5s – Lean Manufacturing Foundation

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Lean Manufacturing Consultant

Companies of all sizes are now implementing lean manufacturing. Businesses as small as a dentist office are blogging about using lean manufacturing techniques to improve the process and lower costs.

If a company is contemplating hiring a lean manufacturing consultant, they probably need one. If the expertise does not exist within the corporation, valuable time will be lost and money spent unnecessarily until the lean manufacturing consultant is hired.

If the company has lean manufacturing expertise in-house, the question then becomes one of execution and implementation. Can the in-house expert execute the lean implementation plan within the required time frame and budget? Additionally, will the expert receive the required management commitment to implement lean manufacturing?

It is common to see organizations hire a consultant and commit the resources that otherwise not be committed. Is that fair to the in-house consultant? No, but as they say, "it is what it is". If it takes an outside lean manufacturing consultant to launch a system of massive waste elimination and value creation, does it really matter in the long run?

From a corporate view, all that matters is that the waste elimination occurs and value is created.
Lean manufacturing consultants are often good at motivating the organization into action. Sure, one reason is the corporation is paying for services so it is more compelled to make the most of it. Also, unless the lean manufacturing consultant is going to be paid to wander around, the corporation will probably make a concerted effort to implementation.

If the organization has an in-house lean manufacturing expert and top management commitment, the only reason to hire an outside lean manufacturing consultant would be for additional resources or ideas. A good outside consultant has seen many improvements in various types of organizations with different products. The consultant has undoubtedly witnessed or been involved with a few failures, and thus has the experience and knowledge to prevent or minimize it.

The first step in determining the need for a lean manufacturing consultant is an operational analysis. All areas of the organization should be assessed, including manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, shipping, purchasing, administration, and sales. The magnitude of the waste should be quantified.

Upon completion of the assessment, the need for a lean manufacturing consultant will become transparent.

It is critical for the organization and managers to keep an open mind. This cannot be mandated, but encouraged through written examples, benchmarking visits to and from other companies with successful lean manufacturing implementations.

It is not uncommon for a good lean manufacturing consultant to reduce cost of good sold by 10%. This extremely large number should not be shown to the entire organization up front. It shouldn't be hidden, but any large number would initially bring fear into the organization.

All lean manufacturing implementations should be preceded with a promise of no job loss as a result. The company should be up front and hones about waste elimination, job combinations, and position elimination, but should also commit to keeping all employees through the process.
Obviously, potential outside circumstances would not permit a guarantee, but if a corporation wants total involvement and maximum success, they will not put people out of work as a result of a lean manufacturing initiative.

When positions are eliminated through lean manufacturing tools, those employees should become part of the 5S or kaizen teams. This only increases the resources and focus enabling more waste elimination.

Almost all successful lean implementations will lead to business growth, enabling the displaced workers to again become direct labor.

When companies "do the right thing", they are almost always rewarded. The excellent morale and pervasive commitment will fuel additional business, products, or markets.

Lean Manufacturing Training - 5S

Nearly every company implementing lean manufacturing training begins with training and implementation of 5S. If you’ve been in a office or plant floor after 5S was implemented correctly, it is a noticeable difference to anything else.

When 5S is implemented correctly, there is no clutter anywhere. The equipment, walls, floor, ceiling, columns, benches and tables are all clean, organized, and often painted and look new. Visual management is often utilized to properly label items.

5S is normally implemented in one area at a time. After one or two areas are perfected, several other areas are often started at the same time. It is important to get the first one or two perfected as the standard.

The first “S” is sort. It is the process of removing all unnecessary items from the work area. Examples would be extra tables, cabinets, memos, tools, materials, supplies, and anything else that is not needed on a daily basis. These items are often tagged and moved to a hold area pending a decision on whether or not to keep the item somewhere.

After sorting, the second “S” is “Set”, or “Set-In-Order”. It is the process of organizing those items that remain after the sort process. The idea here is to get extremely organized and minimize retrieval time for the remaining items. Everyone working in the area should know exactly where every item is at all times. Examples are pegboards, shadow boards, labeled bins, material racks with labels, and other organization methods. It is important to organize these items closest to the point of use. If an item is to be used in one spot, it should be located their at all times.

