Lean Production

What is lean production?

An approach to management that focuses on cutting out waste, whilst ensuring quality.

Give some examples of waste in business.

• Unused raw materials

• Work in progress

• Finished products in storage

• Skills and knowledge not being used by management

What are some component parts of an effective lean production system?

• Time-based management

• Just in time production (JIT)

• Cell production

• Kaizen (continous improvement)

What does an effective lean production system require?

1. Good relations with suppliers

2. Committed, skilled and motivated employees

3. A culture of quality assurance, continous improvement and willingness to embrace change.

4. Trust between management and employees.

What is time-based management?

A general approach that recognises the importance of time and seeks to reduce the level of wasted time in a business’ production process.

What are the benefits of effective time-based management to a business?

• Quicker response times (reduced lead times) to meet changing market and customer needs.

• Faster development of new products.

• Reduction in waste ∴ greater efficiency.

What are the requirements for time-based management?

1. Flexible production methods

• Able to change products quickly

• Can change production volume / runs

2. Trained employees

• Multi-skilled staff

• Trust between workers and managers

What is cell production?

A form of team working where production processes are split into cells.

Each cell is responsible for a complete unit of work.

What are the potential benefits of cell production?

• Closeness of cell members should improve communication.

• Workers become multi-skilled and more adaptable to the needs of the business.

• Increased employee motivation- from variety of work, team-working and responsibility.

• Improved quality- each cell has ‘ownership’ for quality on its area.

What are the potential drawbacks of cell production?

• Business may have to invest in new materials handling and ordering systems suitable for cell production.

• Cell production may not allow a business to use its machinery as intensively as in traditional flow production.

• Recruitment and training of staff must support this approach to production.

• Workers may feel they are being pushed for greater output with no respite.

What is just in time production?

JIT aims to ensure that inputs into the production processes only arrive when they are needed.

What are the benefits of JIT?

• Lower stock holding means a reduction in storage space which saves rent and insurance costs.

• Less working capital is tied up in stock as stock is only obtained when needed.

• Less likelihood of stock perishing, become obsolete or out of date.

What are the drawbacks of JIT?

• There is little room for mistakes as minimal stock is kept for re-working faulty products / goods.

• Production is highly reliant on suppliers, and if stock is not delievered on time, the whole production process may be delayed.

• There is no spare finished product available to meet unexpected orders, because all product is to meet actual orders.

What is kaizen?

An approach of constantly introducing small incremental changes in a business in order to improve quality and/or efficiency.

How does kaizen work?

• Ideas come from employees- easier to implement.

• Small improvements are less likely to require major capital investment than major process changes.

• All employees constantly look for ways to improve their own performance.

• Encourages employees to take ownership for their work- helps reinforce team working / improve motivation.