1

Lean Manufacturing
Objective:
In this chapter, we introduce the fundamentals of Lean Manufacturing. Concepts
of waste elimination are discussed. Components for Lean including: Waste
identification and elimination (value stream analysis), set-up reduction, part
families, cell formation, cell design, batches of one and pull systems are also
discussed.

“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch

excellence.” Vince Lombardi

18.1 Introduction to Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing or lean production are reasonably new terms that can be
traced to Jim Womack, Daniel Jones and Daniel Roos’ book, The Machine that
changed the world [1991]. In the book, the authors examined the manufacturing
activities exemplified by the Toyota Production System. Lean manufacturing is
the systematic elimination of waste. As the name implies, lean is focused at
cutting “fat” from production activities. It has also been successfully applied to
administrative and engineering activities as well. Although lean manufacturing is
a relatively new term, many of the tools used in lean can be traced back to
Fredrick Taylor and the Gilbreaths at the turn of the 20th century. What Lean has
done is to package some well-respected industrial/manufacturing engineering
practices into a system that can work in virtually any environment.

Figure 18.1 provides a definition of lean as a function of the outcomes that one
realizes. The definition comes from Womack and it identifies the results rather
than the method of lean. In the following sections, the procedures and specifics
of lean will be introduced.

18.1.1 The 3 M’s of Lean

Lean manufacturing is a Japanese method focused on 3M’s. These Ms are:

muda, the Japanese word for waste, mura, the Japanese word for
inconsistency, and muri, the Japanese word for unreasonableness. Muda
specifically focuses on activities to be eliminated. Within manufacturing, there
are categories of waste. Waste is broadly defined as anything that adds cost to
the product without adding value to it. Generally, muda (or waste) can be
grouped into the following categories:

1.Excess production and early production

2.Delays
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3.Movement and transport

Definition of “Lean”
• Half the hours of human effort in the factory
• Half the defects in the finished product
• One-third the hours of engineering effort
• Half the factory space for the same output
• A tenth or less of in-process inventories

Source: The Machine that Changed the World

Womack, Jones, Roos 1990

Figure 18.1 An early definition of Lean.

4.Poor process design

5.Inventory
6.Inefficient performance of a process
7.Making defective items

These wastes are illustrated in Figure 18.2

Excess production results in waste because it captures resources too early and
retains the value that is added until the product can be used (sold). In today’s
highly changing society, many items produced before they can are sold to a
specific customer often go obsolete before demand is realized. This means that
a perfectly good product is often scrapped because it is obsolete. Producing a
product simply to keep a production resource busy (either machine, operator or
both) is a practice that should be avoided.

Delays, such as waiting for raw material, also result in the poor use of
capacity and increased delivery time. Raw materials and component parts
should be completed at approximately the time that they will be required by
downstream resources. Too early is not good, but late is even worse.
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Movement and transportation should always be kept to a minimum. Material

handling is a non-value added process that can result in three outcomes: 1) the
product ends up at the right place at the right time and in good condition, 2) the

7 Forms of Waste
CORRECTION

Repair or MOTION
WAITING
Rework Any wasted motion
Any non-work time to pick up parts or
waiting for tools, stack parts. Also
supplies, parts, etc.. wasted walking

Types
of OVERPRODUCTION
PROCESSING
Waste Producing more
Doing more work than
than is needed
is necessary
before it is needed

INVENTORY CONVEYANCE
Maintaining excess
inventory of raw mat’ls, Wasted effort to transport
parts in process, or materials, parts, or
finished goods. finished goods into or
out of storage, or
between
processes.

Figure 18.2 The seven Forms of waste.

part ends up in the wrong place, and 3) the part is damaged in transit and
requires rework or scrap. Two of the three outcomes are no desirable, which
further leads to minimizing handling. Because material handling occurs between
all operations, when possible, the handling should be integrated into the process,
and the transport distances minimized.

A poorly designed process results in overuse of manufacturing resources (men

and machines). There are no perfect processes in manufacturing. Generally,
process improvements are made regularly with new efficiencies embedded within
the process. Continuous process improvement is a critical part of Lean
Manufacturing.

Excess inventory reduces profitability. Today, it is not uncommon for a

manufacturer to store a supplier’s product at the production site. The supplier,
right up until the time that they are drawn from inventory, owns the materials. In
many ways this is advantageous to both the user and supplier. The supplier
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warehouses his material offsite, and the user does need to commit capital to
a large “safety stock” of material.

