The Importance Of Lean Production

855 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Advantages of lean production

The economic situation in which China has turned is somewhat diverse from 10 years ago: the increasing cost of labor force, the slowly but steady economic recovery of the western nations, the growing domestic competition and the awareness accretionary for quality product in domestic demand, has been highlighted in the importance of efficiency; in terms of cost, reliability and performance, in the production decision-making process (Benister, 2011; Hinh, 2013). The future success of many companies relays is indeed on the adroitness to meet customer’s expectations with high-caliber production enforcements through the delivery of quality products in short time with shorter lead times and lower costs (Baht, 2012). Consequently, manufacturing companies and their production system must operate efficiently and effectively to remain competitive in both the domestic and global economy. The improvement and optimization of manufacturing system is therefore a factor to take into account in order to obtain an overall company success (Mohr, 2012).
It is along these reasons there is an increasing trend in the industries to achieve a higher integration between designed and manufacturing functions in order to make the operations more efficient and productive. One of the successful approaches in these efforts is Lean Production (Shahram, 2008; J. Wang 2013).

Lean production defined simply as operating a factory with minimal resources whilst at the same time maximizing work accomplished with these resources (Bellgran, 2010). These resources are not only intended for workers and equipment but includes time, space and materials. In short, lean production is: “doing more with less and doing it better”.

According to Recalling Sheridan (1990), “Among...

... middle of paper ...

...intense job-shop and with flexible demand and negligible set up times. The objective of the thesis is to explores whether cellular manufacturing can help the above specified manufacturing companies to achieve better production performance. Especially, the purpose is twofold: to learn and to improve. Cellular Manufacturing not only improves production plant efficiency but has the potential of creating a new method of doing business (Wemmerlov, 1997).This term is intended to understand whether and how to implement cellular manufacturing in medium production companies characterized by high product variety and a flexible demand; Whilst, with the term improve, narrowly, it is wanted to intend the optimization of the production system of these specified company through the development (designing, implementing and evaluating) of an appropriate cellular manufacturing system.

Show More
Related

  • Space Age Furniture Company

    2441 Words  | 5 Pages

    In today’s operational management arena, there are certain expectations from a managerial aspect that must be met in order to be successful. A comprehensive look at the Space Age Furniture Company will show exactly what the Materials Requirement Planning (MRP) calculations are for this company at present time and then take the information given in order to properly suggest ways to improve the sub-assemblies. In addition, there will be an analysis on the trade-offs between the overtime and inventory costs. A calculation will be made on the new MRP that will improve the base MRP. This paper will also compare and contrast the types of production processing to include the job shop, batch, repetitive, or continuous, and determine which the primary mode of operation should be and exactly why. A detailed description on how management can keep track of the job status and location during production will also be addressed. Finally, there will be a recommendation on they type of changes that need to occur that will be beneficial to the company and at the same time add value to the customer. This paper will conclude with summary of the major points.

    Read More

  • Lean Six Sigma Analysis

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s marketplace and world of business it is critical that customers receive a quality product in a timely manner from the supplier. It is also critical as a supplier and business that waste is reduce in all categories including inventory, time, facility space, storage, and also transportation. Several methods have been created and adopted over the past 20 years from top companies with successful track records such as Toyota, GE, and Motorola. One method or process that has proving to be successful is none other than Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma evolved as a concept in the early years of the 2000s which combines the Lean manufacturing method and also the concept of Six Sigma. When you blend both processes together, you have in return a better delivery schedule, better quality, outstanding employees, satisfied customers and last but not least profit. Profitability as we all know is the goal for any business, organization, or manufacturing company as well as to increase throughput while reducing inventory and operational expense (Eliyahu M. Goldratt).

    Read More

  • Essay On Continuous Improvement

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a lot of literature on the concept of continuous improvement (CI). Studies show that CI is very important to creating competitive advantages in highly competitive industries such as the automobile industry (Bhuiyan & Baghel 2005; Li et al. 2009; Schaeffer, Cadavid, & Backström 2010). These studies suggest that manufacturing firms use CI to eliminate waste in all organisational systems and processes (Bhuiyan & Baghel 2005; Li et al. 2009). Currently, manufacturing firms use lean manufacturing, six sigma, lean six sigma, and the Kaizen methods of CI methodologies to reduce wastages, simplify the production line, and improve quality (Swink & Jacobs 2012).

    Read More

  • The Effect Of Lean Six Sigma On The Employee And The Organization

    1957 Words  | 4 Pages

    The methodology of Lean Six Sigma is the merger of two business tools that includes Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. Six Sigma focuses on improving current business processes and performance while Lean Manufacturing focuses on the improvement of the processes of an organization by using highly skilled employees to increase speed and quality. Combining the two methodologies creates an organization that focuses on quality, efficiency and speed to lower operational costs and increase profits. By following the Lean Six Sigma methodology, many companies have attempted to create a lean, waste-free environment ultimately at the expense of the employee and occasionally at the expense of the organization.

