Lean management

Experience shows that adopting the principles of lean manufacturing from assembly industries can be a powerful operational improvement lever. Lean management, first introduced by Toyota, appeals because it holds out a promise no other approach can make not only does it cut costs and improve quality, but it also stabilizes operations and matches supply with demand. A companywide lean transformation program structured around the improvement of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) may unearth a hidden capacity that is equivalent to adding another plant to the manufacturing network. Lean, however, should not only be applied in production, but across the entire value chain. 

Optimization in Manufacturing Systems, Fundamen-tais. Fig. 1 Lean management principles (According to Womack and Jones 2003)... 

Basic Principles and Corresponding Concepts of Lean Management... 

Realization of a Production Flow Once value and value stream are analyzed, the next fundamental step of Lean Management is the realization of a continuous, smoothed production flow. The whole production process shall focus on the identified value stream. The intention is a harmonized production flow with minimal batch sizes (targeting a one piece flow) as a basis for a flexible, order-related manufacturing process. 

Speaking abstractly, this fifth principle gives the basic principles of Lean Management a circle structure, which means that there will always be potential waste that may be identified and eliminated by the cycling use of the presented Lean-Management principles. Moreover, several Kaizen fundamentals have been specified to identify potential improvements, such as 3 Mu Muda, concretion of seven kinds of waste Muri, overwork of employees or machines respectively and Mura, unevenness considering production processes. Moreover, 5 5 is an approach to improve workplaces continuously in five steps. Finally, Poka-yoke is a systematic detection and prevention of mistakes. 

I was back in the same plant for a half-day lean workshop presented by their senior lean manager. As part of the event, a plant tour was conducted. 

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