Insufficient (or poor) process performance always results in the over utilization of
manufacturing resources and a more costly product. There is no optimal process
in that improvements can always be made; however, many processes operate far
below the desired efficiency. Continuous process improvement is necessary for a
manufacturing firm to remain competitive. Excess movement or unnecessary part
handling should be the first targets of waste elimination.

Poor quality (making defects) is never desirable. Labor and material waste
results from producing any defect. Furthermore, the cost of mitigating poor
quality (rework) can often exceed the price of the product. A critical balance
between processing speed and quality exists. A process should be run as fast
as possible without sacrificing acceptable quality.

From the above discussion, it should be obvious that waste is a constant enemy
of manufacturing. Waste elimination should be an on-going process that focuses
on improving a process regularly. Regular reviews and worker input should be
conducted as often as allowable.

The second “M” is for mura, or inconsistency. Inconsistency is a problem that

increases the variability of manufacturing. Mura is evidenced in all
manufacturing activities ranging from processing to material handling to
engineering to management. Figures 18.3 and 18.4 illustrate some
characterization of mura.

Quality Processes Yield Quality Results

Inconsistent Inconsistent
Process Results

Traditional = People doing whatever they can to get results

Consistent Desired
Process Results

Lean = People using standard process to get results

Figure 18.3 Inconsistency is a problem in manufacturing.

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Henry Ford - Standards

“To standardize a method is to choose out of the many
methods the best one, and use it. Standardization
means nothing unless it means standardizing upward.
Today’s standardization, instead of being a barricade against
improvement, is the necessary foundation on which
tomorrow’s improvement will be based.
If you think of “standardization” as the best that you know
today, but which is to be improved tomorrow - you get
somewhere. But if you think of standards as confining,
then progress stops.”
Henry Ford, 1926
Today & Tomorrow

Figure 18.4 Henry Ford on standards (or against inconsistency).

The final “M” is for muri or unreasonableness. Muri applies to a variety of

manufacturing and management activities. For instance, Figure 18.5 shows an
example of being unreasonable by blaming someone for problems rather than
looking at resolution of problems. It is unreasonable to blame rather than
mitigate issues. This is true for all manufacturing activities -- do what is
reasonable. Don’t be emotional!

New Paradigm: Non-Blaming Culture

Management creates a culture where:

• Problems are recognized as opportunities

• It’s okay to make legitimate mistakes
• Problems are exposed because
of increased trust
• People are not problems -
they are problem solvers PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS

• Emphasis is placed on finding solutions instead

of “who did it”

Figure 18.5 Be reasonable -- muri.

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18.1.2 The 5 S’s of Lean

Much of Lean manufacturing is applying “common sense” to

manufacturing environments. In implementing Lean, 5 S’s are frequently used to
assist in the organization of manufacturing. The 5 S’s are from Japanesse and
are:
•Seiri (sort, necessary items)
•Seiton (set-in-order, efficient placement)
•Seison (sweep, cleanliness)
•Seiketsu (standardize, cont. improvement)
•Shitsuke (sustain, discipline)

These concepts are illustrated in Figure 18.6.

Figure 18.6. The 5 S’s of Lean.

18.2 Laying out a Lean Production Facility

Another critical aspect of Lean is the organization of the production facility.

Since one of the keys to lean is waste elimination, the layout of any system
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should be arranged in such manners that waste of motion (material handling and
material transport) and elimination of inventory is part of the object for the layout.
You may recall that there are two traditional forms of layout in manufacturing:
process and product. In a process layout (or job shop as it is informally
called), machines are organized and clustered by type, where typically all mills
are in one department, all lathes in another, etc. In a product layout (or flow
shop), machines are located so that sequential operations are performed at
adjacent machines. These types of layout are illustrated in Figures 18.7 and
18.8 respectively.

M M D L D D

D D
M M L L

G G
M M L L

M M A A G G

G G
A A

Figure 18.7 A typical process or job shop layout.

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Part #1 L L M D G

A A

Receiving L M G G

Part #2

L M D Shipping

Figure 18. 8 A typical product or flow shop layout.

Process layout is typically employed for a large variety of products that are
made in very small batches (ones or twos). The advantages of Process Layout
are: 1) the flexibility of the system to product almost any part that fits within the
volumemetric boundaries of the machines, 2) an in depth understanding of a
specific process can be obtained, and 3) some tooling and fixtures can be
shared. The disadvantages of process layout are: 1) the spaghetti flow is difficult
to manage and control, 2) there is usually a lot of inventory in front of each
machine, 3) set up is usually expensive, 4) material handling times are large, and
5) it is difficult to automate these types of systems.

