Lean Concepts
Lean Concepts
Lean Concepts
Lean Manufacturing Terms and Concepts
leanmanufacture.net is a web resource and blog style website where you can find out more about lean manufacturing, operations management and business strategy from concepts and theory to real life applications which will help you achieve your operations goals and objectives. The site is intended to be user friendly and a vast knowledge resource that explains and addresses fundamental issues to the success of any business to anyone from students to entrepreneurs, manufacturing engineers, managers consultants and anyone interested in this broad subject. I hope you enjoy the site.
Lean manufacturing or lean production is a business and operations improvement methodology and culture which has as its foundation and main objective to minimize wasted resources, maximize the output in a value adding process with a set amount of inputs and reduce costs . This is usually achieved by building efficiencies attained from streamlining and optimizing processes, the use of technology, production plant optimization and setup, introducing pull and just in time production methods, enhancing employee culture and skills, efficient materials management, improving housekeeping and discipline standards, among others.
Standard Operating procedures or SOP’s are a set of clearly written instructions which outline the steps or tasks needed to complete a job, operation or operate a piece of machinery or plant. The instructions must be written in a brief manner in simple language that all operators and employees required to perform the task are able to read and understand.
Standard Operating procedures should have the following characteristics:
-The department and area where the task is carried out
-The person who has written the SOP and his/her job title details
-The person who has authorized or checked the SOP
-The SOP must make use of picture or illustrations as much as possible.
-The SOP must use simple and easy to understand language, preferably in dot points.
-The SOP must also contain any OH&S information.
Lean training or education can be provided by a wide variety of sources and at different levels of expertise. Lean training involves imparting the basic concepts of the lean manufacturing system/ Toyota manufacturing system lean concepts introduced in japan back in the eighties by Japanese auto makers, namely Toyota. Other topics included in many lean manufacturing courses include problem solving, decision making, and operations management topics including supply chain. At a professional level, lean manufacturing and its related concepts and techniques are studied in an industrial, manufacturing or supply chain engineering degree.
Implementing lean or many of the lean manufacturing techniques in an organization which has never seen these concept before can be a very labor and strategically intensive task. What will be the lean/continuous improvement implementation strategy? How will management endeavour to change culture? And most importantly who will do what and what is required to complete the lean journey and achieve the set goals and level of operational efficiency.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
We are dedicated to helping people succeed. We feature founder stories, design articles and startup deep dives, hard life experience, advice, and creative thinking