The third “S” is shine. This is the process of making the workplace or machinery look like it did when it was brand new. When doing this, consider the workplace from ceiling to floor for a particular area. Examples include painting the ceiling, scrubbing and painting the floor, cleaning and painting machinery, cabinets, and everything else in the area. The value in the “shine” step is an improvement in equipment operation and longevity, quality, morale, and an improved OEE (overall equipment effectiveness). As an example of the improvement, it is much easier to spot an oil lead on a piece of equipment that has been cleaned and painted versus an old machine with dust, grease, and clutter all over the place.

The fourth “S” is standardize. This is the process of finding the best known method of keeping the area looking the way it did at the end of the shine process. This is the step where most failures occur, and it is normally because the necessary actions to keep the area clean aren’t explicitly determined and responsibilities aren’t clearly defined. There are often “standardized operation” instructions listing the actions, noting how to do the job, who will do each task, and when they will be done. For example, at the end of each day, one worker sweeps and cleans a specific area, using specific tools and cleaning supplies. When every worker follows their specific procedures, it will be easy to sustain lean manufacturing training .

The last “S” is sustain. The sustain “S”, as the name implies, sustains the system. There are various methods for sustaining, including checklists and audits. It is important to maintain the discipline of standardization, and the easiest way is with simple follow up audits. The audits should be done in a positive manner in order to keep the morale high. The frequency of audits depends on how often they are necessary. It often requires frequent audits in the beginning, possible going to a weekly frequency after the system in embedded in the organization.

Lean Manufacturing Seminars - Which tools are important?

Too often, the individuals selected look for a local seminar. Although a local lean manufacturing seminar may be the least expensive, it may cost the organization millions in the long run.

If the employees receive the wrong training, their lean manufacturing implementation could be short lived. In the worst case, the organization could go backward as a result of a failed lean manufacturing implementation .

A failed lean manufacturing implementation is very costly. Tim is wasted and thousands of hours are paid to resources implementing the right tools in the wrong way, place, or time.

Unfortunately, there is no specific definitive roadmap to a lean implementation. It is more based on the organizational analysis, which identifies “needs”, and “opportunities”, as well as the magnitude of each.

The facts above make it critical to develop in-house expertise. One brief seminar will not be enough, but a good lean manufacturing seminar can provide a foundation for the lean journey. It is called a “journey” because it never ends.

A great lean manufacturing seminar will provide both instruction and practice using all lean tools, from 5S and organizational analysis to ongoing kaizen events and everything in between.

Any good lean manufacturing seminar will provide detailed instruction using the following tools:

PDCA (plan-do-check-act) Organizational Analysis 5S (sort, set-in-order, shine, standardize, sustain) OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) TPM (total productive maintenance) Standard Operations Line Balance and Takt Time One Piece and Continuous Flow Pull Systems Kanban Error Proofing Quality at Source SMED (singe minute exchange of die) VSM (value stream mapping) 8 Wastes Takt time Methods Analysis RCPS (root cause problem solving) Cellular Manufacturing Kaizen Events

Although becoming an expert with any lean manufacturing tools will require in depth study and substantial application, a good seminar can provide a foundation for continuous lea

20 Step Lean Manufacturing Implementation Guide

Most of the large corporations employ a few lean experts. Many mid-size and most small businesses do not have lean manufacturing expertise in the company. It is common that a few individuals have attended a lean manufacturing seminar or read a few books, but lack the expertise to develop a roadmap.

The reason most courses and seminars do not teach a “roadmap” is because the tools are best applied to problems or bottlenecks, rather than forcing the tool use on the opportunity. For example, a machine that sets up once per week in 30 minutes probably doesn’t warrant a week of SMED activity.

However, a roadmap can be used with common sense. Lean manufacturing has been called “common sense manufacturing”, although not always “common practice”.

Lean Manufacturing Roadmap:

Form team (mix of lean manufacturing and relevant business experience) Develop communication and feedback channel for everyone Meet with everyone and explain the initiative Begin to train all employees (lean overview, 8 wastes, standard operations, kaizen, RCPS, PDCA) Facility Analysis - Determine the gap between current state and a state of “lean” 5S - It is the foundation of lean. Workplace organization is critical for any lean initiative TPM - begin total productive maintenance early (used throughout lean) Value Stream Mapping - Determine the waste across the entire system 7 (or 8) Waste Identification - Use with value stream mapping to identify system waste Process Mapping - a more detailed map of each process Takt time - determine need to produce on all processes, equipment OEE & 6 Losses - determine the losses on all processes and equipment Line Balance - Use if necessary with takt time and OEE SMED - push setup times down to reduce cycle time, batch quantity, and lower costs Pull/One Piece Flow/Continuous Flow Analysis - utilize kanban and supermarkets Analyze Quality at the Source Application - poor quality stopped at the source Implement Error Proofing Ideas Cellular Manufacturing/Layout & Flow Improvement - Analyze facility and each process Develop Standardized Operations - concurrently with SMED, line balance, flow, layouts Kaizen - continue improving operations, giving priority to bottlenecks within the system

The specific implementation plan should be developed from the facility analysis. The analysis identifies areas of opportunity in every area of the business, including sales, service, engineering, maintenance, production, quality, shipping, and administrative functions.