Product layout systems are used effectively for the economic production
of high volume goods. The advantages of these systems are: 1) large batches
can be produced inexpensively, 2) material handling is minimal, 3) in-process
materials are minimized, 4) it is easy to control these systems, and 5) automation
is more achievable and justifiable. The disadvantages of these systems are: 1)
they are inflexible, in that only one or very few products can be produced on
them, 2) set up time for these systems is very large, and 3) duplicate tooling is
required to replace worn tooling so that maintenance can be minimized.

Process systems work effectively on “one of a kind” type of production. As

batches get larger, these systems fail to produce the required “economies of
scale”, and that production time and cost remains relatively constant. Product
systems work very effectively on single item production. For instance, high
volume products like soda, beer, canned foods, and cigarettes are effectively
produced on these flow systems. The reason that these items are so inexpensive
is in part because of the way they are produced. Unfortunately, the
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high capital cost and long set-up for these systems mandates large volumes to
offset these initial cost and then the changeover costs for the system.

In general, very low volume items should be produced on process type

systems, and very high volume items should be produced on product type
systems. A problem facing most manufacturers is that the general trend today is
for medium volume batches that change regularly. This means that process and
product layout fails to meet the requirements for much of what is demanded
today. The result is that a hybrid of the two systems has been developed. It is
called a manufacturing cell. See Figure 18.9 and 18.10. Cells are used to make
families of parts, rather than just one-of-a-kinds or high volume items. Cells are
logical clusters of machines organized to produce a variety of parts requiring the
same equipment type, tooling and fixtures. Cells are intended to provide as
many of the benefits of process and product layouts as possible.
Cell #2 Cell #1
D D M I D
I
Cell #3 L
M

L L D I M
M

Figure 18.9 A manufacturing cellular layout.

Input

Output

Figure 18.10 A “U – shaped” manufacturing cell.

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In many ways, cellular layout separates and groups products within a

manufacturing system into smaller units. The strategy here is to identify parts
that belong to the same “product families”. A product family is a group of
products that normally look similar and require the same (or similar) processing
steps to produce. Traditionally, designers have formed product families by
grouping products that provide similar functions into a common product family.
Examples might be: springs, clips, brackets, etc. The problem however becomes
one where functional names may create very large families (for instance,
brackets typically form a large portion of products the automotive industries
make) or function may require different processes as the size scales. Group
technology (GT) was introduced as a method to characterize products into
code-able families. A descriptive code was used to characterize the product
geometry, function and/or method used to make the part. As database systems
have become more powerful, the code has been replaced with descriptive fields
in a database. Today, more formal techniques are used to identify cells. In the
following section, a methodology to organize factories, machines, tooling will be
presented.

18.3 Setup reduction

One of the methods employed in cutting fat from a lean production system is
to reduce the time required to setup production equipment. Perhaps the best
know method for setup reduction is SMED or the Single Minute Exchange of Dies
system developed by [Shingeo Shingo]. The system has been widely applied in
automotive and other industries. It received its name because when used
effectively, setup times of a day or more for manufacturing presses can be
lowered to minutes. The system is far more complicated then the brief discussion
below would indicate. This section is only intended to provide an overview of
SMED.

SMED is a process that begins with detailing what happens to a machine

between batches of parts. For example, NC machines have become popular in
part because setup between lots can be very small. If the adjacent lots use the
same tooling and fixturing, the only requirement is to download a part program
corresponding to the new part lot. Using a network and/or serial communication,
this can be done in a fraction of a second. For a conventional machine, fixed
stops might have to be remounted and adjusted, and the setup process might
take hours or days. For the same NC machines, the tooling required for the new
lot may change completely requiring that all new tool holders and tools be
reloaded onto the machine, and then requalified with respect to a new or
existing fixture. If new tooling is necessary, it may take several hours to load and
install the tooling. In order to begin setup reduction activities, the first step of the
process is to document all of the requirements and specifics for adjacent lots or
parts.
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Once setup is documented, each setup element is analyzed in order to

determine if the element is an internal or external element. An internal element
is one that requires the equipment resource. An external element is one that
can be done without the equipment or external to the equipment. For instance in
the NC example, qualifying the tooling with respect to the part or fixture would be
an internal element. That is, the machine resource is necessary in order to set
the location of the tool with respect to the part. On the other hand, new tools
could be loaded into tool holders or collects external to the operation of the
machine. Loading the tools into tool holders would be an
external element.

