The aim of lean production is to eliminate all waste in production. The aim is therefore to reduce activities and resources that do not create added value for the customer.
Origin and meaning of lead production
The lean concept became popular in the 1990s. However, the origin of the basic idea of lean emerged as early as the 1950s at Toyota in Japan. Lean production – often also referred to as lean manufacturing – is part of the overarching term “lean management”.
Lean production means that care is taken not to waste resources such as labor or materials in production. The aim is to increase production efficiency by reducing costs and increasing productivity.
Advantages of lean production
Leaner production ensures greater resource efficiency and brings a number of advantages:
- Lower costs due to lower material and energy consumption.
- Competitive advantage, through cost savings.
- Improvement of production.
- Reducing the environmental impact and improving the sustainability of the company.
Resource efficiency and sustainability in production are becoming increasingly important both economically and in terms of climate and the environment. Raw materials and materials are the biggest cost factor in the manufacturing industry, which is why there is potential for savings by reducing material consumption.
Lean production or lean manufacturing therefore helps to discover potential savings. These can be utilized by eliminating unnecessary waste.
Types of waste
Put simply, according to the lean mindset, all steps in the process that do not offer added value for the customer count as waste. There are often eight different types of waste.
These types of waste are: Defective products and rejects, overproduction, unnecessary transportation, waiting times, too much material in the warehouse, unnecessary movement of employees, unused knowledge of employees, and duplicated processes.
To eliminate or reduce these types of waste, there are many different methods in lean management for each type of waste.
Application of lean management methods
In order to achieve lean production, lean management methods can be applied in a targeted manner. The following is a selection from the lean management toolbox: 5S method, just-in-time, Kaizen, Jidoka and standardization of work processes.
5S
The 5S method focuses on organized work areas and a structured workflow. Waste caused by unnecessary employee movements and poor organization (e.g. finding documents, test reports and test equipment) should be reduced.
This method ensures an organized workspace in 5 steps:
The first step is selection, where everything that is not part of the workstation is eliminated. In the second step, the remaining elements are sorted. This is followed by cleaning, checking and keeping the work areas clean.
Standards are now to be defined for the previously defined points. The fifth step is to ensure that the previously defined standards are properly adhered to.
Digital checklists can support the implementation, control and maintenance of 5S by defining standardized processes and recording structured data. The digitalization of these processes supports the automation of workflows.
Just-In-Time
The just-in-time method eliminates waste caused by excessive material stocks.
With just-in-time, the request for parts is based on specific orders/requests. The parts are delivered exactly when they are needed. This makes the production flow more economical. The advantage of just-in-time is that stock levels are kept low. Storage areas can therefore be reduced and space saved.
It is important to be able to rely on the supplier and maintain a good working relationship. At the same time, the incoming goods inspection can be omitted. Instead, regular quality assurance audits should be carried out and the information and data requested from the supplier.
The just-in-time method goes hand-in-hand with many other lean management methods.
Kaizen
The Kaizen method can help with several types of waste. Above all, the Kaizen method refers to utilizing the knowledge of employees.
Kaizen focuses on continuous improvement. The strategy is for employees to proactively and regularly initiate improvements to working methods, procedures and processes. The Kaizen method focuses on day-to-day work in order to identify and implement efficiency improvements in working methods. This ongoing improvement process leads to the long-term optimization of work processes in order to keep financial costs as low as possible.
Better and more efficient production is achieved by utilizing the knowledge within the company.
Jidoka
Jidoka refers to the partial automation of processes in production and manufacturing. This partial automation has the advantage that it is more cost-effective than full automation and still contributes to labor savings.
Mapping processes with digital workflow management tools helps to simplify implementation. This enables simple and flexible automation of cross-divisional and cross-company processes.
KPI and SMART Goals
Lean production can be supported and made measurable by defining meaningful KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) derived from the production processes and developing SMART targets.
When formulating SMART goals, it is important to ensure that the goals are Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realisticand Time-bound. This ensures that the defined goals can actually be achieved.
KPIs are an important control element for continuously monitoring the quality and efficiency of individual processes. If necessary, countermeasures for improvement and error reduction can be identified and initiated at an early stage.
Conclusion
More efficiency can be achieved with lean production. In order to eliminate waste in production, companies can apply lean management methods in a targeted manner. In this way, more resource efficiency and sustainability can be achieved in production.
In particular, the structured recording of quality data at every stage of the value chain and ongoing evaluation can make a significant contribution to increasing efficiency and productivity.
Sources: Lean Production (IPH Hannover), Lean Management (arbeitswissenschaft.net), The 8 Wastes of Lean (theleanway.net), Ressourceneffizienz (VDI), Ressourceneffizienz (Effizienz-Agentur NRW), Just-In-Time Lieferungen (produktion-technik.de)
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