Home Management What Is Lean Manufacturing? – ProjectManager

Management

What Is Lean Manufacturing? – ProjectManager

August 8, 2023

Lean manufacturing addresses one of many worst issues that may occur to any enterprise: waste. To not take full benefit of your entire sources is to lose efficiencies and, in so doing, stunt manufacturing and fail to supply worth to your prospects.

The manufacturing trade is, in fact, rife with waste. Whether it’s idle staff, inefficient manufacturing traces or unused supplies that can not be recycled or repurposed, the outcomes are the identical: a drag on productiveness. This insistence on eliminating waste and enhancing the manufacturing course of to maximise the worth provided to prospects is the place the thought of the lean manufacturing system developed.

What Is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is a manufacturing system that focuses on decreasing waste, creating buyer worth and searching for steady course of enchancment. This is achieved by making use of lean ideas, methods and instruments to get rid of waste from a producing cycle. The lean manufacturing course of was first applied within the Toyota manufacturing system (TPS) which revolutionized the corporate’s manufacturing course of after which expanded all around the world.

Modernizing your challenge administration instruments can assist your group improve productiveness and scale back waste. ProjectManager, a web-based challenge administration software program, has every thing it’s worthwhile to streamline your processes and enhance manufacturing high quality. Build schedules with Gantt charts, execute duties with job lists, monitor progress on dashboards and report on every thing with constructed-in reporting options. Get began without cost at the moment.

ProjectManager allows you to handle your manufacturing initiatives with precision. Learn extra

Lean Manufacturing Principles

Here are the 5 lean administration ideas which might be utilized to optimize lean manufacturing methods:

Identify and Create Customer Value

One of the principle ideas of the lean manufacturing methodology is to create buyer worth by way of the environment friendly manufacturing of services. Therefore, step one within the lean manufacturing course of is to determine what product options are necessary for patrons and which aren’t so you may give attention to what’s necessary. Once the client defines what’s worthwhile you may create a product that solely has what’s obligatory, and take away all of the pointless work and parts related to it.

Value Stream Mapping

The worth stream of a lean manufacturing system could be merely outlined because the set of actions or steps that add worth to prospects through the manufacturing course of from starting to finish. A price stream map permits managers to visualise every step within the manufacturing course of to determine waste and alternatives for enchancment to make the method extra environment friendly and higher serve prospects.

Create Flow

One of the targets of lean manufacturing is course of enchancment. A producing course of could be improved by diagnosing wastes or inefficiencies equivalent to a poorly deliberate manufacturing facility structure. By fixing purposeful boundaries equivalent to these you may enhance the circulation of the worth stream.

Pull System

The pull system consists in beginning new work solely when there’s buyer demand for it. This eliminates pointless steps within the manufacturing course of equivalent to transporting supplies, overproducing merchandise and storing extra stock, that are thought-about waste. This is what helps simply-in-time manufacturing.

Continuous Improvement or Kaizen

Kaizen could be translated to steady enchancment. It’s a enterprise apply that consists in making small, incremental adjustments over time to a course of. In lean manufacturing, kaizen permits companies to completely determine issues and develop options to maximise buyer worth and get rid of waste.

It is thru these ideas that the lean manufacturing system helps companies enhance their manufacturing course of by eliminating waste. It simplifies operational construction to grasp, carry out and handle the work atmosphere. To do all this on the identical time, Toyota applies a mentoring methodology known as Senpai and Kohai, which interprets to senior and junior. This fosters lean pondering all through an organizational construction from the bottom up.

Related: 10 Free Manufacturing Templates for Excel

Types of Waste within the Lean Manufacturing Process

Waste will not be a easy idea in lean administration. If approached merely, then the discount goes to be restricted. In order for lean challenge administration to be simplest, all sorts of waste should be recognized and eradicated. We’ll go over eight sorts of waste in lean administration.

First, let’s take a look at the seven lean manufacturing waste sorts developed by Taiichi Ohno, chief engineer at Toyota, for the Toyota manufacturing system (TPS).