The key here is to keep critical resources operating as long as possible. In

order to accomplish this, external elements should be conducted in parallel
with machining. For our NC example, the operator would load tools into tool
holders while the NC machine was producing parts from a previous lot. This
eliminates non-productive machine time. Please note here that the time for
change-over is not idle time, but rather non-productive time. This process is
illustrated in Figure 18.11.

SETTING UP THE MACHINE

Internal External

Figure 18.11 Setup elements used in SMED.

SETTING UP THE MACHINE

Internal External

RUNNING THE MACHINE

Figure 18.12 Running a machine while external elements are complete.

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TOTAL TIME TO PRODUCE A LOT OF PRODUCT SAVING

SETTING UP THE
MACHINE

RUNNING THE MACHINE AND OFF-LINE SETUP

Production
Time
gained

Figure 18.13 Saving time using external element reduction

Using internal and external elements is one part of setup reduction. In

addition to using external elements in parallel, applying good methods
engineering practice is also critical to reduce setup time. For instance, screw
connectors can require a long time to remove, fasten and torque to the proper set
point.

In a recent industry activity, a set of presses was found to be idle more

frequently than they were producing good product. After investigating the
situation, it was discovered that a much greater variety of products were being
produced on the presses. This meant that the batch sizes were smaller, and the
setups were more frequent. The net result was that average production runs
were 1-2 days, which was about the same time required to setup the presses.
This resulted in expensive equipment that was producing good product less than
50% of the time. In analyzing the situation, standard punch and die sets were
being used. They were kitted and assembled using standard threaded nuts and
bolts. Because there had been a problem with tools being taken, the company
had standardized on two head sizes and physically chained two open-end
wrenches to the presses for use in setup. The type of wrench used is shown in
Figure 18.14.
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Figure 18.14 Common wrenches used for setup.

Several recommendations were made to the company. The first was that
if screw fasteners had to be used, sockets sets and power tools would lessen
setup time significantly. In a quick economic analysis, it was determined that
both sockets and power drivers would pay for themselves in a single setup. This
tooling was purchased and setup time was reduced by about 10%. The screw
fasteners were then replaced with “quick-lock” mechanisms like those shown in
Figure 18.15. These simple changes (external elements done in parallel and
methods improvements) brought setup time down from 1-2 days to 4-6 hours
within weeks. With continued work on setup reduction, the year-end target was
set to reducing setup time to less than one hour. This would increase the actual
production time by just about 100%

Figure 18.15 Devices that can be used to replace screw fasteners.

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18.4 Controlling a Lean Production Facility

The foundation of Lean manufacturing is to create efficient methods for

producing goods. Eliminating waste, minimizing inconsistencies and taking a
reasonable approach to producing products and managing facilities is the key to
lean manufacturing. The largest portion of time a part spends in a manufacturing
facility is spent waiting rather than having value added. The result is that Lean
Manufacturing has become more than just eliminating waste. A new key has
become reducing lot sizes and applying better production control methods. In
this section, we will introduce several production control techniques that have
been used as part of lean developments.

In traditional factory control, “push” control was the strategy used to

regulate parts in a production environment. That is, when an operation was
complete at a machine, the product or part was pushed to the next machine. If
one machine works slower than the other machines in the system then product
accumulates in front of the machine until no more room exists and the machine
begins to physically “block” the flow of parts from the feeding machine(s). Many
of the Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) software systems use this type
of strategy. This type of control is easy to use, but produces lots of inventory and
imbalance in the production operations. Figure 18.16 illustrates how a Push

Lot arrival triggers production

Material
Information

MRP Schedule triggers Production

Figure 18.16. A typical “Push” control system.

system works. In this type of control, both information and materials are pushed
forward.
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Today, many flow systems use “Pull” control rather than “push”. In a “Pull”
system, parts or product is held at a manufacturing station until approval is
issued from a downstream machine. This type of control is illustrated in Figure
18.17. This type of control is frequently referred to as a kanban system. Kanban
is Japanesse word that refers to the “paper authorization or approval” to continue
to move a part. Traditional kanban systems use physical cards or paper records
as authorization to move a product. Today, paperless approval is more typically
given to upstream machines in the form of “ANDON” lights or electronic
messages, but some systems still use tradition kanban as shown in Figure 18.18.

