Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing refers to a company's ongoing, systematic effort to eliminate the sources of waste in a production process. This article briefly notes the origins of lean manufacturing and summarizes eight causes of waste in the production process. It discusses five important lean manufacturing tools and examines how eight manufacturers are incorporating these tools into their production processes. Finally, the article lists seven advantages and seven disadvantages of lean manufacturing.

Keywords Cellular Manufacturing; Just-in-Time (JIT); Kaizen; Kanban; Lean Manufacturing; Manufacture

Manufacturing > Lean Manufacturing

Overview

Lean manufacturing refers to a company's ongoing, systematic effort to eliminate the sources of waste in a production process.

The seeds of lean manufacturing in mass production were planted as early as the 18th century, when a French gunmaker, Honore Blanc, implemented the time and resource-saving practice of using interchangeable parts for the assembly of guns. (Lienhard, 1999). However, Toyota Motor Company is generally considered to have spearheaded modern lean manufacturing by implementing the just-in-time (JIT) inventory system on a full-scale basis in 1938 (Toyota).

The Major Causes of Waste in the Production Process

Syddell (2005) notes that Brad Perkins, a former senior director of auto and industrial for Oracle Asia Pacific, indicates that while there are many minor causes of waste in the production process, the major causes can be grouped into eight areas:

1. Over Production
2. Waiting
3. Conveyance
4. Processing
5. Inventory
6. Unnecessary Motion
7. Processing Failures
8. Space

Over Production

Over production waste refers to the practice of making something for which there is no customer. (This was a very common practice before the widespread adoption of lean manufacturing principles and is called "stockpiling." Many manufacturers still overproduce as a safety measure. See also "Inventory" in this section.)

Waiting

Waste from waiting results from searching for tools or from waiting for machine setup, materials, or information. (Whenever production workers are idle due to waiting for necessary parts, equipment, or information, the efficiency of the production process is compromised.)

Conveyance

Conveyance waste involves the unnecessary moving of parts or information. (See also "Unnecessary Motion" in this section.)

Processing

Processing waste occurs when more work is done to an item than is required by the customer's specifications or when data must be entered into multiple locations.

Inventory

Inventory waste happens when assets are used to stock parts or products that have not been ordered by a customer. (The practice of building up an inventory of products or parts is also known as "stockpiling.")

Unnecessary Motion

Waste from unnecessary motion includes time spent performing extra movements, like walking to get the parts needed for assembly. (Unnecessary motion is similar to conveyance waste but generally applies to workers, while conveyance waste applies to extra movements of parts and data.)

Processing Failures

Waste from processing failure refers to any time spent reworking defective components or products.

Space

Space is wasted when more real estate is used than is required. Extra space also means more utilities and overhead required to manage the space.

Lean Manufacturing Tools

Of course, any technique or tool that reduces waste in a production process—whether it is developed in-house, copied from another company, or purchased from a supplier or consultant—can be considered part of a lean manufacturing strategy. However, the following five tools for reducing waste are commonly associated with lean manufacturing:

1. Cellular Manufacturing
2. Just-in-time (JIT)
3. Kaizen
4. Kanban
5. Poka-yoke

Cellular Manufacturing

The first lean manufacturing tool is cellular manufacturing. This strategy involves the arrangement of production workstations and equipment in a sequence that supports a smooth flow of materials and components through the production process with minimal transport or delay. Cellular manufacturing minimizes the time required to manufacture a single product by moving the product through the entire production process one piece at a time, at a rate determined by a customer's needs. Cellular manufacturing is in direct contrast to batch-and-queue (also known as large-lot) production, which involves processing multiple parts before sending them on to the next machine or process (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2006).

Just-in-Time (JIT)

The second lean manufacturing tool is JIT. The practice of JIT refers to the supplying of parts or items at the time that they are needed and not before. JIT can apply to parts or items supplied to the manufacturer or to the items that the manufacturer produces for its customers. In either scenario, JIT directly contrasts with the practice of building up inventory by stockpiling items.

Kaizen

The third lean manufacturing tool is kaizen. Kaizen is a Japanese term that refers to the process of continuous improvement, often in small, incremental steps. To be effective, kaizen must involve the entire workforce in its philosophy and practice.

Kanban

The fourth lean manufacturing tool is kanban. Kanban is an integral part of the JIT production process; it is an information tool that specifies exactly which parts or items are needed during the production process and exactly when they are needed.

