Lean Manufacturing

The ultimate aim of Lean Manufacturing is to completely eliminate waste from the manufacturing process. In a Lean Enterprise, the aim of eliminating waste is extended through all the firms that are involved in the supply of a product to a customer. It is often argued that eliminating this waste is the greatest potential source of improvement in corporate performance and customer service.

 

What is meant by Waste?

According to 'Lean manufacturing' there are seven forms of waste and these are:-

 

  • Overproduction - Producing too much, too soon resulting in poor flow of information or goods and excess inventory.
  • Defects - Frequent errors in paperwork, product quality problems or poor delivery performance.
  • Inappropriate Processing - Using the wrong set of tools, procedures or systems often when a simpler approach may be more effective.
  • Waiting - Long periods of inactivity for people, information or goods resulting in poor flow and long lead times.
  • Unnecessary Inventory - Excessive storage and delay of information or products, resulting in excessive cost and poor customer service.
  • Excessive Transportation - Excessive movement of people, information or goods resulting in wasted time, efforts, damage, deterioration and cost.
  • Unnecessary Motion - Poor workplace organisation, resulting in poor ergonomics e.g. excessive bending or stretching and frequent lost items.

 

A value chain is often used to help identify waste

A value chain requires us to recognise that only a small fraction of the total time and effort in any organisation actually adds value for the end customer. A value chain map is a visual tool to help define Value for a specific product or service from the end customer’s perspective. By building a Value Chain Map, all the non-value activities - or waste - can be targeted for removal step by step.

 

 

Lean Services from Production Modelling:

 

Planning & Scheduling

Using the Orchestrate planning and scheduling software, Production Modelling can help you explore how different planning and scheduling techniques could impact upon the performance of your business. Lean techniques such as Heijunka or level scheduling can often be used to drive down inventory and Orchestrate will help you to implement these techniques taking account of the practicalities of implementation.

 

Value Chain Mapping & Simulation

Production Modelling can help create a value chain map for your organisation. This will be used as a visual tool to enable managers in the organisation to pinpoint activities that are not directly adding value to the customer. Production Modelling are unique in that they can also simulate the flows around the value chain. The simulation produces a quantitative analysis of the value chain and can be used to compare the “Future” chain against the current situation. The simulation will also help identify bottlenecks in the value chain in order that we can pinpoint areas for improvement.

 

Kanban design

As you introduce visual controls such as Kanban systems into the organisation, it is important to understand how they will impact upon the other areas of the organisation. A good kanban design can often save money, whereas a poor design can lead to shortages or excessive inventory. By simulating the kanban design before it is implemented, you reduce the risk and ensure you get it right first time.

 

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