Some lean manufacturing projects within a lean initiative require the tools of six sigma to find the improvement answers. The lean manufacturing team needs to be trained to understand when the lean tools must be supplemented to either solve the problem or maximize the improvement.

Kaizen events may use all of the lean tools (and some six sigma tools) to meet the team’s objective. Kaizen events are conducted on an ongoing basis to achieve a state of “lean”. For example, a process may need a quick throughput improvement. The kaizen blitz could include focused SMED (single minute exchange of die) and OEE analysis. The kaizen might have an objective to reduce setup time from 80 minutes to 60 minutes in 4 days.

It is important to keep an enterprise view with the analysis and roadmap. No single operation should be improved at the expense of the entire system. For example, if a bottleneck is happening at Process B, improving Process A prior to B only hurts the system worse. A larger scale example is improving throughput if shipping cannot handle the volume. Although many improvements cause bottlenecks elsewhere, forcing a larger known problem is rarely a good idea.

The roadmap above is only one example. It could be shown with many different variations. However, there is a logical sequence to many of the tools. Value stream mapping is almost always conducted very early on in the process. The 5S system provides a foundation for most other tools. TPM is large and plays an important role in OEE improvement, and therefore must be started early.

The key is to have a plan and get started. The path to lean will not be straight and it never ends. Don’t let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of being “better” today.

When to Hire a Lean Manufacturing Consultant

If a company is contemplating hiring a lean manufacturing consultant, they probably need one. If the expertise does not exist within the corporation, valuable time will be lost and money spent unnecessarily until the lean manufacturing consultant is hired.

If the company has lean manufacturing expertise in-house, the question then becomes one of execution and implementation. Can the in-house expert execute the lean implementation plan within the required time frame and budget? Additionally, will the expert receive the required management commitment to implement lean manufacturing?

It is common to see organizations hire a consultant and commit the resources that otherwise not be committed. Is that fair to the in-house consultant? No, but as they say, “it is what it is”. If it takes an outside lean manufacturing consultant to launch a system of massive waste elimination and value creation, does it really matter in the long run?

From a corporate view, all that matters is that the waste elimination occurs and value is created.

Lean manufacturing consultants are often good at motivating the organization into action. Sure, one reason is the corporation is paying for services so it is more compelled to make the most of it. Also, unless the lean manufacturing consultant is going to be paid to wander around, the corporation will probably make a concerted effort to implementation.

If the organization has an in-house lean manufacturing expert and top management commitment, the only reason to hire an outside lean manufacturing consultant would be for additional resources or ideas. A good outside consultant has seen many improvements in various types of organizations with different products. The consultant has undoubtedly witnessed or been involved with a few failures, and thus has the experience and knowledge to prevent or minimize it.

The first step in determining the need for a lean manufacturing consultant is an operational analysis. All areas of the organization should be assessed, including manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, shipping, purchasing, administration, and sales. The magnitude of the waste should be quantified.

Upon completion of the assessment, the need for a lean manufacturing consultant will become transparent.

It is critical for the organization and managers to keep an open mind. This cannot be mandated, but encouraged through written examples, benchmarking visits to and from other companies with successful lean manufacturing implementations.

It is not uncommon for a good lean manufacturing consultant to reduce cost of good sold by 10%. This extremely large number should not be shown to the entire organization up front. It shouldn’t be hidden, but any large number would initially bring fear into the organization.

All lean manufacturing implementations should be preceded with a promise of no job loss as a result. The company should be up front and hones about waste elimination, job combinations, and position elimination, but should also commit to keeping all employees through the process.

Obviously, potential outside circumstances would not permit a guarantee, but if a corporation wants total involvement and maximum success, they will not put people out of work as a result of a lean manufacturing initiative.

When positions are eliminated through lean manufacturing tools, those employees should become part of the 5S or kaizen teams. This only increases the resources and focus enabling more waste elimination.

Almost all successful lean implementations will lead to business growth, enabling the displaced workers to again become direct labor.