    Read More

  • Lean Benefits Of Quality Management

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    Quality is an important part of any business rather from a customer’s perspective or a producer’s perspective. Quality from a customer’s perspective is they “want value and quality has become a major factor in the value of products and service” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 53). “The customer is the most important part of the production line” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 53). This can be referred to as quality of design meaning “involves designing quality characteristics into a product or service” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 54). Now let’s look at the quality from a producer’s perspective. This can be referred to a quality of conformance meaning “making sure the product or service is produced according to design” (Russell & Taylor, 2013,

    Read More

  • Lean Methodology And Six Sigma

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    These methods provide a logical solution to the various problems and help in enhancing the quality and efficiency of products and processes [7]. The critical power of Lean Six Sigma is its focus on finding the variables impacting the majority of variations in process {3]. Thus Lean Six Sigma methodology together helps in achieving project goals and the targets

    Read More

  • Somerset Case Analysis

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    The global supply chain variability is causing customer delivery delayed by around 40% and also experiencing quality problems that is introduced by the humidity difference between the locations of Chinese manufacturing plants. Moreover, it is taking much longer to deliver products, and the spare parts preventing any timely customer services. The goal is to come up with a faster product delivery and product cycle employing strategic and tactical changes that might improve supply chain problem and address the quality and increase customer

    Read More

  • Kellogg’s; an example of Lean Production System, using Just-In-Time (JIT)

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the new global economy, with the improved information technology, and the increased competition, a study by Levy (2007) shows that, many companies have attempted to recognize and implement lean production (LP) systems, established by Toyota, that involve goals such as just-in-time (JIT) delivery, low inventories, zero defects, flexible production in small batches and close practical cooperation with suppliers. Therefore, this paper will present how Kellogg’s has been able to manage its lean production in a very efficient way to create long term value products and competitive advantage.

    Read More

  • Lean

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lean is dependent on customer focus. The term “Value” is defined by the customer and we develop and maintain processes to provide this particular value. Processes are function by people. Only support and right leadership and guidance you'll be able to drive your people to continuously improve processes that add value towards customer.

    Read More

  • Steel Manufacturing

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...st manufacturing company, actual time of occurrence and vigorous and purposeful customer demand analysis is required by most, if not all manufacturing companies to efficiently and automatically act in response of customers demand.

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Supply Chain

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is the activity carried out by organizations that own production sites, and their performance has a major impact on product cost, quality, speed of delivery and delivery reliability, and flexibility [8]. As it is quite an important part of the supply chain, production needs to be measured and continuously improved. Suitable metrics for the production level are as follows. Order lead-time, the total order cycle time, called order to delivery cycle time, refers to the time elapsed in between the receipt of customer order until the delivery of finished goods to the customer. The reduction in order cycle time leads to reduction in supply chain response time, and as such is an important performance measure and source of competitive advantage [9]. It directly interacts with customer service in determining competitiveness. Range of product and services: According to [8] a plant that manufactures a broad product range is likely to introduce new products more slowly than plants with a narrow product range. Plants that can manufacture a wide range of products are likely to perform less well in the areas of value added per employee, speed and delivery reliability. This clearly suggests that product range affects supply chain performance. Effectiveness of scheduling techniques is another important measure of supply chain effectiveness. Scheduling refers to the time or date on or by which

    Read More

  • Toyota Supply Chain

    2794 Words  | 6 Pages

    The business environment is increasingly becoming competitive and challenging. In the recent past, manufacturers have found themselves facing the threat of dwindling profit margins due to unfortunate global events such as the 2007 global financial crisis and the on going Europe economic crisis. The need to improve operation efficiency so as to ensure current and future investment yield the highest rate of return has therefore become extremely important. Manufacturers are now actively engaged in, managing their costs, Research and Development, adopting best procurement strategies, among other Actions. While such actions might eventually lead to positive results, additional business value can be achieved through proper management of the supply chain (Waymer, Ivanaj & Mussa 2009; Krivda 2004).

    Read More

  • Chad's Creative Concepts

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    Operations – To work out the right layout and work flow process in the company. The manpower resource allocation is also critical in the situation on the right balance of resource to handle the production. If possible, adopt a hybrid model to handle the flexibility in the product nature, make both the production line being able to configure standard and customized so to reduce setup and changeover time and cope with the demands.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Manufacturing Process In Manufacturing

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    In manufacturing process there are different steps and jobs needs to be done in specific ways and time such as sourcing the parts we need in the production, make the items, and shipping it for the customers.

    Read More

  • Toyota Manufacturing Company

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1950s, Toyota has developed lean thinking. The Toyota Production System aspires to minimize waste and increase efficiency while at the same time enhances its product quality. From this initiative, Toyota managed to widen its competitive edge by employed fewer employees in the car production with a small number of flaw products.

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Lean Production

Open Document