Lean Manufacturing

CHAPTER – 1
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LEAN MANUFACTURING

In 1900’s U.S. manufacturers like Henry ford brought the concept of mass
production. U.S. manufacturers have always searched for efficiency strategies that help
reduce costs, improve output, establish competitive position, and increase market share.
Early process oriented mass production manufacturing methods common before World War
II shifted afterwards to the results-oriented, output-focused, production systems that control
most of today's manufacturing businesses.

Japanese manufacturers re-building after the Second World War were facing declining
human, material, and financial resources. The problems they faced in manufacturing were
vastly different from their Western counterparts. These circumstances led to the development
of new, lower cost, manufacturing practices. Early Japanese leaders such as the Toyota Motor
Company's Eiji Toyoda, Taiichi Ohno, and Shingeo Shingo developed a disciplined, process-
focused production system now known as the "lean production." The objective of this system
was to minimize the consumption of resources that added no value to a product.

The "lean manufacturing" concept was popularized in American factories in large part
by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology study of the movement from mass production
toward production as described in The Machine That Changed the World, (Womack, Jones &
Roos, 1990), which discussed the significant performance gap between Western and Japanese
automotive industries. This book described the important elements accounting for superior
performance as lean production. The term "lean" was used because Japanese business
methods used less human effort, capital investment, floor space, materials, and time in all
aspects of operations. The resulting competition among U.S. and Japanese automakers over
the last 25 years has lead to the adoption of these principles within all U.S. manufacturing
businesses. Now it has got global acceptance and is adopted by industries world over to keep
up with the fast moving and competing industrial field.

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CHAPTER-2

WHAT IS LEAN MANUFACTURING?

Lean manufacturing is a manufacturing system and philosophy that was originally developed
by Toyota, Japan and is now used by many manufacturers throughout the world.

Lean Manufacturing can be defined as:

"A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added

activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the
customer in pursuit of perfection."

The term lean manufacturing is a more generic term and refers to the general
principles and further developments of becoming lean.
The term lean is very apt because in lean manufacturing the emphasis is on cutting
out “FAT” or wastes in manufacturing process. Waste is defined as anything that does not add
any value to the product. It could be defined as anything the customer is not willing to pay
for.
Manufacturing philosophy is pivoted on designing a manufacturing system that
perfectly blends together the fundamentals of minimizing costs and maximizing profit. These
fundamentals are Man (labour), Materials and Machines (equipments) called the 3 M’s of
manufacturing. A well-balanced 3M is resulted through lean manufacturing.

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CHAPTER-3
WASTES IN MANUFACTURING
The aim of Lean Manufacturing is the elimination of waste in every area of
production including customer relations, product design, supplier networks, and factory
management. Its goal is to incorporate less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop
products, and less space to become highly responsive to customer demand while producing
top quality products in the most efficient and economical manner possible.

Essentially, a "waste" is anything that the customer is not willing to pay for.

Typically the types of waste considered in a lean manufacturing system include:

3.1 Overproduction

To produce more than demanded or produce it before it is needed. It is visible as

storage of material. It is the result of producing to speculative demand. Overproduction
means making more than is required by the next process, making earlier than is required by
the next process, or making faster than is required by the next process.

Causes for overproduction waste include:

 Just-in-case logic
 Misuse of automation
 Long process setup
 Unleveled scheduling
 Unbalanced work load
 Over engineered
 Redundant inspections

3.2 Waiting

For a machine to process should be eliminated. The principle is to maximize the

utilization/efficiency of the worker instead of maximizing the utilization of the machines.

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Causes of waiting waste include:
 Unbalanced work load
 Unplanned maintenance
 Long process set-up times
 Misuses of automation
 Upstream quality problems
 Unleveled scheduling

3.3 Inventory or Work in Process (WIP)

This is material between operations due to large lot production or processes with long
cycle times.

Causes of excess inventory include:

 Protecting the company from inefficiencies and unexpected problems
 Product complexity
 Unleveled scheduling
 Poor market forecast
 Unbalanced workload
 Unreliable shipments by suppliers
 Misunderstood communications
 Reward systems

3.4 Processing waste

It should be minimized by asking why a specific processing step is needed and why a
specific product is produced. All unnecessary processing steps should be eliminated.

Causes for processing waste include:

 Product changes without process changes
 Just-in-case logic
 True customer requirements undefined
 Over processing to accommodate downtime

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 Lack of communications
 Redundant approvals
 Extra copies/excessive information

3.5 Transportation

This does not add any value to the product. Instead of improving the transportation, it
should be minimized or eliminated (e.g. forming cells).

