Lean Production

Introduction to Lean Production

• Lean production is a management approach that focuses on reducing waste within a production process without compromising productivity and quality.
• It originated in Japan and is common in the automotive industry, particularly with the Toyota Production System.
• The core principle of lean production is to maximise customer value while minimising waste, resulting in providing the best quality product with the lowest cost and shortest lead time.

Key Concepts of Lean Production

• Value: In lean production, value is defined from the customer’s perspective. Products should meet customer needs and expectation at a specific price and at a specific time.
• Waste: Lean production aims to eliminate seven types of wastes (muda): over-production, waiting, transport, over-processing, inventory, movement, and defects.
• Flow: Lean production focuses on the smooth flow of materials and information through the value chain, without interruptions or delays.
• Pull: Lean production systems react to customer demand (pull) rather than pushing goods through production based on forecasts.
• Perfection: Pursuit of perfection through continuous improvement is a key cornerstone of lean production. Incremental changes can lead to significant improvements over time.

Lean Production Techniques

• Just-In-Time (JIT): This technique is used to reduce waste from inventory. It involves ordering and receiving raw materials and components ‘just in time’ for use in manufacturing, consequently reducing storage costs.
• Kaizen: A Japanese term meaning ‘continuous improvement’. Involves everyone in an organisation identifying areas of improvement and implementing small, often daily tweaks to processes or systems.
• Cell production: Cell production reorganises production workers into multi-skilled teams or ‘cells’, each responsible for a particular product or part of the production process. This improves workflow and communication.
• Kanban: A scheduling system that tells a producer what to produce, when to produce it, and how much to produce. It minimises inventory and highlights inefficiencies in a production system.

Benefits and Limitations of Lean Production

• Benefits include cost savings from reduced waste, improved quality and efficiency, increased flexibility and responsiveness to customer demand, and employee involvement in improvement initiatives.
• Limitations may include the need for a special culture that embraces continuous improvement, risks associated with low inventory levels (such as production halt if supplies are delayed), dependence on reliable suppliers, and potential initial resistance to changes in working practices.