Lean production/management:
Cost reduction
Maintaining a high efficiency
7 deadly sins of lean production/management
Avoid overproduction
Eliminate waiting times
Avoid errors
Avoid inefficient processes
Reduce transports
Lower stocks
Avoid unnecessary movements
Lean production/management is a Japanese approach to management that focuses on cutting out waste, whilst ensuring quality. This approach can be applied to all aspects of a business- from design, through production to distribution.
Most important aspects of lean production are as follows:
Kaizen (continuous improvement)
Just in time production (JIT)
Cell production
Total quality management (TQM) and zero defect production
Kaizen or continuous improvement
Is a policy of constantly introducing small incremental changes in a business in order to improve quality or efficiency.
This approach assumes that employees are the best people to identify room for improvement, since they see the processes in action all the time.
A firm that uses this approach therefore has to have a culture that encourages and rewards employees.
Kaizen can operate at the level of an individual, or through Kaizen groups or quality circles which are groups specifically brought together to identify potential improvements.
Negatives of Kaizen…
Employees can find this to be an unwelcome pressure, as it becomes increasingly difficult to find further scope for improvement.
For kaizen to be effective there has to be trust within staff and managers a good two way communication
Asking employees to come up with suggestions
Just in time (JIT)
Just in time is a pull system of production, so actual orders provide a signal for when a product should be manufactured. JIT enables a firm to produce only what is required by the customer, in the correct quantity, at the correct time, at correct quality and at the shortest lead time.
Advantages of JIT
1. Lower stock holding means a reduction in storage space which saves rent and insurance costs
2. There is less likelihood of