Making the Lean Transition For Efficiency and Productivity

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So, you think your job shop is completely lean? Or, perhaps, you’re ready to go lean but are lacking a sense of which direction you need to turn to start the transition. In either case, the one absolute rule to remember is that no manufacturer or job shop can ever be perfectly lean. As an integral element of its philosophy, continuous improvement implies that refinement in processes-from efficiencies in movement to the reduction of waste-can always be found. The bottom-line is that unless every activity of the company adds value to the product of that company, there will be areas of continuous lean improvement to be found.

Knowing that the job will never be completely finished, but realizing there are going to be positive returns from the effort, you decide to jump in and make the transition into leaning your operation. Where do you start? You start from the ground up-you turn toward your people to believe in the effort, for without their positive attitude no lean project can succeed. From there, lean movement will spread in the way business gets done. In other words, the human touch is something no machine can do on its own. For lean to be successful, the workforce must be invested in the lean process in order to identify both large and small workflow and waste problems. The workforce through understanding and agreement, not coercion, must adopt lean principles.

One of the biggest misconceptions about going lean is that it requires great capital investment, that new machinery and tools are needed to improve workflow. This is simply not true. In many cases lean is not a matter of how fast a machine runs, but how efficiently material and/or parts are delivered to, and moved in and out of, the machine. Are operators getting what they need, when they need it, and just in time to use it? If not, then faster machines really don’t solve problems of efficient production and wasted time. To lean production means to lean the process of production.

Of course, this means that setup reduction is a place where process can become much more efficient. Long runs are increasingly becoming the exception in manufacturing, which means that jobs are more frequently requiring a build-as-needed system of shorter runs and quicker changeovers. Quick-change tooling systems, shop floor tool shadow-boards, and even simply having tools constantly in direct eyesight of the operator all help reduce both setup and breakdown time. For the manufacturer operating in a hyper-competitive global economy, more order for efficient small-batch production may make the difference between in having a profitable year and one less so.

Finally, it’s important to remember that what lean transition efforts work for one company, might not work for yours. To a large degree, leaning involves a customized approach whereby each case is taken as unique and the solutions are developed based upon the resulting needs analysis. Equipment and/or tools may not be able to relocated for efficiency improvements, or cells may impracticable due to the nature of the product itself. In any case, one thing is certain and consistent from company to company; that is, a lean transition, one to a more efficient and productive way of manufacturing, will never take place if you don’t at least try to make your business more productive and less wasteful for both your company, your employees, and your customers.

http://globalshopsolutions.com/

Dusty Alexander is the President of Global Shop Solutions. Global Shop Solutions is the largest privately held ERP software company in the United States.

Copyright 2008 - Global Shop Solutions. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give the author name credit.

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