Best Lean Manufacturing Tools and Techniques
If you’re also taken by the Lean spree taken by the business world, you aren’t alone here. With businesses upgrading for more efficient practices, lean manufacturing makes the heart for an organization’s efficiency in catering to increasing consumer demands. Manufacturing is gaining momentum as the world market is advancing each day. Real Examples of Lean Software Development from the business world account for how lean is maximizing a business’s output and its ability to serve consumers in time. With more contemporary businesses making the cut and the demand within global markets on the increase, it’s upon the businesses to put their best foot forward and meet the rising demands. But, before we proceed, let’s get the basics right-
What is Lean Manufacturing?
Lean management works in reducing one of the most significant liabilities for an organization- Waste production. Lean management is the production system that focuses on reducing waste and aligning the value stream for a manufacturing workflow. Along with waste elimination, it maximizes customer value by ensuring consistent improvement. Lean also focuses on evenly distributing the work, resource allocation, and ensuring that production doesn’t waste any main business factors.
This is executed by applying lean project management tools and techniques, which we’ll discuss in this article-
What Are Lean Tools?
To apply the Lean principles to your manufacturing process, organizations need to leverage a set of tools that work together to identify the loopholes and eliminate waste products. These wastes can be a byproduct of over documentation, overburden, or unevenness in workloads
Lean tools are used to maximize product quality in organizations by removing the possible loopholes. It focuses on eliminating any process that isn’t valuable for the product customer.
Several industries worldwide utilize lean tools to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity from manufacturing to engineering to finance.
Lean Tools and Their Applications
- Bottleneck Analysis
Did you ensure, the number of times your project is stuck between development and delivery? Bottleneck analysis closely monitors the workflows for a product/service development. It identifies and tries to resolve the possible present and future hurdles that might limit the overall process and aim to address them as soon as possible.
Applications of Bottleneck analysis
Improves production by strengthening the weakest link in the manufacturing process. Bottleneck saves the organization’s resources, time, energy, and money.
2. Kanban (Pull System)
Kanban is the process of regulating the goods flow between the factory and outside suppliers or customers. It functions through the automatic replenishment through signal cards that fill the requirements of goods before it’s exhausted.
Applications of Kanban
Eliminates waste from inventory and overproduction. Can eliminate the need for physical inventories, instead of relying on signal cards to indicate when more goods need to be ordered.
3. Just-in-Time (JIT)
Lean beliefs in manufacturing according to the consumer demand, and Just in time helps in achieving the same. It’s an on-demand system that helps manufacturers to get into the product based on consumer requirements only. This reduces the risk of unnecessary overstock or unnecessary inventory which is more prone to damage and getting wasted.
Applications of JIT
It improves cash flow and reduces space requirements. Businesses should consider JIT only after understanding their business capability of fulfilling on-demand requirements by customers. JIT framework efficiently manages the inventory framework, however, businesses should identify their loopholes in supply chain and instant product delivery to reduce the risk of not meeting the consumer demands in case of a breakdown in the system.
4. Value Stream Mapping
Value stream mapping is the tool used to visually map or guide the production flow. It highlights the present and future condition of processes in a way that emphasizes opportunities for improvement throughout the entire process. Multiple industries including finance and healthcare utilize value mapping systems to receive an overview of the business process.
Applications of Value Stream Mapping
- Enabling culture change within an organization
- Facilitating clear collaboration and communication
- Encouraging continuous improvement in processes
5. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Total Productive Manatainance is a holistic approach that ensures maximum proactiveness during the operation time of equipment. TPM lightens the disparity between maintenance and production by placing a substantial emphasis on empowering operators to help maintain their equipment.
Applications of Total Productive Maintenance
It maintains a shared responsibility for equipment that encourages greater involvement by plant floor workers. In the best Lean environment, this can be very effective in improving productivity (reducing cycle times, increasing uptime, and eliminating defects).
Bottom Line
Each of these tools and techniques offers a complete and wholesome Lean Manufacturing system of its own. The tools and techniques of lean manufacturing help it achieve its wholesome outcome. Which tools are you looking forward to utilizing? Let us know in the comments.
