Lean manufacturing is an industry initiative that production planning software has worked hard to support and optimize over the past fifteen years. We have seen the practice of lean manufacturing evolve from strictly shop floor practices to transactional lean and ultimately the digital mediums of 2015— PC apps, iPads, and smartphones. We are very pleased with these advances, and in today’s blog we would like to address some of the most common questions we’ve encountered in this evolving practice.
Why is lean manufacturing important?
Lean manufacturing is the practice of eliminating waste while producing high-quality products with maximum efficiency. When a company successfully meets lean manufacturing benchmarks, it ultimately saves time, material, and labor expenses—which means bigger profits at the end of the day.
From an environmental standpoint, lean manufacturing is all about generating less waste. Less waste means less of a negative footprint on the world. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “Lean production techniques often create a culture of continuous improvement, employee empowerment, and waste minimization, which is very compatible with organizational characteristics encouraged under environmental management systems (EMS) and pollution prevention (P2).”
What is the purpose of lean manufacturing?
The goal of lean manufacturing is to obtain a competitive edge in a given production industry through careful, calculated minimization of excess resources, ultimately bringing a boost in company profits, customer service, and overall production efficiency.
When employed properly, lean manufacturing has been known to increase on-time delivery by 26% or higher, stock turns by 33% or higher, overall productivity by 25% or higher, while reducing scrap by 26% and space needs by up to 33%. (Averages via LeanManufacturingTools.org)
Exactly what kind of inefficiencies can lean manufacturing eliminate?
Lean manufacturing has been formulaically proven to reduce waste in the following seven areas: Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over-processing, Overproduction, and Defects. Traditionally, these wastes have been referred to as the “Seven Wastes.” Download our guide on the Seven Wastes of lean manufacturing here.
Can lean manufacturing be used in environments outside of the shop floor?
Yes. Lean manufacturing is not a practice exclusive to factory floors. The core of lean manufacturing remains the same whether you are in an office or on the shop floor—establish customer satisfaction benchmarks, develop a waste-free production process, configure how you can continually complete the process in a value-add manner, and perfect the process. Consider these four pillars of lean manufacturing in any production environment and watch your efficiency and output rise enormously.
How large does a company have to be to practice efficient lean manufacturing?
Believe it or not, companies of any size can successfully implement lean manufacturing practices into their production processes. Read our recent blog post, “Is My Company Too Small for Advanced Scheduling Software?”, to learn how company size can factor into lean-driving planning and scheduling processes.
Lean manufacturing is a practice that can be utilized by businesses of any type. At the core of it all, any company out there is selling a product or service to meet client needs and generate a profit doing so. Whether you are a brewery, packager or automotive manufacturer, lean manufacturing can give you powerful basic guidelines to running a successful business.
Related Lean Manufacturing Video
APS Resources
Topics: Implementation, manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing, Industry, Implementation, APS, APS, manufacturing technology, APS benefits
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