Lean
Thinking
Fundamental to the concept of leanness is the need
to eliminate unnecessary duplication and waste.
The Toyota Production System is indeed the best illustration of lean manufacturing.
The main ideology behind this mode of production is that there should be a continuousimprovement,
in the process of identifying and elimination of waste (mendes, 2011, p.76) In
this case, wastes refers to the processes that do not add value but instead,
account for an increase in the costs. Storage and warehousing design are to be
structured in order to reduce wastes associated with excess inventory. Mendes (2011,
p.77) puts across several means through which such wastes could be reduced. He
emphasizes on the use of the pull system instead of the push system,whereby,
manufacturers produce only what is needed by the customer, inparts. Thisway,
there would be no need for production to stock. He also emphasizes the
implementation of batch size reduction. In this case, continuous improvement is
facilitated in order to reduce the amount of work in progress which in turn
helps to reduce the associated inventory plus costs. Thisway, the overall
production cycle is reduced thus leading to quicker delivery and sooner
invoicing.
In
relation to the production facility layout, lean system advocates that the progressive
production lines be established. Thisway, standard tasks can be accomplished insequential
manner as well as in a progressive channel. (Hobbs,2004, p.109)In regards to this,
Hobbs(2004, p.109) strongly emphasizes that all the necessary processes in the
production of a product should be physically linked together in order to permit
the distribution, accumulation and balancing of tasks through out the
manufacturing cycle. Thisway, a systematic flow will be created therefore
enabling all the processes to ratchet downstream systematically.
In
order to meet the lean objectives of productivity, flexibility, speed of
turnaround, as well as best quality, it is very necessary to consider the
element of supplier interactions. (Stober&Hansmann, 2010, p.36).This way,
problems associated with late deliveries, defects in the raw materials and
supply of incorrect orders will be significantly reduced.Sabri &Shaikh (2009,
p.4), incurthat, these interactions help in the innovation and improvement in
the production processes since both parties tend to relate as one firm.
Additionally, cost reduction is achieved through improvement and transportation
by third party logistics can be better optimized through consolidation, routing
and mode selection.
In
order to increase an opportunity for greater efficiency in terms of problem
solving and delivery, team work is a very vital element. Unlike mass
production, team work is highly encouraged with the team members being viewed
as very important resources to the company in the attainment of company goals. Watson’s
study (as cited in Liker 1997, p.487) indicatesthat, in order for the staff to exhibit
proper team work on the shop floor, it has to be attributed to training and development.
However,the
desire to move away from batch and push production into a lean material flow is
what creates the need and an environment for teams. Suppliers and customers
alike are all part of a group in relation to the lean mode of production. Watson’s
study (as cited in Womack et al, 1990) concludes that the systematic flow of
materials in the lean industry is streamlined through team work. In this case therefore,
quality and productivity are continuously enhanced through the participation of
the team members, which involves the constant involvement of the employees. Not
only is this beneficial to the company in terms of cost reduction and quality
products, the company’s employees are thoroughly empowered in the decision
process and therefore, motivated to achieve better results in relation to performance.
In the same regardstherefore, due to the practice of participativemanagement,
better quality and suitable processes are enhanced.
Through
the involvement of workers in management decisions, top management is made
aware of small but significant problems that may arise in the working
environment. This in turn helps in the implementation of practical solutions
and as such, workers are attached and integrated to the company, thus boasting
their loyalty status. (Wincel, 2004, p.214)
In
the lean system of manufacturing, the “pay for” element is a successful tool to
improvement. However, there is limited knowledge in regards to the “know how”
aspects. This therefore implies that lean system is quite inadequate in
addressing a set of problems in relation to statistical control or measurement
systems. This is where the six sigma element comes into play. Despite the fact
that they take longer to learn, they are very vital in the solving the most
complicated problems. The six sigma element could therefore be integrated with
the lean manufacturing system in order to addresses whether or not the
measurement systems need adjustment and help to bring processes under control.
(Devane, 2004)
Dudbridge(2011)
classifies Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) as the most common measure of
measuring manufacturing performance. He emphasizes the need to measure the
O.E.E in order to know how much the machine or production line made. In
relation to lean system therefore, it is necessary to integrate the OEE tool
since it is an important measure of how effective the total productivity of a
company is. Hermant (2011, p.300).This way, the actual improvements in relation
to the 5-s in lean manufacturing can be appropriately measured in regards to
the manufacturing processes of availability, performance and quality.
Hansen
&Mowen(2011,p.751 )describe the dock to dock principle as the time to
produce a unit of output, in relation to the time period covered between
receiving of the raw materials to the delivery of the finished goods. However,
in the lean mode of production, there is no finished goods inventory as goods
are delivered to the customers once their production is complete. In regards to
the lean principle of manufacturing, the principle could therefore be equated
to mean the time required in order to produce a product or an out put. In
application mode therefore, management could use the dock to dock time to investigate
the cycle time in production in relation to the company’s processes. This way,
excess time can be reduced in order to increase velocity so as to improve
delivery performance.
Bibliography
Devane, T. 2004.Integrating
lean six stigma and high performance organizations[w1] . New York: Routlegde
Hansen, DR, and Mowen,
MM.2006.Managerial accounting.
Hemant,
U.2011.Six stigma for business excellence:
Approach, Tools and Applications.
Hobbs, DP. 2004. Lean manufacturing Implementation guide.
Liker, JK. 1997. Becoming
lean: Inside stories of U.S manufacturers.
Mendes P. 2011.Demand driven supply chain.
Sabri, E H and Shaikh, S N.2009.Lean
and agile value management
Stober, T and Hansmann, U.2010.Agile software development. Best practices for large software
development companies.
Wincel, JP.2004. Lean supply Chain management: A handbook
for strategic procurement
Womack, James P, Daniel TJ, and Daniel R 1990.Lean
thinking.
[w1]City of publisher ND PUBLISHER
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