Material
Information

Figure 18.17. A typical “Pull” system.

Store sheet Item Back

No. TR215 No. S2 F6
Proceeding Process
Item No. 3278784

CNC Turning
Item Name Securing Bracket
CNC - 6
Handling type 4Ert5

Subsequent Process

Box capacity Box type Issue No. CNC Machining

12 A1 4/7/03 CNC M-7

Figure 18.18 A typical production kanban.

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Kanbans typically come in two varieties – production and transport (or

material handling). Production kanbans are used to authorize the start of a
production activity, like machining or heat-treating while transportation kanbans
authorize moving a part from one location to another. In the following sections,
we will describe the motivation for controlling manufacturing systems.

18.4.1 An analogy: Marching soldiers

In Eliyahu Goldratt's book ``The Goal''[Goldratt, 1996], the importance of a

bottleneck in a factory is described through an analogy to a troop of boy scouts
out for a march. One of the boy scouts has an extra-heavy backpack. The result
is that he walks more slowly than the rest of the troop, so a gap keeps opening
between him and the scouts in front. This is then connected to how inventory
masses up in front of a slow machine in the factory.

But this is less than half the story. In a column of marching soldiers, the problem
is not a slow marcher falling behind. Each soldier carries the same weight, so the
line is balanced, and there is no pronounced bottleneck. The problem is
variability amplification: If the first soldier for some reason speeds up a little bit,
the second soldier will see a gap open in front of him, and take this as a signal to
speed up, as well. But he will have to speed up more than the first soldier did, in
order to catch up with him. When he has caught up, he then needs to slow down
again to avoid bumping into the one in front.

Now the third soldier sees a gap opening up even faster than the second one did,
so he has to speed up by even more, and has to slow down more abruptly when
he has closed the gap. This way, the small change in speed amplifies down the
line like a whiplash, and the poor guy at the end of the line will alternate between
running flat out and marching in place.

This is the same process that occurs in a manufacturing line. The last machine in
the line tries to track the demand process, but adds some noise to it due to
process variability. The second last machine tries to track the input process of
the last machine, but adds some more noise. This amplifies the noise upstream,
so the first machine in the line will alternate between working at capacity and
waiting for something to be taken out of its output buffer. To get rid of the
problem, one has to eliminate all process variability, such as machine failures
and operation time variability. This can be time-consuming and expensive.

How do soldiers counteract this age-old problem? If the soldiers are recruits,
they get the attention of a very loud drill sergeant that yells out the cadence.
More seasoned soldiers will be singing a marching song as they go along, and
any infantry outfit has a large supply of these songs. Both of these techniques
have the effect of distributing the proper cadence to every soldier in the line,
simultaneously.
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This is what an integrated control system does. It passes the status and demand
information, without any noise, to the first machine in the line. All downstream
machines know that any part arriving in their input buffer can be worked on, so
they hear the signal, too.

Marching soldiers do not close their eyes and march blindly. Even if they receive
the proper cadence, they will still be watching the distance to the marcher in
front. If the gap widens, they will take longer strides, and if it narrows, they will
shorten their steps. In this way, the marchers act on two types of information at
once: The global information flow that determines the overall speed, and the local
information that is used for minor adjustments.

This is also the way our hybrid policy works: CONWIP or Constant Work In
Process sets a target inventory level, where a small buffer is used to help offset
some production variability. The CONWIP control gives a global information flow
(like the drill sergeant), and the kanban control gives a local flow of information
(like watching the distance to the guy in front). In our hybrid policy, the global
information flow from the demand process is supplemented by the local
information from the buffer levels. This attains the advantages of CONWIP
control, while using the strengths of kanban control to cancel its disadvantages.

18.4.2 Balancing and timing production

Pull-based production control systems tend to balance activities. These

systems however only work on flow systems so it is important that part families
are created so that the product in a manufacturing facility moves in a common
direction. When the control of these systems is implemented correctly, these
systems are called Just-in time (JIT) manufacturing systems, because the
product arrives as it is needed. This helps to reduce the inventory and highlight
trouble spots in manufacturing. These systems work well when the flow is
uniform and the product mix is stable. Wild variations in product mix and
production times create problems for any control system, and JIT systems are
no different than others. These systems may perform even worse than traditional
systems because little or no buffer is available to offset variability.

