What does lean manufacturing means? Ever thought about the new trend buzzing the manufacturing market.
Lean manufacturing, which is often known simply as "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Almost every big player in the manufacturing industry has heard about it and some have even implemented the basic lean foundation and principles for their particular units. Big manufacturing units are in various stages of implementing the Lean manufacturing principle. Some production houses have implemented it and are seeking the reasons for what went wrong with the implementation of the principle which resulted into the result which they were not seeking. And some are continuously developing their foundation before implementing it. Lean, as a concept or brand, has captured the imagination of many in different spheres of activity.
The key to success of the lean manufacturing is not an overnight miracle attained but is a step by step journey towards the success. There are no magic wands for the success of lean manufacturing which is sold on every corner of the market. If it was to be, then every firm owner would have been at the doorsteps of the success.
Lean manufacturing is a variation on the theme of efficiency based on optimizing flow, it is a present-day instance of the recurring theme in human history toward increasing efficiency, decreasing waste, and using empirical methods to decide what matters, rather than uncritically accepting pre-existing ideas. Lean begins from the top players of the firm. The role of the leaders within the organization is the fundamental element of sustaining the progress of lean thinking. They must posses the vision to understand the customer requirement and the profits for the company, and keeping them in view should look for the resources. If there is any mismatch in the demand and the resources then it would then result to the failure of the lean manufacturing.
Working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. Basically, lean is centered on creating more value with less work.
According to the business we have to decide on our requirements. A business with large no of employees involved in the firm means a large requirement and with less number of employees the requirements will be less.
To understand the lean manufacturing we have to get it right that it is a journey towards success. To lead towards the state of ‘LEAN’, a firm has to follow the set principles of lean manufacturing. If you are thinking for “Headcount reduction”, then you are picking up the wrong concept. Any decision regarding the “Headcount reduction” should be done prior to implementing the lean concept.
This concept intrudes everyone in the firm to remove all the waste in the system. While the elimination of waste may seem like a simple and clear subject it is noticeable that waste is often very conservatively identified. This then hugely reduces the potential of such an aim. The elimination of waste is the goal of Lean. The Lean manufacturing defined eight types of waste. Of them the three broad type of waste are as : muda, muri and mura. It should be noted that for many Lean implementations this list shrinks to the last waste type only with corresponding benefits decrease. Everyone in the firm should work out for the implementation of Lean system.
One piece flow is another system utilized in lean manufacturing. Therefore SMED (single minute exchange of die) systems must be employed to reduce changeover times.
Other lean concepts utilized in the journey include “pull systems”, “cellular manufacturing”, “kanban”, OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), TPM (total productive maintenance), error proofing, root cause elimination, and many others.
These systems require the employee’s effort to be successful for the success of lean manufacturing concept. And they should look towards the success of journey, without fear of loosing their respective job. Once employees feel they can trust management and the fear does not stand any more for any perspective, the lean journey towards success can begin. The journey begins with training and it never stops.
Lean manufacture is not a concept which can be implemented by few individuals of the firm but it is a collective implementation of every worker from the firm who is involved directly or indirectly towards the progress.
Owners of the firms or the management are always taken as “cost cutters” by the employees, so it should be cleared to the employees that how in the long run the cost is expected to come down. Lean is about more than just cutting costs in the factory. A clear vision of the status of the firm should be explained to every employee and what decision is taken by them and how it would help them to achieve the goal of success and what it means for the business. Decreasing the cost would help the firm to sell more products which means a good business for the firm. Existing jobs are saved in the process and could also lead to increase hiring.
No comments:
Post a Comment