Poka-yoke

The last lean manufacturing tool is poka-yoke. Poka-yoke refers to error-proofing the production process during the design phase to eliminate faulty products altogether or, if that is not possible, to detect defects at the earliest possible moment in the production process.

Applications

In this section, we will examine specific case studies of how a cross-section of companies have historically incorporated the following five lean manufacturing tools to reduce waste in the production process and also see how one company has taken a unique approach to teaching the principles of lean manufacturing.

1. Cellular Manufacturing

• 2. Just-in-time (JIT)
• 3. Kaizen
• 4. Kanban
• 5. Poka-yoke

Cellular Manufacturing: Advance Turning & Manufacturing Inc.

Advance Turning & Manufacturing Inc., a Michigan-based manufacturer to the aerospace and medical industries, has a high mix of job orders with low part volumes: In the early 2000s, it shipped 1,600 jobs monthly with an average volume of 70 pieces per job. To maintain a competitive edge in its marketplace, Advance Turning shifted from a production process that moved parts through multiple machines and operators to a one-piece-flow production process that utilizes 20 work cells to make parts one at a time until they are completed and ready for shipment. The cellular system allowed cell operators the flexibility to run jobs with similar setup requirements and thus completely avoid breaking down the machine setups. Since the work cell arrangement incorporated in-process part checks by the work cell operators, Advance Turning reduced the amount of scrap material and extra parts generated (Bates, 2006).

Just-in-Time (JIT): Hayward Industries Inc., General Motors Corp., & Toyota Motor Corp.

JIT inventory systems are a hallmark of lean manufacturing. To be effective, though, JIT depends upon implementation by both manufacturers and their suppliers. If the supplier can not provide the manufacturer with the parts and materials on a just-in-time basis, then the manufacturer is held up and may not be able to supply the customers on the as-needed basis dictated by a successful JIT strategy. This is particularly important if a natural or other disaster occurs to upset the delivery of items from supplier to manufacturer.

Katz (2007) provides examples of how three manufacturers—Hayward Industries Inc., General Motors Corp., and Toyota Motor Corp.—combated the JIT complexities of the supplier-manufacturer-customer relationships.

Hayward Industries Inc.

Paul Adelberg, vice president of lean technology at swimming pool manufacturer Hayward Industries Inc., says that having suppliers committed to their own JIT strategy is crucial. Otherwise, any attempts at JIT savings for the manufacturer are wiped out by higher supplier prices due to their inventory inefficiencies. To help suppliers adopt their own JIT strategy, Hayward took an instructional approach: Hayward held JIT information sessions with suppliers; sent work teams to suppliers' facilities to aid them; and invited suppliers in to examine Hayward's JIT process. Any suppliers that resisted Hayward's efforts were dismissed.

General Motors Corp.

General Motors Corp. insists upon the transparency of its suppliers' operations. Before entering into a contract with a supplier, General Motors requires that the supplier show a disaster recovery plan. General Motors also is more likely to work with suppliers who have multiple plants so that, if necessary, they can tap additional plants to complete General Motors' orders.

Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota Motor Corp. implemented a full-scale JIT production system in 1938. In the early twenty-first century, Toyota tackled the issue of potential delivery problems by doing business with suppliers that were geographically close or by moving closer to suppliers. In 2006, Toyota opened a plant in San Antonio, TX, in the same industrial park that contained 21 of its suppliers (Katz, 2007).

Kaizen: Dieselco, United Kingdom Plants

Dieselco was a large multinational firm that manufactured diesel engines. In 1989, Dieselco began implementing lean production and, in 1990, introduced it to its two United Kingdom plants. In his case study of kaizen in the UK plants, Malloch (1997) noted that the UK-based operations had been recording losses from 1985 to 1989; this poor performance contributed to Dieselco's eroding market position. It was against this backdrop that Dieselco instituted two continuous improvements: A seven-step problem-solving process designed for groups or individual workers and a common systems methodology aimed at problem-solving at the departmental or plant level. After intensive training in kaizen principles, operators formed teams that incorporated kaizen into their work. As a result of implementing kaizen, the two UK plants cut the cost of in-plant operations by 2 million pounds within 3 ½ years and cut labor input by 11% in one plant and 14% in the other.