Kanban and JIT are also based on several other system requirements.
These are:
1 Stability of preceding process
2 Leveled production
3 Takt time and production requirement
4 Maintaining good quality
5 Team member education and training
Most of these requirements are somewhat intuitive. For instance, without a
stable process, the production variability will be too high for JIT-based control.
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Similarly, if the operation times are the different machines are significantly
different then the machine utilization will be very low. Takt is a German word for
rhythm and refers to how often the part or product is required or the rate at which
the product is required (typically by the customer). Takt time (time/piece), tk , is
computed as

tk = Available Operating time (sec/day)

Daily Demand (pieces/day)

Cycle time is a measure of how much time it takes for a particular operation,
which is also expressed in similar units (time/piece). Takt and cycle times are
illustrated in Figure 18.19. In the figure, the upper figure shows an incorrect

Takt Time (1 unit)

1

Workstation
Cycle Time

Workstation
A B C D E

1 Takt Time (1 unit)

Workstation
A B C D E
Figure 18.19 Takt and cycle time comparisons.

implementation of takt time where an average cycle time (or just below average
cycle time is used as takt time). In this senerio, Operator C will not be able to
keep pace with the rhythm of the system; thereby creating a “bottleneck”. In the
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lower figure, all of the Operators will be able to keep pace with the system rhythm
or takt time.

The above production control discussion is a much-abbreviated discussion of

control of a Lean system. It is intended as an overview of how an effective Lean
Control system works. More detail will be provided in later chapters.

18.5 The Five Steps of Lean Implementation

The process used to implement lean manufacturing is a straightforward one.

However it is critical that lean is implemented in a logical manner. The steps
associated in implementing lean follow:

Step 1: Specify Value

Define value from the perspective of the final customer.
Express value in terms of a specific product, which meets the customer's
needs at a specific price and at a specific time.

Step 2: Map
Identify the value stream, the set of all specific actions required to
bring a specific product through the three critical management tasks of any
business: the problem-solving task, the information management task, and the
physical transformation task. Create a map of the Current State and the Future
State of the value stream. Identify and categorize waste in the Current State, and
eliminate it!

Step 3: Flow
Make the remaining steps in the value stream flow. Eliminate
functional barriers and develop a product-focused organization that dramatically
improves lead-time.

Step 4: Pull
Let the customer pull products as needed, eliminating the need for
a sales forecast.

Step 5: Perfection
There is no end to the process of reducing effort, time, space,
cost, and mistakes. Return to the first step and begin the next lean
transformation, offering a product that is ever more nearly what the customer
wants.
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18.7 Key Words and definitions

Andon lights/boards - a system of flashing lights used to indicate

production status in one or more work centers; the number of lights and their
possible colors can vary, even by work center within a plant; however, the
traditional colors and their meanings are:

green - no problems
yellow - situation requires attention
red - production stopped; attention urgently needed

autonomation - in Toyota parlance, automation with a human touch.

Autonomation normally referes to semi-automatic processes where a machine
and human work as a well planned system. Literally, the English translation of
jidoka.

baka-yoke - a manufacturing technique of preventing mistakes (error-

proofing) by designing the manufacturing process, equipment, and tools so that
an operation literally cannot be performed incorrectly; an attempt to perform
incorrectly, as well as being prevented, is usually met with a warning signal of
some sort; the term poka-yoke is sometimes referred to as a system where only
a warning is provided.

Balanced production – a system where the operations for various

machines are approximately the same. A well-balanced system has a takt time
only slightly larger than the operation time.

cellular manufacturing - an approach in which manufacturing work

centers [cells] have the total capabilities needed to produce an item or group of
similar items; contrasts to setting up work centers on the basis of similar
equipment or capabilities, in which case items must move among multiple work
centers before they are completed; the term group technology is sometimes used
to distinguish cells that produce a relatively large family [group] of similar items.

cycle time - the normal time to complete an operation on a product. This

in NOT the same as takt time, which is the allowable time to produce one product
at the rate customers are demanding it.

error-proofing - a manufacturing technique of preventing mistakes (baka-

yoke) by designing the manufacturing process, equipment, and tools so that an
operation literally cannot be performed incorrectly; an attempt to perform
incorrectly, as well as being prevented, is usually met with a warning signal of
some sort; the term poka-yoke is sometimes referred to as a system where only
a warning is provided.
 flexible manufacturing system - an integrated manufacturing
capability to produce small numbers of a great variety of items at low unit cost;
an FMS is also characterized by low changeover time and rapid response time.

flow manufacturing – a manufacturing methodology that pulls items from

suppliers through a synchronized manufacturing process to the end product. The
principle goal is a faster response to customer demand.

heijunka - A production scheduling/leveling tool, essentially to

distribute kanban cards in an efficient manner.

