Lean Production, Waste Reduction, and Project Management in Manufacturing

Lean production

Focus on eliminating as much waste as possible

Customer value

Anything the customer is willing to pay for

Toyota Production System (TPS)

System developed to improve quality and productivity based on two philosophies

Waste

Anything not absolutely essential to production

Waste from transportation

Unnecessary movement of products or materials

Waste of waiting time

Idle time when resources are not being used

Transportation waste

Excessive movement of materials between processes

Inventory waste

Excess inventory beyond what is needed

Processing waste

Unnecessary or inefficient processing steps

Waste of motion

Unnecessary movement by workers

Waste from product defects

Costs incurred from producing defective products

Jidoka

Built-in quality where production stops when a defect is detected

Value stream

All value-adding and non-value-adding activities required to deliver a product or service

Waste reduction

Optimizing value-adding activities and eliminating non-value-adding ones

Lean supply chain

Strategy to minimize waste and maximize value across the supply chain

5S methodology

Workplace organization system focused on efficiency and cleanliness

Sort

Remove unnecessary items from the workplace

Set in order

Organize items so they are easy to find and use

Shine

Keep the workplace clean

Standardize

Establish consistent procedures and standards

Sustain

Maintain and review standards regularly

Shadow board

Visual tool showing where tools belong

Root cause analysis (RCA)

Process of identifying and fixing fundamental causes of problems

Cause and effect diagram

Visual tool identifying potential causes of a problem

Fishbone diagram

Another name for cause and effect diagram

Value stream mapping

Lean tool for visualizing and improving flow of materials and information

Current state map

Depicts how a process currently operates

Future state map

Depicts an improved version of the process

Kaizen

Continuous improvement through small incremental changes

SIPOC

High-level process mapping tool

Suppliers

Entities that provide inputs

Inputs

Resources used in a process

Process

Activities that transform inputs into outputs

Outputs

Products or services produced

Customers

Recipients of outputs

Project

A series of related tasks directed toward a major output

Project management

Planning directing and controlling resources to meet objectives

Project scope

Objectives and deliverables of a project

Project cost

Budget and resource expenses of a project

Project schedule

Timeline for completing project activities

Project milestone

Important event or checkpoint in a project

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Hierarchical breakdown of project tasks

Activity

Piece of work that consumes time

Analytical skills

Ability to analyze data and solve problems logically

Interpersonal skills

Ability to communicate and work effectively with others

Psychological safety

Environment where individuals feel safe to speak up

Conversational turn-taking

Balanced participation in discussions

Sensitivity awareness

Recognizing tone body language and responses

Critical path

Longest sequence of dependent activities determining project duration

Critical path method

Technique used to schedule and manage projects

Immediate predecessor

Activity that must be completed before another starts

Slack time

Amount of delay allowed without affecting project completion

Early start schedule

Activities begin as soon as possible

Late start schedule

Activities begin as late as possible without delaying completion

Crashing

Reducing project duration by increasing resources at a cost

Statistical quality control (SQC)

Quantitative techniques for evaluating quality

Assignable variation

Variation caused by identifiable sources

Random variation

Natural variation inherent in a process

Specification limits

Minimum and maximum acceptable values

Statistical process control (SPC)

Monitoring quality using random samples

Attribute data

Categorical quality data such as defects

Variable data

Continuous quality data such as weight or time

p-chart

Control chart for attribute data

x-bar chart

Control chart showing sample means

R chart

Control chart showing range within samples

Range

Difference between highest and lowest values in a sample

R-bar

Average range of samples

Sales and operations planning

Process to balance supply and demand over time

Aggregate operations plan

High-level plan minimizing resource costs

Chase strategy

Adjust workforce levels to match demand

Chase strategy pros

Low inventory and high responsiveness

Chase strategy cons

High hiring firing costs and lower morale

Level strategy

Maintain stable workforce and output rate

Level strategy pros

Stable morale predictable costs simpler planning

Level strategy cons

High inventory costs and risk of stockouts

Functional silo approach

Departments optimize individually rather than collectively

ERP system

Integrated software managing business processes across functions

ERP goal transaction processing

Recording daily business transactions

ERP goal decision support

Providing information for managerial decisions

ERP finance module

Handles accounting and financial transactions

ERP manufacturing module

Supports production planning and quality management

ERP sales and marketing module

Manages customer relationships and forecasting

ERP human resources module

Handles scheduling payroll hiring and training

Industry 4.0

Fourth industrial revolution integrating smart technologies

Smart manufacturing

Use of advanced technologies in production systems

Cyber-physical systems

Integration of physical processes with digital systems

Human-machine collaboration

People and machines working together

Internet of Things (IoT)

Network of connected physical devices exchanging data