Question

What is Lean manufacturing concept?

Briefly explain its philosophy or principles substantiate your answe with relevant examples. What are the characteristics that Lean are trying to achieve?

Answer 1

Lean Manufacturing is essentially the concept of eliminating waste in the manufacturing process.

It is philosophy and set of practices originally developed at Toyota that seeks to eliminate waste; also known as lean manufacturing or just lean.

The objective is to create value for the end customer by eliminating waste and reducing costs. With a lean process set in place, production can be driven by customer demand. A company can produce what their customer wants with shorter lead times. Lean organizations are able to produce twice as much product with twice the quality, at half the cost, half the labor and space, and with a fraction of the normal work-in-process inventory. The goal of lean manufacturing is about operating the most efficient and effective organization possible, with the least cost and zero waste, while still meeting customer demand

. According to Womack and Jones, there are five key lean principles: value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection.

1. Value is always defined by the customer’s needs for a specific product. For example, what is the timeline for manufacturing and delivery? What is the price point? What are other important requirements or expectations that must be met? This information is vital for defining value

2. Value stream. Once the value (end goal) has been determined, the next step is mapping the “value stream,” or all the steps and processes involved in taking a specific product from raw materials and delivering the final product to the customer.

3. Flow. After the waste has been removed from the value stream, the next step is to be sure the remaining steps flow smoothly with no interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks.

4. Pull. With improved flow, time to market (or time to customer) can be dramatically improved. This makes it much easier to deliver products as needed, as in “just in time” manufacturing or delivery.

5. Perfection. Accomplishing Steps 1-4 is a great start, but the fifth step is perhaps the most important: making lean thinking and process improvement part of your corporate culture.

the characteristics that Lean are trying to achieve are;

1. Giving vision, focus & direction to the organisation

2. Active coach & problem solver

3. Good relationship building skills

4. Strive for development & improvement.