Hoshin Kanri – a strategic planning approach that integrates the

practices of leadership with those of management.

jidoka - a Japanese word which translates as autonomation; a form of

automation in which machinery automatically inspects each item after producing
it, ceasing production and notifying humans if a defect is detected; Toyota
expands the meaning of jidoka to include the responsibility of all workers to
function similarly, i.e. to check every item produced and to make no more if a
defect is detected, until the cause of the defect has been identified and corrected.

jishu kanri - self-management, or voluntary participation.

just-in-time - a production scheduling concept that calls for any item

needed at a production operation - whether raw material, finished item, or
anything in between, to be produced and available precisely when needed,
neither a moment earlier nor a moment later.

jutsu - to talk, or ‘the art of’ (i.e., 'leanjutsu: the art of lean production').

kaikaku - A rapid and radical change process, sometimes used as

a precursor to kaizen activities.

kaizen - the philosophy of continual improvement, that every process

can and should be continually evaluated and improved in terms of time required,
resources used, resultant quality, and other aspects relevant to the process.

kanban - a card or sheet used to authorize production or movement of

an item; when fully implemented, kanban (the plural is the same as the
singular) operates according to the following rules:

1.All production and movement of parts and material take place only as
required by a downstream operation, i.e. all manufacturing and
procurement are ultimately driven by the requirements of final
assembly or the equivalent.
 2.The specific tool which authorizes production or movement is called
a kanban. The word literally means card or sign, but it can
legitimately refer to a container or other authorizing device. Kanban
have various formats and content as appropriate for their usage; for
example, a kanban for a vendor is different than a kanban for an
internal machining operation.

3.The quantity authorized per individual kanban is minimal, ideally one.

The number of circulating or available kanban for an item is
determined by the demand rate for the item and the time required to
produce or acquire more. This number generally is established and
remains unchanged unless demand or other circumstances are
altered dramatically; in this way inventory is kept under control while
production is forced to keep pace with shipment volume. A routine
exception to this rule is that managers and workers are continually
exhorted to improve their processes and thereby reduce the number
of kanban required.

karoshi - death from overwork.

lean manufacturing or lean production - the philosophy of

continually reducing waste in all areas and in all forms; an English phrase
coined to summarize Japanese manufacturing techniques (specifically, the
Toyota Production System).

line balancing - equalizing cycle times [productive capacity, assuming

100% capacity utilization] for relatively small units of the manufacturing process,
through proper assignment of workers and machines; ensures smooth production
flow.

mixed-model production - capability to produce a variety of models,

that in fact differ in labor and material content, on the same production line;
allows for efficient utilization of resources while providing rapid response to
marketplace demands.

mizusumashi - the classic 'water spider', who performs a wide range

of tasks which allow workers to perform 'value-added' tasks.

mokeru - the Japanese term for the industrial engineering, more

properly translated as ‘profit-making I.E.’.

muda (waste) - activities and results to be eliminated; within

manufacturing, categories of waste, according to Shigeo Shingo, include:

1.Excess production and early production

 2.Delays
3.Movement and transport
4.Poor process design
5.Inventory
6.Inefficient performance of a process
7.Making defective items

mura - inconsistency

muri - unreasonablness

nagara - smooth production flow, ideally one piece at a time,

characterized by synchronization [balancing] of production processes and
maximum utilization of available time, including overlapping of operations where
practical.

ninjutsu - the art of invisibility (applies to management)

one piece flow – producing one unit at a time, as opposed to

producing large batches.

poka-yoke - a means of providing a visual or other signal as to the

location or condition of a part characteristic. Often referred to as 'error-proofing',
poke-yoke is actually the first step in truly error-proofing a system (see baka-
yoke).

pull system - a manufacturing planning system based on communication

of actual real-time needs from downstream operations ultimately final assembly
or the equivalent - as opposed to a push system which schedules upstream
operations according to theoretical downstream results based on a plan which
may not be current.

