10.2 Lean Production

Value added activities (VS maps)

Adding value to the product/service. Something the customer is willing to pay for, such as higher performance, more features, quicker or more responsive delivery.

Principles of lean production

Failure to apply these principles = failure or lack of commitment = inefficient process - Elimination of waste from various areas (JIT); and do it well from beginning - Minimizing inventory - Just in time production (build what, when, and in the quantity required) - Maximizing production flow and designing for rapid production changeover - Kaizan -> continuous improvemnent from everyone - Respect for workers or emporwering workers (humans are the most reliable and valuable resource) - Pulling production from customer demand or meeting customer requriements - Quality control is built into the manufacturing process - Creating reliable partnership with suppliers

Characteristics of lean production

Limited inventory Highly skilled workers Constant improvement in pursuit of perfection including no tolerance for defects, high levels of product diversity and customisation in an environment seeking cost reductions

Advantages of lean production

- Minimises waste (reduce costs) - Less impact on the environment - Quickly adaptable to market pushes - Little capital is tied up in raw material or unsold stock - Increased autonomy for workers - leading to higher morale

Disadvantages of lean production

- One problem in production stops the whole process - Manufacturers rely on suppliers, one mistake by them halts production - More suitable for large scale production - When a certain level of refinement is met, using lean methods to squeeze more economy from production can discourage workers, reversing positive motivation and undermining your leadership

The 7 wastes (TIMWOOD)

1. Overproduction: making it earlier or more than required 2. Waiting: delay between one process end and the next 3. Transporting: movement of work between areas or offices that does not add value to product 4. Over processing: adding more value to a service/product than customers want or will pay for 5. Inventory: more materials or information on hand than is currently required 6. Motion: needless movement of people (unnecessary/excess motion) 7. Defects: Any aspect that does not conform to customer needs

3 main roles of the workforce in lean production

1. Training - management implements an instruction program educting the workforce in the skills required to work together effectively. Workfore is educated in each other's roles and jobs so they gain a greater understanding of the whole process. 2. Devolution in power relating to process improvement - workers are encouraged to be part of the process and comment/suggest on how their role can be improved to increase productivity. Its not just the management dictating the process 3. Kaizen - Japanese for improvement or change for the best. Philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, etc.

The 5S's

A formal approach to cleaning and organizing the workplace involving 5 processes: 1. sorting: removing unnecessary items from the work area; attach removal tags to infrequently used items. 2. stabilizing/set in order: customize the work area to improve efficiency. Keep important materials nearby. Implement visual organization to streamline workflow and improve efficiency. 3. shining: clean the work area, equipment and tools. Find and eliminate sources of contamination. 4. standardizing: create a standardized and consistent 5S workflow. Assign tasks+create schedules so that everyone knows their responsibilities 5. sustaining the practice: ensure that 5S is a long-term, company-wide goal. Analyse results, hold team meetings and train workers on the important of 5S.

Product family

Group of products using similar processing methods. Advantageous to the manufacturer in that: - Less manufacturing processes - Les material suppliers needed - Less diverstiy of stock material - Waste from one product can be used to manufacture a different product - Easily adapt production to meet demand for a particular family member

The 7 wastes consequence

Manufacture a product that will never be sold: - raw materials used is wasted - energy of the manufacture is wasted - time and movement of workers is wasted - transportation of the raw material and the finish product is wasted

Processes in organisations

Manufacturing, purchasing, warehousing, handling orders. Involve moving and manipulation data and information. Involve various departments and specialists -> making decisions, filling out forms, filing and retrieving information. Processes can involve complex parallel and serial activities, interconnected and dependant on tasks being completed satisfactorily. To solve growth problems (e.g. maintaining the throughput), quick fix solutions may be used (e.g. increase labour resource rather than improving or overhauling the process)

Increasing labour resource

Not necessarily result in quicker throughput. Not only can processes be very complex but they can be very inefficient; responsibility, ownership can be unclear. Difficult to understand, control an damage all the tasks involved in a process from start to finish.

Value Stream Mapping

Provide visual representation of a procedure; identify significant savings (how the process is organised and performed). [Big picture] Identify opportunities for improvement in lead time, logistics, supply chain, service related industries, healthcare, software development and product development. Used to analyse the flow of material and information required to bring a product or service to a customer.

Workflow analysis

Review the process of the workflow e.g. the production line and finding areas for improvements. This promotes and contributes to an effective production line. Concerned with the details of the production line. Considers the sequence, tools and even worker movement to ensure the highest possible efficiency in the system.

Non-value adding activities (VS maps)

Something the customer is unwilling to pay for, such as business process with no competitive advantage, activities which result in mistakes, errors or nonconformance e.g. training.

Lead time

The average time it takes for one product unit to pass through the entire process, from start to finish, including any time waiting between sub processes. sum of all process times + sum ofa ll delay or queue times between processes. AIM TO REDUCE LEAD TIME IN LEAN MANUFACTURING.

Role of the workforce

The development of a highly skilled workforce can build deep understanding of how the production process works and allows workers at all levels to identify areas of the workflow to be improved. Need the best people to identify improvements and ensure that all members of the workforce are able to contribute to the design of the system. Able to streamline processes and reduce costs and also empowers the workforce and gives them a sense of ownership and loyalty to the company.