Kanban: Rolls Royce Civil Aerospace

Rolls Royce Civil Aerospace commands a global market share of 18 percent in the commercial jet engine market (AeroTime, 2022). In the early 2000s, the company implemented a modified version of kanban to communicate to the shop floor the required output predicted by an electronic resource planning (ERP) system. Basically, the process operators within each work cell developed a detailed timeline for each stage of the operations by cell, and the information was displayed on a large board. In addition to being an inexpensive tool, the board visual provided process transparency that clarified process ownership, bottlenecks, and problems; resulted in cost savings; enhanced shop productivity; and eliminated late deliveries to customers (Parry & Turner, 2006).

Poka-yoke: Johnston Sweepers

Johnston Sweepers, which is owned by the Bucher Group from Switzerland, has this philosophy: get it right the first time. To do this, Johnston applies poka-yoke practices to error-proof its manufacturing operations by fine-tuning each step of the operation so precisely and accurately, that the products do not need to be inspected afterwards. For example, a wet paint plant that Johnston built in the early 2000s never produced a single warranty defect (Dwyer, 2007).

A Unique Approach to Teaching the Principles of Lean Communication: Hytrol Conveyor Company

Arkansas-based Hytrol Conveyor Company took a unique approach to teaching its employees the principles of lean manufacturing by writing a comic book. The 56-page comic book followed Captain Hytrol and his friends, Power Lean and Safety Lady, as they learned about lean manufacturing and battled against waste and inefficiency. Although the comic book was created as reference material for a six-week lean training program for employees, Hytrol distributed copies to its distributors as an aid to their own lean manufacturing initiatives (Drickhamer, 2006).

The Future of Lean Manufacturing

Companies continued to use lean manufacturing processes as the twenty-first century progressed and lean manufacturing became especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic which saw a massive disruption in global supply chains. Companies using lean manufacturing principles were able to adapt during and after the pandemic to sustain and even improve production. Lean manufacturing principles are easily integrated in new technologies and can fine-tune workflows with a focus on the customer’s needs. As business continues to evolve in the twenty-first century, lean manufacturing will enable companies to integrate digital technologies, resolve supply chain issues in real-time, prevent overproduction, encourage partnerships, promote environmental sustainability, and streamline business practices. Further, because the effects of implementing lean management principles are so measurable, progress can be easily monitored (Four Principles, n.d.).

Viewpoints

Lean manufacturing practices offer many advantages for the manufacturers who practice them. After all, most manufacturers want to eliminate waste from their production processes. However, depending on the manufacturer and type of product manufactured, there can also be disadvantages to lean manufacturing.

This section summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of lean manufacturing practices.

Advantages of Lean Manufacturing Practices

The advantages of lean manufacturing practices include the following seven benefits:

1. The use of interchangeable and as-needed parts leads to savings in cost and storage.
2. JIT inventory yields savings in parts costs and storage.
3. JIT production results in savings in cost, storage, and labor.
4. JIT delivery to customers saves on customer storage and provides more efficient customer service.
5. Intrinsic principles of lean manufacturing, such as kaizen, promote more efficient, error-free processes and higher-quality products.
6. Lean manufacturing is more environmentally friendly because it saves space, utilities, and waste from over-production and scraps. The United States Environmental Protection Agency maintains a Web site devoted to the benefits of lean manufacturing on the environment and a variety of resources for manufacturers. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2023).
7. The transparency of processes generated by lean manufacturing principles enables better communication with suppliers and customers.

Disadvantages of Lean Manufacturing Practices

The disadvantages of lean manufacturing include the following seven drawbacks:

1. JIT deliveries from suppliers can be disrupted due to natural or other disasters, thus holding up the production process.
2. JIT deliveries from manufacturers to customers can be disrupted due to natural or other disasters, thus holding backing up the manufacturers' inventory and causing storage problems.
3. Because lean manufacturing maintains an as-needed system of inventory and production, emergency orders are difficult to fulfill.
4. Going "lean" may require the purchase of expensive new equipment.
5. The adoption of new lean manufacturing techniques usually requires the retraining of employees.
6. Preventive maintenance of machines is absolutely critical to ensure that all necessary equipment is utilized for lean, efficient production.
7. Lean manufacturing depends upon constant, consistent quality control of all processes. Any slack in quality control can render the process ineffective.
8. A lean manufacturing strategy can be ineffective if a manufacturer's suppliers do not also practice lean strategies.

