Lean Manufacturing is a production philosophy and methodology that focuses on minimising wastage, whilst maximising overall efficiency.
The key principles of lean manufacturing include:
- Identifying and Eliminating Waste: Lean manufacturing aims to identify and eliminate several types of waste, including overproduction, excessive inventory, unnecessary motion, defects, and more. By reducing waste, companies can become more efficient and cost-effective.
- Continuous Improvement: Lean manufacturing is based on the idea of continuous improvement, where we work to identify problems and suggest solutions to make processes better. This allows us to work more efficiently, whilst saving both ourselves and our customers money.
- Pull System: Instead of pushing products through production based on forecasts. Lean often uses a pull system, where production is triggered by actual customer demand. This helps in reducing excess inventory.
- Value Stream Mapping: Companies use value stream mapping to analyze the entire production process and identify areas where value is added and where waste occurs. This helps in optimizing processes.
- Kaizen: Kaizen means “continuous improvement” in Japanese. It’s a fundamental aspect of lean manufacturing, emphasizing small, incremental changes to improve processes over time.
- Just-in-Time (JIT) Manufacturing: JIT is a key component of lean manufacturing, where materials and components are delivered just when they are needed in the production process, reducing inventory-carrying costs.
Lean manufacturing aims to streamline operations, reduce costs, improve product quality, and increase overall customer satisfaction. It has been adopted in various industries, including automotive, aerospace, healthcare, and beyond, to achieve these goals.