3 Concepts for Lean Manufacturing

Improving your manufacturing operation may seem self-evident and simple, but it is actually rather complex and challenging in practice. When it comes to improving your manufacturing operation, there are various factors to consider: what areas of your production are lacking efficiency, how these may be able to be improved, the cost of improvement, and more.

It is important to have accurate measurements pertaining to how well your production is functioning in terms of efficiency. Without this, you can not proceed to the next steps of process improvement. Without a structured approach, it is rather difficult to maintain continuous improvement and momentum.This is why utilizing a continuous improvement approach such as a Lean process improvement methodology can provide mass improvement into your manufacturing operation. Therefore, here are three concepts for lean manufacturing improvement within your manufacturing operation. 

3 Concepts for Lean Manufacturing Improvement 

The three concepts for lean manufacturing improvement pertain to the following: 

• Lean Process Improvement is a Mindset - One of the biggest differentiators between the term “process improvement” and the Lean process improvement methodology is that Lean process improvement is a mindset and a practice instead of an even. Various organizations view process improvement as a temporary event or activity used to solve giant systematic gaps. Lean organizations view continuous improvement as a daily mindset and practice which enables organizations to deliver on their promises to their customers. 
• Effective When Practiced Across the Organization - In order for Lean process improvements to be effective, every part of the organization needs to be willing to change and implement the lean process. If this is unable to be completed, production facilities run the risk of having teams that by optimizing their performance, sub optimize the performance of another team. Everyone within a lean operation should be on the same page in order for it to work effectively. 
• Help you Maximize Value and Deliver Faster - The entire goal of a lean operation is to help you maximize value and deliver faster. This is conducted through systematically locating ways to deliver more value to their customers faster. It does this through providing a systematic, scientific approach to practicing continuous improvement as part of daily work. 

It is important to understand these concepts in order to maximize efficiency within your manufacturing operation. A software that can easily be implemented with a lean methodology production facility is PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software. Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) provides insight within your operation through allowing you to have a visual representation of the entire process as a whole. It allows you to manipulate areas of production that are in need of process improvement and efficiency enhancement and boost your facility through cost reduction, profit increase, and more. PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) has become a must for manufacturing facilities around the globe. 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software has become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations due to customer demand for increased product mix and fast delivery combined with downward cost pressures. APS can be quickly integrated with a ERP/MRP software to fill gaps where these system lack planning and scheduling flexibility and accuracy. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans.

• Create optimized schedules balancing production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

Implementation of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency, taking advantage of the operational data you already have in your ERP.