When companies “do the right thing”, they are almost always rewarded. The excellent morale and pervasive commitment will fuel additional business, products, or markets. A primer on lean manufacturing training and six sigma certification available at www.1stcourses.com

6 Reasons Why Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma Fail

Inside the lean manufacturing community, there is talk of a few high profiles failures recently. There is a lot of discussion with the lean community regarding how this could happen.

Most of the real lean manufacturing experts understand the few reasons for failure. Although there could be more than listed here, the reasons are often very simple.

1. The expert isn’t really an expert - 2. Lean manufacturing or six sigma tools are used to solve every problem - 3. The company does not devote enough resources 4. The timeline expectation is too short 5. Using the name Lean but not the principles 6. The business is beyond repair

The first four are only short term problems which can be overcome. A company can rid itself of the so-called expert and hire one. They can learn to apply other tools in addition to lean manufacturing tools . They can find, develop, and devote the proper resources eventually. The timeline expectation can also change with the right mind set.

If the business is beyond repair, it is probably not in need of a lean manufacturing implementation. It may need re-organization, financial re-capitalization, or a complete transformation. Whatever the business needs, it should happen before any continuous improvement initiative begins.

When a company needs a transformation, or specifically headcount reduction, this should be done prior to any continuous improvement initiative. Those in the lean community know this, but often are pushed to downsize the organization. It is critical for lean’s success to educate the executives to the problems with headcount reduction. Although it seems like common sense, some simply do not get it. People will not find a way to eliminate their job.

Although some may not agree, there is no silver bullet in business. Lean manufacturing principles, applied correctly in the organization, will do wonders. Six sigma initiatives also provide excellent benefits where applicable. But like all improvement methodologies, they are best applied to well run organizations searching for long term improvements.

One the largest reasons for lean or six sigma failure is forcing the use of tools to solve problems. We finally have the term lean six sigma, which includes both. Now we need a new term to include the other useful tools. Many lean practitioners do not understand six sigma, and therefore have no idea which tools they are missing. Conversely, many six sigma experts are not experienced in the application of lean manufacturing principles.

Lean and six sigma tools do not encompass every tool made to improve a business. Systems such as Manufacturing Excellence at least have a name that would imply any tool can be used.

Any initiative requires some minimum amount of resources. If the proper amount of resources cannot be devoted to the initiative, it is best to wait until the necessary resources are available. Without necessary people and time, any lean, six sigma, or other initiative will fail. Those doing the implementation will become frustrated, and employee morale will suffer. The initiative will become categorized as another fad of the month which wasn’t sustained.

It is also important to devote the time necessary to achieve and sustain improvement. Although some tools such as kaizen events lend themselves well to rapid deployment, the entire lean or six sigma initiative cannot outrun the organization. Both lean and six sigma initiatives are business changing initiatives, often resulting in major organizational changes. Businesses are run by people, and most can only handle so much change per time frame. Although this varies and may be altered as an organization learns to change quicker, forcing it will only cause chaos.

When consultants are utilized, it is best to spread out their time to allow the organization to absorb the change. Consultants can certainly throw more change and improvements on a company quicker than the company can digest it. Unless the organization can afford to have the consultant for a longer period of time, spacing visits is better than a rapid sequence of deployment.

Although there are a few main reasons lean manufacturing and six sigma fails, there are many more pointing to success. Thousands of companies are employing lean and six sigma today. Many of these companies have cut cycle times, reduced waste, increased productivity, improved quality, and enjoyed huge growth. If and when a lean or six sigma initiative fails, look at the reasons and change direction. The failure reason isn’t the tools or the initiative, but the application of them, business environment and circumstances surrounding it.

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing

As a trainer tasked with implementing lean manufacturing in UK based manufacturing businesses I am often asked by senior managers "Where should we start? or ?Which lean tool should we introduce first"? Without hesitation I always reply, "You must start by getting your people on board".

I have seen more lean implementation programmes fail because of poor management and lack of people skills than for any other reason. The introduction of Lean Manufacturing into a business which has not used these tools before can take some getting used to, particularly by managers who have always gone about their roles in a certain way. Some Managers feel threatened, intimidated and even embarrassed by their lack of knowledge about lean manufacturing which can cause them to hinder rather than promote change. In my experience the implementation of lean manufacturing never fails because of the efforts of shop floor operators but because the lack of leadership of management.

So how do we set about implementing lean manufacturing?

