right time at an appropriate price, as defined in each case by the customer. Features of the product or service, availability, cost and performance are dimensions of value.

· Waste - Any activity that consumes resources but creates no value (waste).

What is Lean?

· Lean production focuses on eliminating waste in processes (i.e. the waste of work in progress and finished good inventories)

· Lean production is not about eliminating people

· Lean production is about expanding capacity by reducing costs and shortening cycle times between order and ship date

· Lean is about understanding what is important to the customer

Thinking Lean

• Specify value
• can only be defined by the ultimate customer
• Identify the value stream
• exposes the enormous amounts of waste
• Create flow
• reduce batch size and WIP
• Let the customer pull product through the value stream
• make only what the customer has ordered
• Seek perfection
• continuously improve quality and eliminate waste

Benefits

• Lean provides tangible benefits
• Reduces costs not just selling price
• Reduces delivery time, cycle time, set-up time
• Eliminates waste
• Seeks continuous improvement
• Improves quality
• Improves customer ratings and perceptions
• Increases overall customer satisfaction
• Improves employee involvement, morale, and company culture
• Helps “transform” manufacturers

Toyota Production System (TPS)

• Quality, Cost, Delivery
• Shorten Production Flow by Eliminating Waste
• Just In Time
• The Right Part at the Right Time in the Right Amount
• Continuous Flow
• Pull Systems
• Level Production
• Built-In Quality
• Error Proofing – Poka Yoke
• Visual Controls
• Operational Stability (Standardized Work, Robust Products & Processes, Total Productive Maintenance, and Supplier Involvement)

Types of Waste

· Overproduction

· Excess inventory

· Defects

· Non-value added processing

· Waiting

· Underutilized people

· Excess motion

· Transportation

Barriers to Lean

• Implementing Lean Can Be Difficult Because it is Counterintuitive from a Traditional Paradigm:
• Buying multiple small machines rather than one big machine that offers economies of scale.
• Shutting down equipment when maximum inventory levels are reached rather than running flat out.
• Using standards to continuously improve.
• There is no step-by-step cook book
• There are some basic steps but the how-to varies from organization to organization
• Requires an assessment of the company in order to map out the strategy
• Company culture plays a big part in the how-to

Progress Toward Lean

· Smaller lot sizes

· Increased capacity / throughput

· Higher inventory turns

· More available floor space

· Improved workplace organization

· Improved quality : reduced scrap / re-work

· Reduced inventories : raw, WIP, FG

· Reduced lead times

· Greater gross margin

· Improved participation & morale

Lean Is A Journey

· The Journey never ends

· Toyota estimates it is only 50% waste-free

· Where can we begin? Where can we improve?

Do You think it will work in polish companies?? Do You know any companies which have implemented lean manufacturing?? Any other coments??

For these who are interested with the lean subject, I have many books, articles and materials from conferences :-)