Unnecessary transportation: Unnecessary transportation of staff, instruments, supplies or gear is a waste that should be eradicated by optimizing manufacturing unit layouts.
Excess stock: Having extra stock can result in a number of issues like not figuring out faulty merchandise in time or elevated lead time within the manufacturing course of, amongst others.
Unnecessary movement of individuals, gear or equipment: This waste is eradicated by making use of scientific administration methods to optimize the movement that folks, gear or equipment do through the manufacturing course of.
Waiting (Idle Workers or Idle Equipment): This waste sort happens when staff can’t work as a result of they’re ready on supplies or gear, or within the reverse case, there could be idle gear ready on upkeep.
Overproduction: Overproduction results in extra stock and different points within the manufacturing course of. That’s why lean manufacturing implements the simply-in-time manufacturing technique which consists in solely producing what’s demanded by prospects.
Over-processing: This waste consists in including parts or options to a product that aren’t required by the client, which makes them pointless.
Defects: Having faulty merchandise it’s a waste that should be lowered as a lot as potential. They can have an effect on buyer satisfaction and improve prices.

In addition to those waste sorts, lean manufacturing consultants have proposed an eighth waste sort known as “unused talent or ingenuity”, which happens when staff’ opinions should not taken into consideration when figuring out waste sorts and enhancing manufacturing processes. Their suggestions is necessary as a result of they get to expertise points day by day and their ideas could be very useful within the worth stream mapping course of.

To simplify issues and make it simpler to grasp in your crew members, these waste sorts could be grouped into 3 broader classes.

Mura: Unevenness, or waste on account of fluctuations in demand. This can come from buyer requests, however it can be on account of a company including new companies and thus extra work.

Muri: Overburden, or waste on account of attempting to do an excessive amount of without delay. This has to do with useful resource allocation. When too few folks attempt to do an excessive amount of work, they usually waste time switching from one job to a different.

Muda: Non-value-including work, or course of waste. This waste comes as a byproduct of one thing else. Think about three issues: worth, work that provides rapid worth for a buyer; obligatory waste, which is supporting actions that add worth; and pointless waste, actions that don’t add worth. Therefore, lean maximizes worth, minimizes obligatory waste and removes pointless waste altogether.

Lean Manufacturing Tools & Techniques

To apply lean ideas to get rid of waste out of your manufacturing course of, you’ll want to make use of a set of lean manufacturing instruments and methods. Some of these lean administration instruments embrace:

Kanban Boards

Kanban is a challenge administration technique that’s used to visualise workflows. Kanban is useful for lean manufacturing as a result of kanban boards permit managers to assign duties to their groups and monitor their progress which helps stop having idle staff and prioritize the work that creates probably the most worth for patrons.

Gemba

In lean manufacturing, {the japanese} time period Gemba refers back to the act of strolling down the manufacturing line to higher determine waste versus having managers theorize about these items from a convention room.

Andon

Andon is an alert system that’s applied in manufacturing amenities to permit machine operators to alert everybody within the plant that there’s a problem with manufacturing that must be resolved equivalent to materials scarcity, equipment malfunction or a top quality subject.

Poka-Yoke

Poka-Yoke means error-proofing in japanese. In lean manufacturing, poka-yoke consists in utilizing a tool or mechanism that helps keep away from human errors within the manufacturing cycle. For instance, some button-activated machines require the operator to show a key earlier than they press the button to show them on. This could be thought-about a poka-yoke mechanism as a result of it helps operators keep away from the error of turning the machine on unknowingly.

Hoshin Kanri

Hoshin Kanri is a high-down strategic planning strategy that begins when executives outline long run targets for a company, which is then adopted by a strategy of speaking this to all of the layers of the corporate, so that every one staff are conscious of the goals that should be achieved and the way their efforts help the bigger targets of the corporate.

Total Productive Maintenance

Total productive upkeep is an strategy that consists in coaching all operators in a producing facility to have the ability to diagnose when their equipment wants upkeep to assist stop breakdowns and malfunctions. This permits lean manufacturing organizations to maintain their gear working effectively and keep away from waste.

5S

The 5 “S” is a office group technique that’s named after 5 japanese phrases and their respective english translation: Sort (Seiri), Set in Order (Seiton), Shine (Seiso), Standardize (Seiketsu), and Sustain (Shitsuke). The purpose of this technique is to ensure the manufacturing office is uncluttered and clear which helps get rid of waste and hold staff secure and productive.

5 Whys

This approach consists in asking “why?” repeatedly to seek out the basis explanation for an issue. It helps lean manufacturing leaders to seek out the reason for an issue by brainstorming with their groups to then develop potential options to it.

SMED

The single minute trade of die (SMED) is a technique that’s utilized in lean manufacturing to restrict manufacturing gear changeover time to lower than 10 minutes, by doing as many changeover steps as potential whereas the gear is working, versus halting manufacturing to carry out changeover procedures.

