LEAN manufacturing is essentially a practice and working process that is applied to the manufacture and subsequent development of LEAN principles, tools and practices.
The fundamental purpose of LEAN manufacturing is to eradicate product wastage, slash costs, considerably boost innovative development, enhance processes and substantially cut the amount of time spent on a particular process.
LEAN manufacturing is one of the best fundamental changes to implement throughout your business model and as a result, here is exactly how the process can increase productivity and efficiency in your company.
The 5 Fundamental Principles of LEAN Manufacturing
During the mid-2000’s, LEAN manufacturing quickly became the number one business solution to increase efficiency and productivity whilst minimizing the amount of waste produced. Naturally, because of this, LEAN manufacturing is the number one choice for companies who want to become more eco-friendly and environmentally conscious.
There are five fundamental principles of LEAN Manufacturing:
- Value
- Value Stream
- Flow Creation
- Pull Established
- Improvement
Value
The basic definition of ‘value’ in this context is simply the amount of money a consumer is prepared to pay for your product or service. A company can create value by designing and manufacturing a product that people, or groups of people, want.
The first step in LEAN manufacturing is to clearly and concisely define the value of your own company’s product or service from your customer’s unique perspective.
Value Stream
The second step in LEAN manufacturing is identifying, charting and itemizing each phase of the identification of your company’s ‘value’.
For this and the subsequent stages of the implantation of LEAN manufacturing processes into your own business, it is strongly advisable to contact one of the most established and professional lean manufacturing consulting firms who will ensure you have the best possible chances of success
Flow Creation
Particularly in this method, it is then important to minimize the amount of downtime and waiting time it takes between batches produced and this is the key to the third principle of LEAN manufacturing; to minimize the inventory waiting time,.
The ultimate goal here is to actively produce continuously for each production station with no stoppage or waiting time whatsoever.
Pull Established
Conventionally, most factories, before the development of the concept of LEAN manufacturing, had no choice but to work on the traditional ‘pull’ system. This basically meant that a factory would push the workers to produce as many products as possible and the sales team of the various stores would push hard to sell as many as possible too.
With LEAN manufacturing, the idea is to work on the opposite, by establishing a ‘pull’ system. The assembly line is primed and ready to produce exactly the quantity of products that are ordered; no more, no less.
Improvement
The beauty and simultaneous challenge of executing LEAN manufacturing processes is there is always room for continuous improvement. Once the process is implemented, always strive to eliminate more waste every time you manufacture products.