Fist of all the Senior Management team of a company need to be totally committed. They must want to implement lean manufacturing and be prepared to wholeheartedly support any projects it spawns.

Once this has been agreed the Senior Management team needs to communicate their vision of the Future state (where they want the business to be after improvements have been made) for the company to the rest of the management team. This should then be followed by a management brainstorming session to help appoint a natural leader of the project and to generate a set of business objectives.

The leader must be capable of operating at a cross functional level and be able to demonstrate the inter personal skills required of a good project manager. You should be looking for a good communicator, someone who is both persuasive and charismatic and someone who has only the best interests of the company at heart - no empire builders or ego trippers need apply.

Mistakes are often made at this point. Some companies assume it is only a production or manufacturing project and therefore do not involve any other departments, others appoint a wholly inappropriate project leader who has the company/process knowledge but not the people skills to bind others into a cross functional team.

Assuming you are able to find a suitable Project Leader you then need to get a team of people together from across the value stream. The best way to do this is to brief the workforce, detailing what is involved, why you are introducing lean manufacturing and how it will affect them and then request volunteers from your company?s departments. The exact number of people does not really matter although in my experience around 3-5 people, each from a different department works best. This is going to be your Lean Implementation team.

The team must be supported by a main board director/senior executive, someone able to provide support to the team members as and when required.

Where to Start?

Once the team has been assembled you need to train the implementation team in lean manufacturing techniques. It would be useful to employ the services of a professional lean advocate, someone who has experienced the trials and tribulations of implementing lean for real, not a theoretician. I would suggest starting with something simple like 5S and 7 Wastes.

5S, 5C or CANDO as it is sometimes known is concerned with the creation of world class work place organisation. 5S is a lean tool that can be implemented very quickly; it is a company wide programme, forms the basis of visual management and involves very little expenditure.

Train the lean implementation team in 5S. Select an area where 5S can be introduced as a pilot project. Choose your pilot area carefully, make sure it has a manager or supervisor who is enthusiastic, open to new ideas and willing to take a leading part in the introduction. Remember your pilot project can not be allowed to fail. It is vitally important you get some quick easy 'wins' so identify some 5S projects which can be accomplished fairly quickly which make a visual impact. Set bite sized objectives for the area which can be achieved in less than one month this first month is a critical stage because it will set the tone for the rest of the lean implementation.

Your charismatic, results driven Lean implementation project leader should come into his/her own during this period. Initially there will be some scepticism and negativity from some members of the team. This is only natural and is to be expected because you are implementing what can be quite radical change. Your project leader will need to be confidante, communicator and arbitrator during this period. In my experience the best way to get the 'buy in' of these guys is to involve them in small bite sized projects where success is almost assured and changes can be noticed almost instantly. This forms the basis of Kaizen or continuous improvement, where permanent change is effected through small incremental improvements rather than any one major step change.

Once the pilot project has been running successfully for a period, say 3 months, roll the 5S programme out to the other company areas. Choose the areas where the implementation team comes from. By doing this we get a 'ripple' effect throughout the business analogous to throwing a stone into a stream. You should now on your way to 5S success.

The result of this approach should be that that you have created the conditions for a successful lean implementation, helped your staff get used to the idea of change whilst making some striking improvements along the way.

In summary, an example of a lean implementation programme would be:-

• Senior Management to agree and communicate their lean vision
• Management brainstorm to identify project leader and set objectives
• Communicate plan and vision to the workforce
• Ask for volunteers to form the Lean Implementation team (3-5 works best, all from different departments)
• Appoint members of the Lean Manufacturing Implementation Team
• Train the Implementation Team in the the various lean tools - make a point of trying to visit other non competing businesses which have implemented lean
• Select a Pilot Project ? I suggest you start with 5S
• Run the pilot for 2-3 months - learn from your mistakes
• Roll out pilot to other factory areas
• Evaluate results, encourage feedback
• Once you are satisfied that you have a habitual programme consider introducing the next lean tool. Select the one which will give you the biggest return for your business. Follow the same roll out plan again i.e. select a pilot. The next project might be the introduction of Kanban or the introduction of Cellular Manufacturing or the adoption of improvement tools such as SMED or TPM.

  Whatever you decide, remember, make sure your people are on board because you will get where you want to be a lot sooner with their support and co-operation.

  For further information contact www.aster-training.co.uk

  
  
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Lean Manufacturing: The Advantages of Adopting Lean Manufacturing Principles

Why? Lean manufacturing is known to be the processes, techniques, strategies and initiatives being implemented by companies around the world that aim to reduce unnecessary and unproductive tasks, activities and behaviors in the work environment.

