Lean Manufacturing

Introduction

The ideology adopted behind the concept of lean manufacturing is to maximize productivity as well as minimization of waste. The solidification of the concept of lean manufacturing was done by Benjamin Franklin’s work on waste reduction in the ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack’. The motive was to establish that waste reduction can play a larger role in making an optimum profit than just running behind increasing sales. Therefore, the lean manufacturing process involves a definite set of principles, practices, and tools for the manufacturing and development of products. Moreover, lean manufacturing is about more than just making profits out of waste reduction. It is about optimization of processes and boosting innovation so as to compete in the global marketplace that is ever-changing, fast-paced, and volatile. 

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing takes place by streamlining procedures and processes for the elimination of waste and thereby facilitating productivity maximization. In other words, it is a way of manufacturing more quantities with lesser input; input in terms of human effort, time, equipment and resources, space, and so on. This not only aims to optimize profitability but also to provide exactly what the customers want. 

Waste in any industry can be seen in the forms of poor processes, idle workers, unused materials, etc. which is ultimately a drain to productivity. Lean manufacturing aims to find a solution to these problems to meet the motives which may vary from providing customer benefits to increasing profits. Moreover, in the process of lean production, the benefit of improved quality of products is also achieved. 

Principles of Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing or production stands on the following core principles. 

These core principles are:-

• Value- Determination of value can only happen from a consumer’s perspective. It is more about how much the customer is really willing to pay for a certain product or service. The understanding of the value is crucial because the manufacturer has to eliminate the costs and waste from this value. This will help to fix the price the consumer is willing to pay while also increasing the profits. 
• Mapping the value stream- This involves identification, observation, and analysis of those resources and elements that go into manufacturing to understand waste generation. The aim to reduce waste and improve what goes into making the product is only possible through such identification, observation, and analysis. From the input stage involving raw materials to the stage of output like the product disposal, it is known as the lifecycle of the product being manufactured. Mapping the value stream is to look into this lifecycle and remove processes that generate waste. Examination of all the stages of the waste cycle needs to be done so as to remove anything that does not add value. To achieve this chain alignment is done. 
• Creation of flow- Removal of functional barriers for improving lead times is what creating flow essentially entails. In other words, it means that the processes in the production cycle can have that flow whereby tasks can be undertaken without any or with minimal delay. Therefore, it is about ensuring that the production flows in a constant stream without any disharmony, conflict, or interruption between the various processes. 
• Establishing a pull system- Pull systems recognize work in production as per the demand. Only when there is a demand, work take place accordingly. A pull system highly depends on efficient processes, communication, and flexibility that is to be successfully achieved to reap the benefits.
• Perfection- Continued process improvements drive towards perfection. This is termed as ‘Kaizen’. When it comes to lean production the pursuit of perfection is important as constant changes, developments, adaptations, and adjustments need to be made so as to make the value stream as perfect as possible. This means the removal of waste, unnecessary processes to a point where the procedures and processes are efficient and can establish themselves as a model of perfection. 

Lean Manufacturing Tools

For the implementation of a lean manufacturing system there are requirements of several tools like control charts that check the workflows, visualizing workflow is possible through Kanban boards, value stream mapping tools, multi-process handling, rank order clustering, total productive maintenance tools, Single-minute exchange of die (SMED) and so on. 

Conclusion

The topic of lean production has been covered in great detail. One has looked into what the meaning of lean production is. Also, the various core principles of lean manufacturing have been identified and elaborated on. Moreover, the various lean manufacturing tools that are required have been mentioned. The FAQs section attempts to address the most probable queries that might arise. This section provides additional information for a better understanding of the topic.