How to Implement a Lean Manufacturing System

Now that we’ve reviewed the ideas, wastes, instruments and methods of lean manufacturing, let’s undergo a few of the steps you may take with the intention to apply this technique.

Map the worth stream: As said above, the principle step when implementing a lean manufacturing system is to grasp what the worth stream of a producing course of appears like.
Establish a pull system: When transitioning to lean manufacturing, you need to cease producing merchandise if that manufacturing will not be immediately tied to buyer demand. This eliminates overproduction and extra stock waste.
Identify waste in your manufacturing facility: Walk down your manufacturing facility to determine pointless transportation of supplies, folks, gear and equipment. Then, rearrange your manufacturing structure primarily based in your findings.
Apply the 5S: Now it’s time to determine procedures to maintain the manufacturing facility clear and arranged.
Implement Andon and Poka-Yoke mechanisms: Make certain your manufacturing facility has mechanisms to assist operators alert their supervisors when a problem happens and likewise set up gadgets to assist them keep away from errors and spot high quality points. These two actions will assist you scale back faulty merchandise.
Provide complete productive upkeep coaching: Train your staff to concentrate on indicators that equipment may want upkeep to forestall breakdown and idle time.

Lean Manufacturing Benefits

Reducing or eliminating waste is important to lean challenge administration, however the advantages of lean manufacturing could be totally different relying on who’s requested. Some say it’s growing firm revenue whereas others preserve its enhancements are solely to create buyer worth and improve buyer satisfaction. Some widespread targets observe.

Improve Quality: To keep aggressive, firms can’t be complacent however should meet prospects’ altering needs and desires. Therefore, processes should be designed to satisfy their expectations and necessities. Adopting complete high quality administration could make high quality enchancment a precedence.
Inventory Management: Thanks to the simply-in-time manufacturing technique, lean manufacturing reduces extra stock, which reduces prices and prevents manufacturing points.
Process Improvement: Lean manufacturing methods are at all times being improved, due to the “continuous improvement” lean precept. Value stream mapping it’s important for this.
Eliminate Waste: Waste is unhealthy for prices, deadlines and sources. It takes with out including any worth to a services or products. By eliminating waste, a lean manufacturing system can produce higher merchandise, at decrease prices.
Reduce Time: Time is cash, because the adage goes, and losing time is subsequently losing cash. This is very true for the manufacturing trade. Reducing the time it takes to start out and end a challenge goes to create worth by including efficiencies. Learn and apply a while administration methods.
Reduce Total Costs: Money is saved when an organization will not be losing time, supplies and personnel on pointless actions. Overproduction additionally provides to storage and warehousing prices. Understanding the triple constraint is step one to understanding value administration.

Lean Manufacturing vs. Six Sigma

While each strategies are used to enhance manufacturing processes, the principle distinction between lean manufacturing and 6 sigma is that lean manufacturing focuses on figuring out and eliminating waste, whereas six sigma focuses on high quality assurance and management.

Lean Manufacturing vs. Just-In-Time Manufacturing

While each strategies are very related as they search to enhance the effectivity of producing processes, the principle distinction between them is that lean manufacturing is buyer-centered because it seeks to take away waste to maximise buyer worth, whereas the scope of simply-in-time manufacturing is narrower, because it focuses on optimizing stock administration, decrease prices, and maximizing manufacturing profitability.

How ProjectManager Helps With Lean Manufacturing

Using challenge administration software program with options that help in that ambition, equivalent to ProjectManager, is the proper method to pursue lean manufacturing. You can do that by visualizing the workflow to keep away from bottlenecks and provides groups solely the work they’ve the capability and sources to finish.

This is the place our kanban challenge view is available in. The board-and-card system presents transparency into the totally different phases of manufacturing. Cards, which characterize duties, could be moved all through the board to convey progress, giving groups a fast take a look at probably the most urgent duties.

Product backlogs could be managed on this vogue, and the manufacturing circulation is managed for larger productiveness.

Easily Measure and Report Your Progress

To enhance processes, one other elementary for lean, you want information. How are your processes doing? Are they assembly your deliberate expectations? To measure this, use our actual-time dashboard that robotically displays six key challenge metrics and shows them in colourful, intuitive graphs. See at a look the way you’re performing in actual time—and with single click on reporting, share key information factors to maintain the crew knowledgeable.