Lean Production

Does it bother you when you see a lot of cooked and prepared food being wasted and thrown away? Or when your best friend is overburdened with a lot of work at the office? Think of a bus whose capacity is 30 people but only carries 3 passengers at noon and 40 passengers in the evening. The above situations can result in decreased productivity, overburden, or a waste of resources. We must comprehend the systems that gave rise to this problem in order to find a solution.

Lean production methodology is one technique that can help attain optimal solutions if used properly. Let's take a closer look at lean production and its principles.

Lean production business definition

Lean production is part of operations management. Lean production in business refers to a technique that helps eliminate waste and inefficiency in the production process. Here, waste can be defined as anything that does not add value to the production process or for customers.

What Is lean manufacturing?

Lean production, also known as lean manufacturing, eliminates all kinds of possible waste at all levels of production to increase the value for customers. The concept of lean manufacturing was developed by Toyota to reduce waste and inefficiency in their manufacturing process.

System of lean production

The lean production system emphasises the 3 main elements that need to be considered and eliminated in the process of production. These elements are discussed below in detail.

Muda - Waste elimination

‘Muda’ refers to all kinds of waste. Lean production methodology states that there are 7 types of waste that can be eliminated to add value to products.

Defects

Defects can result in heavy losses. It is very important to try and eliminate any defects as early as possible. Lean production suggests that defects can be prevented by checking the production in the first place which can stop them from happening or removed from the final steps of production.

Waiting

Waiting is another kind of waste that lean production methodology suggests eliminating. Waiting refers to the time spent waiting to start the next process or interruptions in the overall production process. Lean production suggests that constant and continuous production should be maintained to avoid resource waste.

Overproduction

Producing little more than the demand is all right but overproduction way beyond demand can be risky and result in resource wastage. Hence, lean production suggests eliminating overproduction waste.

Inventory

Finished goods that have not been sold or the production of unfinished goods that have not been moved to the next production stage can create waste.

Transport

The cost involved in transportation can lead to waste. Movement of material or finished goods should be planned so as to avoid waste of resources.

Processing

Unnecessary and unrequested over-processing of products can lead to waste.

Motion

The movement of elements within the organization must be minimized and the path should be planned out in advance to avoid time waste.

Mura

‘Mura’ means unevenness in the production process. It is any kind of non-uniformity in manufacturing that can lead to Muda, which refers to general product waste. Lean production suggests that all processes should be uniform, which can help in ongoing levelled production, avoiding the accumulation of waste or overproduction.

Mura can be avoided with the Just-in-Time (JIT) production system which suggests producing only when there is demand for the product, in the right quantity and the right place.

In reality, it is very difficult to understand the optimal level of production due to ever-changing demands. But if the production changes in sync with demand, one can avoid Mura.

Muri

Muri refers to the overburden. Overburden can happen for both people and machines. Anything that is used beyond its optimal capacity can give negative results. Similarly, if the machines or humans are overburdened with work, it can lead to inefficiency or failure in overall productivity. Muri can be caused by Mura (unevenness) and also excessive removal of Muda (waste).

Principles of lean production

The 5 principles of lean production were designed by James Womack and Daniel Jones:

Figure 1. Lean Production Principles, StudySmarter

Value

The first principle of lean production is value. 'Value' here refers to the benefits that the customers get from the products. Lean methodology suggests that the production system should be such that it adds value to the customers. Value is customer-focused and not company focused.

Value stream

The next principle of lean production is the value stream. Value stream means defining the process of how to manufacture the product in a way that can add value to the customers. Value streams call for a flowchart to be created for each process that may be involved in the production process. Also, If any process is not required or does not add value, it should be discarded.

Flow

The third principle is flow. Flow is the smooth functioning of the value stream process which is defined in the earlier principles. Flow refers to the fact that once all the unnecessary processes have been discarded, the production should run more smoothly without any blocks or delays.

Pull

Pull is the fourth principle of lean production. Once the production flow is in place and there are no bottlenecks in the process, it is possible to deliver the products as demanded. Pull refers to just-in-time production and delivery process. With improved flow, it is possible to give the customer the product when demanded, at the right time and in the right quantity. This results in reduction of stock and inventory costs and adds value to the customers.

Perfection

The last and most important principle is perfection. Lean production suggests that it is important that all members of the organisation are involved in the production process and that all are following the lean production system. As we know the world is ever-changing and demand keeps changing constantly, so it is very important to keep up with the customer's demand and lean production should become an essential part of the production process in the company.

Examples of lean production

Let us take an example of a bagel manufacturing company. Before the application of a lean production methodology, there was a waste of 1500 bagels per day due to the difference in size, shapes, different baking processes, etc. The managers decided to have a close look into all the processes and use a lean methodology, correcting the system right where it was resulting in the waste.

During their analysis, they found a difference in the processing of each batch, which resulted in a varied production process. Also, inventory was not counted and maintained in the same way for all batches, hence resulting in waste. After correcting the process and following the lean production principle, the waste was reduced to about 50 pieces a day.

The lean production system was developed long ago and is still used in organisations. The system can help in improving processes to a greater extent and at the same time, it adds value for customers. Lean methodology helps with achieving zero waste or maximally reducing waste and balances the production process to get the optimal solution.