5S’s - refers to the five Japanese words seiri, seiton, seison, seiketsu,
shitsuke. These words are shorthand expressions for principles of maintaining
an effective, efficient workplace.

seiri - eliminating everything not required for the work being

performed
seiton - efficient placement and arrangement of equipment and
material
seison - tidiness and cleanliness
seiketsu - ongoing, standardized, continually improving
seiri, seiton, seison
shitsuke - discipline with leadership
 6 Sigma – a structured process improvement program for
achieving virtually zero defects in manufacturing and business.

seiban - Seiban is the name of a Japanese management practice taken

from the Japanese words "sei", which means manufacturing, and "ban", which
means number. A Seiban number is assigned to all parts, materials, and
purchase orders associated with a particular customer job, or with a project, or
anything else. This enables a manufacturer to track everything related with a
particular product, project, or customer. It also facilitates setting aside
inventory for specific projects or priorities. That makes it great for project and
build-to-order manufacturing.

sensei - one who provides information; a teacher, instructor, or rabbi.

setup time - work required to change over a machine or process from one
item or operation to the next item or operation; can be divided into two types:

1.internal: setup work that can be done only when the machine or
process is not actively engaged in production; OR
2.external: setup work that can be done concurrently with the
machine or process performing production duties.

shojinka - continually optimizing the number of workers in a work

center to meet the type and volume of demand imposed on the work center;
shojinka requires workers trained in multiple disciplines; work center layout,
such as U-shaped or circular, that supports a variable number of workers
performing the tasks in the layout; the capability to vary the manufacturing
process as appropriate to fit the demand profile.

SMED - abbreviation for Single Minute Exchange of Die; literally, changing

a die on a forming or stamping machine in a minute or less; broadly, the ability to
perform any setup activity in a minute or less of machine or process downtime;
the key to doing this is frequently the capability to convert internal setup time to
external setup time; variations on SMED include:

1.Single-digit setup: performing a setup activity in a single-digit

number of minutes, i.e. fewer than ten.
2.OTED: One touch exchange of die; literally, changing a die with one
physical motion such as pushing a button; broadly, an extremely
simple procedure for performing a setup activity.

standard operations – clearly defined operations and standardized steps

for both workers and machines.

takt time - takt, is a German term for rhythm or pace. Takt time is the
allowable time to produce one product at the rate a customer demands it. This is
NOT the same as cycle time, which is the normal time to complete an
operation on a product (which should be less than or equal to takt time).

teian - a proposal, proposition, or suggestion. A teian system can be

likened to a system that allows and encourages workers to actively propose
process and product improvements.

Toyota - changed from the true form, Toyoda, meaning abundant

rice field, by the Toyota marketing department. Toyoda is the family name of
the founders of the Toyota Motor Company.

Value Stream Mapping (VSM) – a process to determine the value

added to a product as it goes through a manufacturing system.

water spider - one who performs a wide range of tasks which allow
workers to perform 'value-added' tasks.

WCM - world class manufacturing is the philosophy of being the best,

the fastest, and the lowest cost producer of a product or service. It implies the
constant improvement of products , processes, and services to remain an
industry leader and provide the best choice for customers, regardless of where
they are in the process.
18.8 Review Questions

1. Identify how the 3 M’s can be used in some aspect of your

personal activities.
2. Identify a service situation where the 3 M’s could be employed.
3. Identify how the 5 S’s can be used in some aspect of your
personal activities.
4. Identify a service situation where the 5 S’s could be employed.
5. Find at a grocery store or in your room or kitchen new food products
that utilize some Lean principles. As a hint here, think about why
microwave dinners have become popular. Another hint would be premix
foods that might reduce setup (preparation time).
6. Define what Lean activities are used in CNC machines.
7. Discuss the economics of CNC or some other Lean development.

18.9 Review Problems

1. Layout a kitchen as a “U-shaped cell”. Identify the products that are being
produced, and why you choose the organization that you select.
2. Define how Lean principles can be used in developing the “user interface”
for a specific software application that you are familiar with.
3. Find an activity that you perform frequently and identify the “set-up”
components of that activity. For instance if you play basketball, the set-up
for play would be to get to a court, to get dressed, to find a partner, etc.
Identify the internal and external elements of the set-up.
4. Identify the set-up requirements for changing a flat tire. How have these
set-up components been minimized at a tire outlet?
5. Examine a system like the dinning commons or a cafeteria that you are
familiar with. Describe how the control of the system works. Is it pull or
push? Is it effective? How can it be changed to make it more effective?