All About Lean Manufacturing
Lean Manufacturing
Lean manufacturing, or lean production, is a production method derived from Toyota’s 1930 operating model “The Toyota Way” (Toyota Production System, TPS). The term “Lean” was coined in 1988 by John Krafcik, and defined in 1996 by James Womack and Daniel Jones to consist of five key principles; ‘Precisely specify value by specific product, identify the value stream for each product, make value flow without interruptions, let customer pull value from the producer, and pursue perfection.’ (Womack and Jones 1996 p10)
Lean Manufacturing In The Pandemic Era
During the depths of the lockdown in April and May, lean manufacturing — especially just-in-time inventory management — got some bad press. Were supply chains too lean? Did manufacturers need to scrap JIT and start holding more inventory?
https://issuu.com/leanfactories/docs/lean_manufacturing_in_the_pandemic_era
Lean As A Habit
There’s a good bit of literature out there that reports on the high failure rates of large initiatives like a lean enterprise implementation. Do a websearch on “failure rate of lean implementation” and you’ll find articles that indicate between 50% and 95% of all lean initiatives fail. The latter percentage might be a bit high, but the question of why so many programs fail is prompted nonetheless. The answers to that question are legion, but I think the fact that lean methods and practices are too often seen as “events” rather than “habits” is a common cause of program failure.
https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/corporate-culture/article/21152019/lean-as-a-habit
The 5 Tools That Make Lean Manufacturing Thrive
For many small and medium-sized manufacturers today, Lean is an absolutely invaluable system that helps them maximise their potential whilst reducing their carbon footprint and overall spend. There are many tools in place to ensure this trend, but TPS provides five essentials that all executive and management figures must understand to ‘get’ the idea that has launched Toyota into the stratosphere.
https://www.manufacturingglobal.com/lean-manufacturing/5-tools-make-lean-manufacturing-thrive
