"The main objective of lean manufacturing is to reduce times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers."
A process improvement methodology that focuses on reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
History and Evolution of Lean Manufacturing: Understanding the origins, evolution, and key principles of lean manufacturing will provide a foundation for learning about its application in military supply chain management.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM): VSM is a tool used in lean manufacturing to visualize the flow of materials and information throughout the supply chain. It helps identify sources of waste and inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
Kanban: Kanban is a visual signaling system used to manage inventory and production in a lean manufacturing environment. It helps ensure that the right materials are available at the right time and reduces waste.
5S (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain): S is a methodology used to organize and maintain a clean, efficient, and safe work environment. It entails sorting items, setting them in order, cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining the process.
Total Quality Management (TQM): TQM is a management approach that focuses on continuous improvement in all aspects of an organization's operations. It aims to reduce waste, improve quality, and increase customer satisfaction.
Just-In-Time (JIT): JIT is a lean manufacturing technique that involves producing or delivering products just in time to meet customer demand. It eliminates waste associated with storing excess inventory while ensuring products are delivered at the right time.
Continuous Improvement: Continuous improvement involves ongoing efforts to identify opportunities for improvement and implementing solutions to reduce waste, improve quality, and increase efficiency.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA): RCA is a problem-solving method used to identify the underlying causes of problems or defects in the supply chain. It helps organizations implement sustainable solutions and prevent future occurrences of the same issue.
Standard Work: Standard work involves creating a documented process for completing tasks in a consistent, efficient, and effective manner. It helps prevent errors and variability in operations.
Lean Six Sigma: Lean Six Sigma combines the principles of lean manufacturing and Six Sigma to improve quality, reduce waste, and achieve operational excellence.
Continuous Flow: Continuous flow is a lean manufacturing approach that aims to eliminate batch processing and produce products in a continuous, uninterrupted flow.
Poka-Yoke: Poka-Yoke is a technique used to prevent errors or defects from occurring in the supply chain. It involves designing processes or tools to prevent mistakes before they happen.
Visual Management: Visual management involves using visual cues or signals to convey information at a glance. It helps employees quickly identify issues or opportunities for improvement.
Cellular Manufacturing: Cellular manufacturing is a lean production method that involves organizing workstations into cells based on product families. It reduces material handling, reduces waste, and improves flow.
Kaizen: Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning "change for the better." It involves making continuous improvements to processes, products, or services. It is a key principle of lean manufacturing.
Value-Added vs. Non-Value-Added Activities: Value-added activities are those activities that directly contribute to meeting customer needs. Non-value-added activities are activities that do not contribute directly to meeting customer needs and may waste resources.
Andon: Andon is a signaling system used to indicate problems or issues in the supply chain. It helps to identify and resolve problems quickly.
Pull vs. Push Production: Pull production involves producing products based on customer demand, while push production involves producing products based on a forecast or a target inventory level. Pull production reduces waste and improves efficiency.
Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a tool used to translate customer needs into technical requirements for product or service design. It aligns customer needs with product design, production, and delivery.
Value-Stream Improvement: Value-stream improvement involves improving the flow of materials and information throughout the supply chain to reduce waste, improve quality, and increase customer satisfaction. It involves analyzing the entire value stream to identify and eliminate waste.
"Lean manufacturing adopts the just-in-time approach and additionally focuses on reducing cycle, flow and throughput times by further eliminating activities which do not add any value for the customer."
"Lean manufacturing also involves people who work outside of the manufacturing process, such as in marketing and customer service."
"Lean manufacturing is particularly related to the operational model implemented in the post-war 1950s and 1960s by the Japanese automobile company Toyota called Toyota Production System (TPS)."
"Toyota's system was erected on the two pillars of just-in-time inventory management and automated quality control."
"The seven 'wastes' (muda in Japanese), first formulated by Toyota engineer Shigeo Shingo, are the waste of superfluous inventory of raw material and finished goods, the waste of overproduction, the waste of over-processing, the waste of transportation, the waste of excess motion, the waste of waiting, and the waste of making defective products."
"The term Lean was coined in 1988 by American businessman John Krafcik in his article 'Triumph of the Lean Production System'."
"The five key principles of lean manufacturing, as defined by American researchers James Womack and Daniel Jones, are to precisely specify value by specific product, identify the value stream for each product, make value flow without interruptions, let customer pull value from the producer, and pursue perfection."
"By receiving goods only as they need them for the production process, it reduces inventory costs and wastage, and increases productivity and profit."
"The downside is that it requires producers to forecast demand accurately as the benefits can be nullified by minor delays in the supply chain. It may also impact negatively on workers due to added stress and inflexible conditions."
"A successful operation depends on a company having regular outputs, high-quality processes, and reliable suppliers."