Lean Manufacturing and Agile Manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing
The core idea of lean manufacturing is simple i.e.
relentlessly work on eliminating waste from the
manufacturing process. Waste is defined as any
activity that does not add value from the
customer’s perspective.
Lean manufacturing is a production system that
focuses on reducing waste, creating customer
value and seeking continuous process
improvement.
 Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is achieved by applying lean project

management principles, techniques and tools.
The lean methodology was first implemented in the Toyota
Production System (TPS) which revolutionized the company’s
manufacturing process.
 Principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM)
Lean manufacturing is a production strategy that aims at high levels of production
using lesser effort, time and materials.
The beauty of Lean principles is that they can be applied whether you are
assembling automobiles, moving a patient from the waiting room to discharge, or
developing a new software feature. Creating customer value while eliminating
waste is the “secret sauce” of profitability no matter what you ultimately sell.
1. Value
2. Value Streams
3. Flow
4. Pull
5. Perfection
Principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM)
1. Value
The value a customer places upon products and services determines how much
money they are willing to pay for them (or if they want to pay for it at all).
Lean philosophy thinkers insist on understanding exactly what drives customer
value, including understanding what problem they are trying to solve.
Higher focus is placed on what the customer will pay for very specific products,
features and service offerings.
Once this is determined, the producer is responsible for determining how cost
and waste can be eliminated so that the product can be delivered profitably at
the price the customer is willing to pay.
Principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM)
2. Value Streams
A value stream includes all the processes, steps, and materials
necessary to place the product (or service) in the hands of the
customer.
Lean organizations seek to document and understand every
aspect of their value streams. This analysis will usually reveal
time delays, activities that create value, activities that don’t
create value but can’t be eliminated due to current technical or
production limitations, and activities that create no value,
making them wastes that become improvement opportunities.
Principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM)
3. Flow
The “stream” analogy is continued in the third principle of
flow. Just as water flows freely downstream, the value chain
should experience a smooth progression from start to finish.
Anything that interrupts the flow of value contributes to the
Lean and decreases value to the customer.
Maintaining flow requires careful synchronization of each
aspect of production and delivery.
Principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM)
4. Pull
Another waste that Lean manufacturing attempts to eliminate
is excess work-in-progress inventory.
Rather than “pushing” production based on a forecast or
schedule, those who take the pull approach ideally don’t make
anything until the customer (internal or external) orders it.
Visualization tools like Kanban signboards help to provide a
mechanism for informing each step in the chain what they need
to produce to meet the customer’s needs.
Principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM)
5. Perfection
The final Lean manufacturing principle from Lean Thinking is the
relentless pursuit of perfection.
Lean thinkers implement systems and measurements that continuously
seek opportunities to improve, speed, and reduce the cost of each step
of the value stream.
When problems that impact quality arise, lean thinkers don’t apply Band-
Aids; instead they seek and address the problems and issues at the root
level. Moving closer to perfection requires the involvement of every
member of the team from the C-suite to the front lines.
 Basic Elements of Lean Manufacturing
The nine elements of Lean Manufacturing:
1) Continuous Flow,
2) Lean Machines/Simplicity,
3) Workplace Organization,
4) Parts Presentation,
5) Reconfigurability,
6) Product Quality,
7) Maintainability,
8) Ease of Access, and
9) Ergonomics.
Components that make lean work cell is shown in Fig. 1.
 Basic Elements of Lean Manufacturing
1) Continuous Flow,
2) Lean Machines/Simplicity,
3) Workplace Organization,
4) Parts Presentation,
5) Reconfigurability,
6) Product Quality,
7) Maintainability,
8) Ease of Access, and
9) Ergonomics.

Figure 1. Components that make up a lean work cell

 Introduction to LM Tools
There are many tools and concepts that lean companies employ to support the principles
and eliminate waste. Important and critical tools are:
1. Cellular Manufacturing
2. Takt Time
3. Standardized Works
4. One Piece Flow or Continuous Flow
5. Pull Systems and Kanban
6. Five Why’s
7. Quick Changeover / SMED
8. Mistake Proofing / Poka Yoke
9. Heijunka / Leveling the Workload
10. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
11. Five S
12. Problem Solving / PDCA / PDSA
 Concept of Wastes in LM
Waste is defined as any activity that does not add value from
the customer’s perspective.
The types of waste include processes, activities, products or
services that require time, money or skills but do not create
value for the customer.
These can cover underused talent, excess inventories or
ineffective or wasteful processes and procedures.
 Stages of 5S and waste elimination
The 5S tool is a structural system to organize any
type of business or operation, and it represents five
steps such as, sort, set in order or place, shine or
scrub, standardize and sustain. All these steps must
be followed to have success with a 5S event or for an
operation to say that they are 5S.
 5S
5S is a workplace organization method that uses a
list of five Japanese words:
●
Seiri (sort)
●
Seiton (Set in order)
●
Seisō (Shine)
●
Seiketsu (Standardise), and
●
Shitsuke (Sustain)
Stages of 5S and waste elimination
Stages of 5S and waste elimination
Stages of 5S and waste elimination
Conventional Manufacturing versus Lean Manufacturing
The House of
Lean
Manufacturing
 Agile Manufacturing
Agile manufacturing is a term applied to an
organization that has created the processes, tools,
and training to enable it to respond quickly to
customer needs and market changes while still
controlling costs and quality. It's mostly related to
lean manufacturing.