Lean and mean manufacturing

Here are the leading practices being followed by leading companies to remove waste from everyday manufacturing processes.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/26/2006

Lean manufacturing is moving to the next level. Once considered to be a best practice for only the largest auto manufacturers, lean manufacturing is now being adopted by a wide range of companies of differing sizes in various industries. And as they do so, the best practices of lean are being expanded.

Most people think of lean as a system designed to keep inventory and waste to a minimum. While that’s true, the whole point of lean is to be extraordinarily customer-focused and responsive. Reduced inventory, lead times, paperwork and errors are a by-product of a system focused on the end-customer.

Out on the floor, lean is represented by several best practices:

Total productive maintenance to eliminate downtime. The theory is simple: If your equipment isn’t available when you need it, you don’t have reliable processes.

Quick set up. Lean views batch processing as outdated. Your systems must be able to changeover and set up quickly in order to be flexible.

Error proofing. In lean, if something is wrong, you stop the line and fix it now, rather than rework product later.

Lean is visual. Toyota, which developed lean 50 years ago, originally delivered parts to the line one tote at a time and replaced a tote when a supervisor saw that it was empty. Today, electronic systems are used to replenish parts, but the concept of visibility at the line holds true.

To learn more about lean manufacturing best practices, read a special report from Modern Materials Handling (Lean and Mean - March 2004).

In addition, the Keynote Forum at ProMat 2007, the materials handling industry trade event, will focus on how lean has changed and how you can use it to become a world class company.