Lean Manufacturing: what is and lean manufacturing tools

The success of a manufacturing company is based on its ability to streamline its resources and generate customer value.

Lean manufacturing is an accurate and appropriate model to raise the potential of any business.

Lean manufacturing has the main objective of minimizing losses due to the use of resources, so it aims to make use of those strictly necessary to not be affected by this.

In this article we are going to know what lean manufacturing is and some of the main tools that will help your organization.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is a management model that is focused on developing a production flow to provide customers with maximum value through the necessary resources and avoiding waste.

It was conceived in the 1960s to improve the brand's production systems, and since then it has been adapted to different businesses due to the benefits it offers.

Through different tools, lean manufacturing aims at constant improvement through the use of the Kaizen philosophy, the total or minimum reduction of waste in these systems and a steady improvement in lean production times while taking care of quality.

The result is the optimization of each of the processes and the reduction of costs to achieve greater profitability and guarantee maximum customer satisfaction.

What is the Kaizen philosophy?

As we mentioned, lean manufacturing sometimes works closely related to a type of philosophy known as Kaizen, where the ingenuity and creativity of the personnel are contained to identify each of the factors that have the possibility of improvement in order to increase the effectiveness of the strategies.

One of its main benefits is that it takes into account all the staff of a business and keeps them motivated to seek the best alternatives to benefit each sector of the organization, which leads the Kaizen philosophy to be considered a key piece in business competitiveness.

Characteristics of Lean Manufacturing

For lean manufacturing, 5 key principles or characteristics must be applied, which are known as the 5S, due to their Japanese origin, and these contain the way to apply this model to a company.

1. Seiri (Classification)

First of all, the aim is to separate the elements that are necessary from those that are not within the work area, with the objective of eliminating what is not essential to reduce clutter and facilitate the quick location of the resources that are required.

2. Seiton (Order)

Once the classification is in place, it is now important to establish a place for each of the elements in order to have a key organization, to reduce search time and save time and effort. 

3. Seiso (Cleanliness)

Cleanliness is another key point in lean manufacturing, since the work area must be kept tidy at all times, so it is a priority to encourage regular cleaning of tools and work spaces to prevent the accumulation of dirt.

4. Seiketsu (Standardization)

This point is the moment in which we seek to establish a standard and procedure to keep the first three S's always functional and constant through routines and protocols to ensure that they are applied systematically. 

5. Shitsuke (Discipline)

Finally, the last “S” refers to maintaining commitment and discipline so that the 4 previous characteristics work in the long term, so it is important to create a culture of continuous improvement where each of the collaborators are committed to organization, order and cleanliness.

Remember that each organization has the last word in deciding which key points of this model should be applied, always thinking about the specific needs and characteristics.

Lean Manufacturing Tools

Taking as a reference the 5S model that we have explained, the manufacturing industry has evolved and with it, the development of new tools began to generate popularity, resulting in some of an important value as Six Sigma, TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), JIT (Just in Time) and others that are more focused on specific projects as could be the Lean 4.0 of London Consulting Group.

Each business can use these models to improve the work flow, the processes and that the result or final product has the best quality and at the lowest cost, always based on lean manufacturing.

• Six Sigma: it is focused on reducing process variability and minimizing defects.
• TPM: its objective is to maintain equipment and machinery in optimal conditions to avoid failures and time lost due to unplanned downtime.
• JIT: based on lean production and delivery of products when they are needed to avoid accumulating unnecessary inventory.
• Lean 4.0: its approach encompasses the above and focuses on maximizing customer value and reducing waste.

Lean Manufacturing Waste

We have talked about waste and it is time to better understand what it refers to within lean manufacturing. By waste we mean any type of process, activity or resource that does not add any value to the final product or service from the customer's point of view.

Due to the above, it is very important to know the different types of waste that can exist within lean manufacturing, and we are going to show you in broad strokes what they are.

• Overproduction: it means that you are performing production levels beyond what you need ahead of time.
• Waiting time: time that is unnecessary during the production stages of a product.
• Unnecessary transportation: refers to the set of excessive movements or displacements of products that, far from making each process more efficient, cause delays in the respective lines.
• Unnecessary processing: all the steps that do not add any value to the final product.
• Unnecessary movements: unlike transportation, this has to do with actions performed by operators that do not really contribute anything.
• Defects: everything that does not meet the quality standards to be delivered to the customer.
• Underutilization of talent: when collaborators within a company are not taking advantage of their full potential and knowledge.

Lean manufacturing helps us in the process of reducing or eliminating these wastes, and involves a process of recognition to take the necessary measures to provide a solution.

One of the easiest ways to start here is the so-called “waste walk,” during which a team walks through the entire process in the same way as they would a product.

Lean 4.0 from London Consulting Group

One of the best methodologies of Lean Manufacturing 4.0 is the one offered by London Consulting Group, as it is applicable for any type of business that aims to improve quality, reduce costs and provide a better value offer to customers.

We can say that Lean 4.0 integrates elements that give a new approach to lean manufacturing such as the use of technologies like IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, to have greater quality control and optimization in real time.

Its most important features are the following:

• Mass hyper-customization: products and services can be customized on a large scale in response to customer needs.
• Agility and adaptability: thanks to Lean 4.0 tools, it is possible to respond quickly to constant market changes.
• Agile leadership and collaborative work: fosters collaboration between different areas within a business and promotes a leadership style that adapts to what is required to always deliver value to the customer.
• Customer experience orientation: the priority is the person who receives the services and products, so every step of the production process is focused on this experience.

Likewise, lean manufacturing has benefits when the methodology is adapted in an organization, among which the following stand out:

• Cost and expense reduction.
• Inventory and transportation optimization.
• Increased quality and competitiveness in the market.
• Acceleration of innovation through agile methodologies.
• Digitalization and data analysis for decisions based on real information.

London Consulting Group, an efficient partner in Lean Manufacturing

London Consulting Group is at the forefront of lean manufacturing tools and solutions to help companies with production processes and resource efficiency. With Lean 4.0, businesses experience a change that can be effectively observed.

Maintaining productivity levels while delivering value to the customer can be complicated without the right partnerships, and London Consulting Group's expertise is one of its cornerstones.

Schedule a meeting with the specialists to learn more about how Lean Manufacturing can take your company to the next level, and start this journey today.