Conclusion

Aspects of lean manufacturing have been practiced since at least as far back as the 18th century when French gunmaker Honore Blanc introduced interchangeable parts into the gunmaking process. Since Toyota implemented full-scale JIT production of automobiles in 1938, many manufacturers have adopted techniques of lean manufacturing strategies on a small or large-scale basis.

The advantages of lean manufacturing practices are plentiful and include cost savings, increased quality, a lower impact on the environment, and higher customer satisfaction. However, there are also disadvantages, such as a lack of inventory of parts or products for emergencies, the possibility of distribution problems due to natural or other disasters, and the potential for ineffectiveness unless suppliers are also practicing lean strategies. Generally, though, the advantages of lean manufacturing outweigh the disadvantages.

Each manufacturer must choose and cultivate a lean manufacturing strategy that is appropriate for its company, products, and customers. The use of lean manufacturing continues to evolve alongside business and industry in the twenty-first century.

Terms & Concepts

Cellular Manufacturing: The arrangement of production workstations and equipment in a sequence that supports a smooth flow of materials and components through the production process with minimal transport or delay.

Error-proofing: Designing the process to prevent mistakes; stop errors from occurring; warn that an error has occurred; and prevent assembly errors through design strategies. There are three basic approaches to error-proofing: Physical (installing components like fixtures or sensors that eliminate the conditions for errors), operational (making modifications or installing devices that reinforce the correct procedure sequence), and philosophical (identifying situations that cause defects and fixing the situation). This term is often used interchangeably with "mistake-proofing" (Manivannan, 2007).

Just-in-time (JIT): A manufacturing strategy wherein parts are produced or delivered only as needed (Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, 2000). JIT can refer to parts or items that are supplied to the manufacturer for manufacturing a product or to delivery of the final product to the customer.

Kaizen: The Japanese process of continuous improvement. The Association for Quality & Participation defines it as "a Japanese term that means gradual unending improvement by doing little things better and setting and achieving increasingly higher standards" (Maurer, 2005, p. 37).

Kanban: A card, labeled container, computer order, or other device used to signal that more products or parts are needed from the previous process step. The kanban contains information on the exact product or component specifications that are needed for the subsequent process step. Kanban is used to control work-in-progress (WIP), production, and inventory flow. Different types of kanban exist, including: Supplier kanban, which indicates orders given to outside parts suppliers when parts are needed for assembly lines; in-factory kanban, which is used between processes in a factory; and production kanban, which indicate operating instructions for processes within a line (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

Lean Manufacturing: An ongoing, systematic effort to eliminate the sources of waste in a production process (Mark, 2007).

Manufacture: To make a product from raw materials by hand or by machine (Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, 2000).

Poka-yoke: A concept introduced by an engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation in 1961 that uses process or design features to error-proof the entire manufacturing process by preventing the manufacture of a non-conforming or faulty product, promoting safer working conditions, and preventing machine damage. The original term was "baka-yoke," which translates as "fool-proofing," but in 1963, a worker at Arakawa Body Co. refused to incorporate the process into her work because she felt that the term was dishonorable and offensive, so it was changed to poka-yoke which means error-proofing or mistake-proofing (Manivannan, 2007, p. 18-19).

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Suggested Reading

Miel, R. (2007). Fast & lean keeps Chicago mold going. Plastics News, 19, 9-9. Retrieved July 12, 2007, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=25353239&site=ehost-live

Pelion Systems + JCIT = DemandPoint, and the road to lean efficiencies. (2007). Manufacturing Business Technology, 25, 16-16. Retrieved July 12, 2007, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=25528451&site=ehost-live

Scaffede, R. (2002). What it takes to turn manufacturing lean: the experience of Donnelly Corporation. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 21, 3-16. Retrieved July 12, 2007, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=7342656&site=ehost-live

Wheatley, M. (2007). ERP is needed to sustain the gains of lean programs. Manufacturing Business Technology, 25, 30-32. Retrieved July 12, 2007, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=25528458&site=ehost-live

Womack, J.P., Jones, D.T., & Roos, D. (2007). The Machine that changed the world: The story of lean production-Toyota's secret weapon in the global car wars that is now revolutionizing world industry. New York, NY: Free Press.