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The Lean methodology seeks to reduce and ultimately eliminate waste within a process. It applies a five part approach and uses flow control as the optimizing principle for the process.

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Quick reference

Lean Principles

The Lean Manufacturing methodology seeks to reduce and ultimately eliminate waste within a process. It applies a five-part approach and uses flow control as the optimizing principle for the process.

When to use

The Lean Manufacturing methodology is excellent for business process analysis. Despite the name, it can apply to any business process, not just manufacturing. If a process is slow, wasteful, and inefficient, strongly consider using the Lean Manufacturing approach.

Instructions

The Lean Manufacturing methodology has several key principles that are embodied within it. These principles were tested and proven at Toyota on the manufacturing product lines.

The key principle is the elimination of waste. The measures of process throughput and the value-added effort are two of the foundational measures used. Both of those are focused on efficient flow through the process. Lean manufacturing relies on five elements in the analysis process to identify and eliminate the waste. Those five are Value, Value Stream Map, Flow, Pull, and Perfection.

Another key principle associated with Lean is visual control. This applies both to the analysis and the recommended improvements. From an analysis standpoint, Lean creates a value stream map. This is a specialized process map that zeros in on the steps that are adding value and those that are not. The map is first created and validated for the “As-Is” condition. The map is then used to both analyze potential changes and to document the actual improvements to the process. Most of the Lean analysis occurs on the value stream map based on the data collected for each step.

Visual control is also a key principle for the change. Lean recommends that processes be redesigned so that only value-added steps are needed. Each of those steps is further designed to fit within the pulse rate, or TAKT time, of the process. Finally, visual scheduling approaches are recommended by Lean so that the process operators and supervisors can instantly know what they should be working on at any moment.

Hints & tips

  • The Value Stream Map is the key to understanding the process flow and identifying waste to eliminate. Make sure your map is complete and correct.
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  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 The lean manufacturing methodology is founded upon some very key principles.
  • 00:11 Let's take a look at these principles.
  • 00:13 >> In order to better understand the lean manufacturing principles,
  • 00:17 let's start with a quick review of the background of lean manufacturing.
  • 00:21 It was developed in Toyota following World War II,
  • 00:24 with a goal of improving customer satisfaction by lowering cost and
  • 00:28 increasing quality within manufactured products.
  • 00:32 So it's been proven in a manufacturing shop.
  • 00:35 It's no surprise that if you want to lower cost and improve quality,
  • 00:38 you should focus on eliminating waste in the process.
  • 00:42 Waste cost money and has a tendency to introduce errors and defects.
  • 00:47 What is very interesting about lean manufacturing and waste reduction is that
  • 00:51 Toyota determined that the best measurements were not financial but
  • 00:54 rather process efficiency measurements.
  • 00:57 You might think that this is counter-intuitive, but
  • 01:00 actually it makes good sense.
  • 01:01 The shop floor operators and supervisors are focused on how the materials and
  • 01:06 products are flowing through the manufacturing operation,
  • 01:09 not on checking invoices and adding up costs at each step.
  • 01:13 By using operational measures like process throughput,
  • 01:16 lean manufacturing becomes a very practical methodology.
  • 01:20 The other major contribution was the introduction of the concept of value-added
  • 01:24 effort and time.
  • 01:26 By measuring within a process, the non-value added effort,
  • 01:29 another way of saying waste, becomes obvious.
  • 01:33 Lean manufacturing is not quite as structured as Six Sigma in terms of
  • 01:37 the process, but
  • 01:38 it does have several organizing principles that guide a team through their analysis.
  • 01:43 These five principles are value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection.
  • 01:51 While there are some analytical elements to lean manufacturing,
  • 01:54 a foundational element is the creation of a value stream map.
  • 01:58 This is a flow chart or process map of the steps associated with creating and
  • 02:03 delivering some aspect of customer value, such as a product or service for sale.
  • 02:08 It is a picture and the problems quickly stand out.
  • 02:12 The methodology starts with mapping the as-is or current state of the process.
  • 02:17 Notice the map has more than just the process steps.
  • 02:20 There is additional data that is collected and
  • 02:23 overlaid onto the map that helps to bring clarity to what is actually happening.
  • 02:28 Once that is well understood, process changes are identified.
  • 02:32 They are first tested on the value stream map by creating a 2B map.
  • 02:36 If there is significant benefit, the changes are introduced.
  • 02:40 As a change is made, the value stream map and
  • 02:42 the corresponding process flow data are updated.
  • 02:46 In a later session, we'll discuss how to create a map and
  • 02:49 what the symbols stand for.
  • 02:51 The point for now is that lean manufacturing relies on the principle
  • 02:55 of understanding the real process flow in order to know what changes should be made.
  • 03:02 Let's look at a few more items associated with lean manufacturing and
  • 03:05 controlling a process using lean principles.
  • 03:08 Since lean manufacturing is primarily about reducing waste, a major item for
  • 03:13 the analysis is the identification where excessive and
  • 03:16 unnecessary processing is occurring.
  • 03:19 That's waste in the process that can be hopefully eliminated or at least reduced.
  • 03:24 The reduction is often done by combining steps or
  • 03:27 eliminating the non value added steps.
  • 03:30 In my experience, this can be harder than it sounds.
  • 03:33 Many times there are people in the organization who are specialists in a step
  • 03:38 that's determined to be non-value added.
  • 03:41 They often interpret the analysis to say that they are not a valuable
  • 03:45 member of the organization.
  • 03:47 The changes must be carefully managed so
  • 03:49 that you don't destroy the morale of the workforce.
  • 03:53 Another aspect of the smooth flow is to design the steps so
  • 03:57 that they can all operate at approximately the same pace or TAKT time,
  • 04:01 we will discuss this more later.
  • 04:04 But when a process is designed to operate in this manner,
  • 04:07 it's easy for everyone to know how the process is going,
  • 04:11 which leads to another key principle of controlling a lean process.
  • 04:16 Visual process controls are applied wherever possible, so everyone can see how
  • 04:20 the process is progressing and where trouble is occurring.
  • 04:25 Again, we'll cover this technique in more detail in a later session.
  • 04:29 It's interesting to note that while Six Sigma relies heavily on statistics
  • 04:33 to maintain process control,
  • 04:35 lean manufacturing is a much more visual control approach.
  • 04:39 >> Well, these fundamental principles of eliminating waste and creating and
  • 04:44 managing processes with smooth flow are the foundational elements of lean
  • 04:49 manufacturing.

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