LEAN PRODUCTION (OPERATION STRATEGY)

what is LEAN PRODUCTION ?

produce goods and services with minimum of waste resources while maintaining high quality

List 5 approaches of lean production (KaiQuCellSiWaste)

1. kaizen

2. quality circles

3. simultaneous engineering

4. cell production

5. waste management

What is Kaizen ?

Japanese term meaning CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

What does Kaizen suggest ?

• Workers actually know more than managers about how job might be improved

Does Kaizen states that improvement in productivity results from massive one off investment in new technology only ?

NO. a series of small improvements, suggested by staff teams over time, can result in a big improvement in efficiency as major new investment

What is 3 condition of Kaizen ?

• management culture must be directed towards involving staff

• team working

• empowerment

List 3 limitations of Kaizen

1. in short term, tangible costs to the business such as employee training

2. resistance from senior management. Kaizen will only work if there is areal empowerment.

3. may need expensive solution such as AI based operation system

Explain quality circles

• based on worker involvement in improving quality, using small group of employees to discuss quality issues

What does quality circle stated to improve quality and increase worker participation?

teamworking and participation will improve quality

List 3 benefits of quality circle

• improve quality through joint discussion

• improve motivation through participation

• make full use of the knowledge and experience of employees

What is the 3 main conditions to determine success of quality circle ?

1. circles members must be committed to improve quality

2. need full support from management

3. teams should be empowered to implement the recommendations

What is simultaneous engineering?

• product development organized so that all stages are done at the SAME TIME instead of SEQUENCE

why simultaneous engineering is a method of developing new product which saves time ?

bacause all task are done at the same time as each other (simultaneously) and not one afther the other (sequentially)

Advantages of simultaneous engineering ?

• product can be in marketplace months or even years eralier

What is cell production ?

flow production split into groups that are responsible for a complete unit of work

What is known as cell in cell production?

Mini production unit

What is characteristic of the cell?

• each individual cell produces complete unit of work

• each cell has a team leader

• performance of each cell is measured against pre set targets

List 3 benefits of cell production

• improve workers commitment and motivation

• increase productivity

• increased teamwork

Is JIT under lean ?

YES

how Waste management works?

• JIT reduce inventory holdings

• adopting total quality management (TQM)

• use of recycled materials

state 3 advanatge of lean production

1. waste of time and resources is reduced

2. less risk of damage to stocks and equipment

3. quality is improved

what is limitation of operational strategies to achieve lean

• business may have difficulty in forecasting demand (maybe wrong forecasts)

• lean production not appropriate for social enterprises (suitable for profit motive business)

• some businesses specialize in customer service. lean production more suitable for physical product)