Lean manufacturing or lean production is a very popular methodology for organizations to strive for in today’s global industrial setting. Rooted in the base philosophy of eliminating waste, ‘going lean’ can provide a company with many benefits. For those unfamiliar with just what lean manufacturing is and why companies strive to ‘go lean’, we’ve broken it down for you.
What is lean manufacturing?
Lean manufacturing is a methodology that seeks to minimize resources required for production by eliminating activities that provide no value. This is done by emphasizing the use of preventive maintenance, quality improvement programs, and flexible work forces and production facilities.
For example, let’s say your company has a 10 step process for creating “widget A”. Let’s assume a couple of those steps involve putting away / taking out many specific tools needed to create the widget. While you might not be able to eliminate putting away or taking out the tools, you could make the process leaner by providing specifically designated, labeled, or outlined areas for the tools. Doing so would allow your workers to find the tools more efficiently and effectively and in theory should reduce time spent on those steps.
Why would a company consider developing a lean manufacturing methodology?
The lean manufacturing methodology simply strives to get the most bang for your resource buck. Since the lean philosophy is rooted in eliminating waste (whether in time wasted or production waste) throughout the manufacturing process, there can be substantial cost savings and efficiencies created throughout the process.
Many companies already focus on making themselves ‘leaner’ without even thinking about it or calling it “lean”. Many fundamentals of the lean manufacturing methodology coincide with business best practices. So at it’s root, the lean manufacturing or lean production process is all about efficiency and we all strive for that.