Lean Manufacturing is an approach to manufacturing that seeks to improve product quality and productivity, reduce cost and eliminate waste. Of all of these objectives, eliminating waste is probably the hallmark of lean manufacturing. “Waste” is any step or component of a process that does not add value to the end product. The most obvious and visible form of waste is scrap. However, waste can also involve excess or unnecessary equipment, inventory, space, or time.
Manufacturing facilities that have not implemented any lean manufacturing disciplines typically carry various costly forms of waste without recognizing it as such. For example, the facility only routinely produce both scrap and excess inventory without analyzing the lost value of either of these expenditures, and without questioning whether the process really has to work this way. Lean manufacturing recognizes not only that scrap (obviously) is waste, but also that overproduction is just as inefficient as underproduction. The goal of any lean system is to produce just the right number of products to meet customer demand.
Setup time reduction is one aspect of lean manufacturing. In a typical non-lean process, setup is a time-consuming effort, with operators stopping the machines, gathering new tools and components, retrieving raw material, and so on. None of these activities add value to the product for the customer. Lean processes incorporate strategies for more rapidly transitioning from one part number to another.
Lean processes also tend to produce a steady flow of output in smaller batch sizes, allowing for the adoption of pull systems. A pull system regulates the number of products manufactured according to customer demand. Each department or organization in the process chain signals to the previous department or organization when more parts are required, perhaps using simple visual cards. Another key component of lean is the 5S approach to day-to-day shop organization and procedures, and approach that focuses on attention to detail, safety, order and cleanliness—all to promote a more efficient work environment.
Contributed by ToolingU. Learn more about the impact of lean through Tooling U’s online curriculum.