Advantages of Lean Manufacturing
In a nutshell, lean manufacturing strives to eliminate all waste from the manufacturing process. This can mean eliminating unnecessary costs, tools or processes. Most commonly, lean manufacturers study their processes to see if they can eliminate unnecessary movement.
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Time Savings
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Assume a worker on an assembly line must use two different sockets to do her job. If it takes the worker 10 seconds to change the sockets on the ratchet, then that 10 seconds is wasted, because it was not spent actually making the product. If the worker must change the sockets hundreds of times per day, then that means she spends several thousand seconds out of her day just changing sockets. Those thousands of seconds translate into hours and hours over the period of a week or a year. nd if the job is changed so that the worker only needs one socket, many hours (and much money) are saved.
Quality Control
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In the past, manufacturers had quality inspectors who inspected final products that came off the assembly lines. Lean has evolved from Total Quality Management and seeks to build quality into the process. Building quality into the process reduces the defect rate and improves the overall product.
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Saves Money
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The two aforementioned traits of lean manufacturing both lend to the money savings that lean helps to accomplish. But, lean as adapted to a culture as a whole creates an environment that strives to eliminate all waste, whether it is waste in steps, material, or spending.
Saves Space
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In the drive for eliminating waste, lean manufacturing is focused around workspace layout. By organizing workspace and keeping the appropriate tools within reach, lean manufacturing saves space. One example of lean manufacturing is "5S", which works to separate tools and place each item in a "home" so that it is always easy to find. Workspace organization through lean manufacturing forces managers and employees to look at what tools are really needed and where they should be kept. Adopting such an approach improves plant housekeeping, inventory management and can save on unnecessary downtime by preventing workers from having to search for needed parts or tools.
Continuous Improvement
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Lean manufacturers never rest on their accomplishments, rather they strive to continually improve their process. Lean manufacturers are always looking for that one way to gain an edge not only over their competition, but perhaps over themselves. Lean manufacturers will shun complacency and a "good enough" attitude.
How to Get Started
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There are a number of organizations that can help manufacturers bring lean into their production floor. Among those are the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) and Lean. The University of Kentucky and the University of Michigan each have well-known Lean certification programs that consist of multi-day seminars for business professionals looking to adopt lean principles. Other methodologies similar to lean are Six Sigma and 5S.
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