The rocky road to lean manufacturing
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/1/2006
Despite the glut of presentations, books and other materials designed to jump-start lean implementations, at least one expert is wary that most manufacturing managers haven't yet put their foot in the water.
Jeffrey Liker, professor of industrial and operational engineering at the University of Michigan, says manufacturers "don't understand the degree of change necessary to be a truly lean organization or culture or doing Kaizen regularly in the workplace." He adds, "The commitment on the part of most companies is pretty limited." Liker recently presented his findings at the recent IIE Lean Management Conference in Orlando, Fla.
Traditionally, Liker says, manufacturing managers have looked vertically in attempting to cure inefficiencies. "They would see a discrete problem in a certain area and attempt to address that specific issue only," he says.
In contrast to this mindset, companies such as Toyota have taken the approach to address waste as it affects the manufacturing operation as a whole, Liker says. "Culturally, Toyota has created a system to eliminate waste—it has engaged all employees in this endeavor," not just upper level management, he notes.
A major problem facing manufacturers is that they are not seeing lean implementations through to fruition. "Most (managers) would like to do it and be done with it, but they come up short," Liker states. "Many have seen a lot of starts and stops in the implementation over the past 10 years."
To avoid sporadic implementation, Liker suggests developing a team to research and install an "action plan" that involves horizontal integration. He adds, "Developing a plan that envisions the results of your lean implementation is the key."
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