LEAN MANUFACTURING

Introduction

• Modern business model impact on business

• Business growth – New technologies

- Cross border markets

• Increasing business cost – Lean manufacturing

Definition

• No conclusive definition

• Principles

a. Efficiency – Increased value of organization

b. Identify and eliminate wasteful processes

c. Increased innovation and development

Research objectives and Approach

• Objective – Examine and explore how lean manufacturing instruments can be tailored from discreet to continuous manufacturing setting and assess their impact on business interest

• Hypothesis – There are immense prospects and opportunities for greater efficiency, improvement, and performance of manufacturing company’s production process in lean manufacturing instruments are used

• Approach – Methodically establish importance of lean manufacturing tool in production

Background and scope

• Originated from Japan – Scarcity of raw materials and human labor

• Taiichi Ohno & Eiji Toyoda – Toyota Motor Group Executives

• Toyota Production System - LM

• Principle – Reduce waster, produce what customer wants at right time and quantity

Mass Production to Lean Production

• Mass production – utilize economies of scale• Lean Production – Functional efficiency and

effectiveness of production system• Areas of enquiry:

a. Staff skills

b. Company resources

c. Company system and procedures

d. Audit role, relationships and responsibilities

Value Chain Analysis

• Closely linked to value chain analysis (VCA)• VCA as a Prerequisite for LM – identify functions

not structures of a company• Identify processes that add value to customers. • VCA – enable manager to identify:• Activities close to organizational objectives• Cost-intensive activities• Activities that create value to customers

Lean Tools and Techniques

• Main instruments include:

a. Continuous improvement

b. Cellular manufacturing

c. Waste recognition and elimination

d. Production smoothing

e. Standardization

f. Just-In-Time (JIT) production

Continuous improvement

• In Japan – Kaizen or quest for perfection and excellence

• 5Ssa. Sort b. Straightenc. Sweep & Cleand. Systemizee. Standardize

Cellular manufacturing

• The greatest foundation of LM• Cell – production tools and stations• Enable one-piece flow model• Product mix extension• Space utilization• Reduce transport and communication• Teamwork and communication• Visibility and flexibility• Improved productivity• Lead time reduction

Waste recognition and elimination

• Key – identifying customer preferences• Seven subheadings:• Excess production• Producing faulty or substandard merchandise• Idle inventories• Transportation• Invisible processing• Waiting

Production Smoothing

• Derived from Japanese Heijunka - keeping levels of production consistent each day

• TPS – cost minimized by manufacturing parts that could be sold

• Production plan and timetable must be smooth

Standardization

• Work standardization – corollary of waste elimination

• Ensure each duty is performed

• Standardization – for a specific job, regardless of who is performing it, produce same results.

Just-In-Time Production

• Administrative concept – seeks to abolish wastes

• Rely on relationship between sales and purchasing department

• Three aspects

a. JIT production

b. JIT distribution

c. JIT purchasing• All elements integrated and synchronized

Opportunities for lean

• Not all LM instrument can be applied homogeneously

• LM is beneficial to manufacturing companies

• Flexibility – Indicates the LM tool to be employed

Conclusion

• Objective – elaborate the broad philosophy of lean manufacturing and its relevance to production process

• Discrete industries share common attributes facilitating implementation of LM tools

• Identification and elimination of wastes• Implementation of LM hampered by some

barriers• Confirmation of the hypothesis

Future direction

• Emerging trends in production – higher prospects of LM

• Conversion of production system to purely pull system

• Future design - assimilate push and pull system

Bibliography of authors

• Prof. Fawaz Abdullah

• Jeffery K. Liker and Thomas Lamb

• Prof. Lerman Crookes

• Cook Robert

END