Today’s competitive global market demands quality and efficiency. By empowering team members and focusing on high-quality principles of production, lean manufacturing opens up a new world of possibilities for industrial operations of all sizes.
Let’s Talk Lean
Lean manufacturing aims towards producing to the demand of the customer. It encompasses the principle of “work smarter, not harder.” It’s a logical collection of practices, methodologies and tools which leads companies to greater cost reductions and efficiency improvements.
“Stripped to its roots, lean focuses on decreasing waste, increasing value to the customer and a process of continuous improvement,” says Jeff Dalto, senior customer service specialist at Convergence Training.
“You can date its origins back to Deming, Ford or — most commonly — the Toyota Production System (TPS) developed in the late 1940s. Manufacturers and other companies throughout the world have had time to study and implement the lessons of TPS since then, and there are many success stories as a result.”
Lean manufacturing takes years of hard work, preparation, and support from upper management — and takes its name because it utilizes certain resources (space, inventory, workers, etc.) in much smaller numbers than what’s used by normal mass-production systems to produce comparable output.
7 Benefits of Lean Manufacturing
1. Safer work environments. With lean manufacturing, visual management helps identify where things are out of place. When unnecessary elements are removed from the operation, the workplace becomes much more organized — ensuring a safer environment for all.
2. Minimized equipment down time. Whether it’s due to operator error, programming error, inadequate maintenance or environmental causes, unscheduled down time poses serious problems for manufacturing facilities. Necessary repairs interrupt workflow, affect delivery time and raise costs. Lean maintenance, however, supports an approach that prevents unscheduled downtime by eliminating the factors that cause machine breakdowns.
3. Reduced cycle times. Factories that have implemented lean manufacturing principles have managed to reduce cycle times by 80-90 percent, according to Boeing. But how?
Lean procedures call for finished products to be inspected a few hours after a product is launched. If issues exist,the root cause of the defect becomes much easier to identify, eliminate and then resume production in an efficient manner. This is achieved by:
- Transporting all the necessary tools and parts to the machine while it is still running the previous job.
- Preparing operating conditions in advance.
- Standardizing functions to eliminate the need for adjustments.
- Using devices that automatically position parts without measurement.
- Using parallel operations with a few people working simultaneously.
4. Higher quality. Whereas mass manufacturing is based off of forecasts and sales, lean manufacturing works off of specific customer orders. By eliminating extra waste, manufacturers can produce higher quality products in a shorter period of time.
5. Better information flow. With lean manufacturing comes 5S – a system to reduce waste and increase productivity by maintaining an orderly workplace. The term comes from five steps: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain.
5S allows better information flow, which makes it faster and easier to find the parts and tools required to perform a task. 5S also helps employees develop a clear understanding of how work will be performed.
6. Eliminated waste. Lean manufacturing looks to cut out three types of waste: processes that do not add value to the customer, variations in production speeds and inefficiencies in processes. In a lean manufacturing facility, workers can count on the following:
- Production scheduled as it is ordered, not to build inventory
- Small batch sizes
- Processes move smoothly from one operation to the next, not as intermediate inventory
By eliminating waste, a company has the opportunity to abolish time spent on unnecessary tasks — and completely dismiss waiting periods, overproduction and fixing defects.
7. Increased company involvement. In order to build an entirely lean operation, a company must recognize the need for change. Lean practices involve the whole company, not just one area. The management philosophy is meant to include every part of the organization, which promotes the concept that everyone is a part of the team.
Case study: Stanford Hospital & Clinics
Although it’s predominantly found in manufacturing, the lean concept can benefit any industry.
“Lean isn’t about manufacturing. It is about standardizing work processes to make problems visible and developing your team members’ critical thinking ability so that they can solve those problems and improve work processes,” says Karyn Ross, experienced lean practitioner and Industry Week contributor.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics in California serve as prime examples of lean success stories. Thanks to lean manufacturing, the clinics could treat more emergency patients with shorter waiting times.
The hospital formed a multidisciplinary team led by nurse leaders and physicians to meet increased demand and improve patient experience. They applied lean principles, engaging frontline staff and empowering them to handle issues and problems as they came up. Staff then worked with other departments to isolate and resolve inefficiencies.
Within a year, wait times dropped by 17 percent, in spite of the fact that the department treated more patients than the year before.
“Imagine what would be possible if an entire healthcare institution has the ability to effectively respond to the challenges it faces; has its entire workforce actively engaged in solving problems, removing waste and eliminating defects; and is able to focus its energy on maximizing the caring, healing interactions our patients crave,” says Paul DeChant, M.D. and Hospitals and Health Networks contributor. “Change of this scope is possible only with strong, committed leadership.”
Thinking about going lean?
Lean manufacturing principles act as enablers to better produce to the demand of the customer — however, a key element of lean is continuous improvement. How has your company made strides toward a lean, improved organization? We’d love to hear your thoughts on Twitter @AppleRubber.