Lean manufacturing not only reduces operational costs but also targets to boost, restore and significantly raise the competitiveness of a company.

There are several advantages of adopting lean manufacturing principles that you can look for if you are considering implementing lean manufacturing in your organization.

Reduction of Manufacturing Time: When the manufacturing lead time is significantly lowered, the operational costs incurred from the use of utilities and wages from laborers’ time will also be significantly reduced.

Consequently, lean manufacturing assists companies preserve, maintain and notably increase their earnings, broaden their margins and help them generate savings from lower costs.

Reduction of Space: One of the primary factors to keep of business in operation is working space. By adopting good lean manufacturing principles and techniques, it is estimated that the companies will reduce their physical floor space requirements by as much as 5% to 30%. Though the figure is small, significantly it will contribute to much more efficiency and savings of operation cost. That would be an advantage almost all businesses will surely look after.

Increase in Productivity: From study and research, generally companies implementing and adhering to lean manufacturing practices significantly boost their manufacturing productivity up to 125%.

The reason is lean manufacturing will target mostly on time and efforts of the business operation. Thus, elimination of wastes, practices, behaviors and unnecessary and disturbing objects in the work place will surely and practically help workers get on to their tasks with much smooth pacing and comfort.

You know how it is when workers work without any distractions and interruptions. Productivity is very much maximized. Thus, lean manufacturing becomes a necessity for companies to be able to achieve that goal.

Increase Profit: It follows that elimination and reduction of wastes will gradually and efficiently help boost and rise up earnings and profits in companies.

Thus, elimination of wastes and unproductive activities, objects, tasks and behaviors in the work place will surely help the company and its personnel focus on the requirements and demands of the customer. Nevertheless, lean manufacturing would be of great help to achieve a good customer or client relations.

Lean Structure of the organization: In business and industry, you should understand that elimination of surplus and unnecessary job positions and tasks in a company is a sure way to help in reducing labor costs and eventually lead to generate savings.

Customer Satisfaction: Finally, the primary advantage above all is that, when customer satisfaction is achieved, sales will surely rise. The best way to establish a good relationship with customers is to improve the products and services offered to them.

Lean manufacturing without a doubt brings that advantage of leanness upon organizations and companies practicing and adopting it. Lean manufacturing principles should really be implemented by companies. It is high time to reap its advantages.

Fakhrul Anuar is the webpublisher of Lean-Manufacturing.CosmoMatrix.com. For more information about the advantages of lean manufacturing , definition of lean manufacturing and what is lean manufacturing , please visit http://Lean-Manufacturing.CosmoMatrix.com
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Advantages of Lean Manufacturing

The idea of lean manufacturing is not new, but it has received a lot of attention in recent years. Basically, lean manufacturing seeks to look for waste and inefficiencies and eliminate them. Anything that does not add value, functionality, or quality that can be stripped out is removed from the production process. Continuous improvement by the shortest, fastest route possible is the ultimate goal.

If one company can provide a higher quality product for less cost than their competitor, they have a distinct advantage.

In the past, manufacturing companies basically produced their products to fill orders and everyone was left to do their own thing as long as products were made to the given specifications and deadlines were met. For lean manufacturing to work best, everyone in the supply chain needs to be more informed because the end result usually involves several manufacturers. If there is a communication breakdown, things will be less efficient.

If a process in the manufacturing is being unnecessarily duplicated in supply chain members, it can be eliminated if it does not contribute to the value, function, or quality. A smooth work flow is the only way to get the best results at the lowest cost. This is all the more reason for cooperation within a supply chain. Transportation, machine set-up, inventory, quality consistency and inspection, material handling, these all affect the work flow and are closely evaluated to achieve lean manufacturing.

Aside from cost savings, another benefit to lean manufacturing is that better use can often be made of smaller spaces. With solutions such as work cells, minimal movement of parts and assemblies creates better efficiency with less manufacturing space. Other befit include reduced defects, less handling, better on-time delivery, and less inventory or storage requirements.

Lean manufacturers can get higher quality products to market quicker, control their costs, reduce waste, partner with other supply chain members to achieve the most efficient work flow, and offer better value to the consumer while still making profit.

Steve Chittenden is the webmaster for H&L Advantage, a lean manufacturer of plastic products. Services include plastic injection molding, design, tooling, and product development. Please visit www.hladvantage.com for more information.

5s – Lean Manufacturing Foundation

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