Causes of transportation waste include:

 Poor plant layout
 Poor understanding of the process flow for production
 Large batch sizes, long lead times, and large storage areas

3.6 Motion

Motion of the workers, machines, and transport (e.g. due to the inappropriate location
of tools and parts) is waste. Instead of automating wasted motion, the operation itself should
be improved.

Causes of motion waste include:

 Poor people/machine effectiveness
 Inconsistent work methods
 Unfavorable facility or cell layout
 Poor workplace organization and housekeeping
 Extra "busy" movements while waiting

3.7 Making defective products

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This is pure waste. Prevent the occurrence of defects instead of finding and repairing
defects.

Causes of processing waste include:

 Weak process control
 Poor quality
 Unbalanced inventory level
 Deficient planned maintenance
 Inadequate education/training/work instructions
 Product design
 Customer needs not understood

3.8 Underutilizing people

Not taking advantage of people's abilities.

Causes of people waste include:

 Old guard thinking, politics, the business culture
 Poor hiring practices
 Low or no investment in training
 Low pay, high turnover strategy

Nearly every waste in the production process can fit into at least one of these
categories. Those that understand the concept deeply view waste as the singular enemy
that greatly limits business performance and threatens prosperity unless it is relentlessly
eliminated over time. Lean manufacturing is an approach that eliminates waste by
reducing costs in the overall production process, in operations within that process, and in
the utilization of production labor. The focus is on making the entire process flow, not the
improvement of one or more individual operations.

CHAPTER-4
ELEMENTS OF LEAN MANUFACTURING
Those concepts that lead to the implementation of lean manufacturing successfully
are called elements of lean manufacturing. The basic elements of lean manufacturing are

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waste elimination, continuous improvement, pull system, one-piece workflow, cellular
manufacturing and 5S’s. When these elements are focused in the areas of cost, quality and
delivery, this forms the basis for a lean production system.

4.1 Elimination of waste

Waste is anything that doesn’t add value to the product. Seeing whether the process is
adding value to the product or not is the best way to identify wastes.

Is the activity adding value?

If YES If NO
Is this the best way to do it? Can it be eliminated?
If not, can it be reduced?

Out of the complete processes in an industry only about 5 % actually add value to the
product. Rest of the process does not add any value. Rest 35% activities are such that even
though this doesn’t add any value but still it cannot be eliminated as it is necessary. For eg.
Inventory cannot be completely reduced, scrap materials cannot be made zero, it may take
few minutes to load unload and load for next operation etc. So focus should be on complete
elimination of waste activities and reducing the necessary non-value adding activities

4.2 continuous improvement

Japanese looked at improving their work every time they do it. This lead to the
development of concept called continuous improvement. Japanese rather than maintaining
the improvement they have achieved they concentrated in continuously improving their
work. This improvement can be in any field like quality, error proofing, lead-time reduction
etc. So the focus should be on how you can improve your work than the same done last time.

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Improvement is classified into innovations and kaizen. Innovations are those
improvements which cause drastic changes. These occur due to huge technological
advancements in the field of research and development. These are mostly done by high level
engineers. Kaizen include small small improvements done by lower order employees.
According to the level of employees the type of improvements each should focus are
as shown below:

In order to achieve continuous improvement the work culture of the workers should
be modified. The workers should be aimed at improving their work each time they do it.

4.3 Pull system

Manufacturing system can be divided into two

1) Push system – Here the products are made according to the market forecast and
not according to the current demand. So here the information flow is in the same direction as
the product flow. So there may chance of piling of finished goods as there are always
fluctuation in demand. Thus the product is pushed through the production line.

Information Flow
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 Lean Manufacturing

Fin. Goods
WIP Process C
Supplier Raw Process A WIP
Process B
Matl Customer

Part Flow

2)Pull system- Here the product is made according to the customer demand. So the
information of the quantity and type of product flow in the opposite direction to that of the
product. Here no piling of finished products occurs as the production is according to the
customer demand. Hence the customer pulls the product through the production line.

Information Flow

Fin. Goods
Supplier Process
WIP A Process B Process
Raw Customer
Matl C

Part Flow
4.4 One-piece flow
One piece flow is one of the important techniques in implementing lean
manufacturing. Traditional batch production in mass production is replaced by one piece
flow in lean manufacturing. Here batch size is reduced to almost one. This reduces the total
lead time and also reduces waiting between operations or queuing.
Following figures show how effective is one piece flow over batch production.

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• Batch & Queue

Processing
Proce Proce Proce
ss A ss B ss C

10 minutes 10 minutes

10 minutes

Lead 30+ minutes for total

Time 21+ minutes for first
order
: piece
• One piece
flow

Proce Proce Proce

ss A ss B ss C

12 min. for total

3 min. for first
order
part

From the above example it is clear that the lead time can be reduced to almost 40% of
the lead time when it was batch production. Also it can be noted that it takes about 85% less
time for the first part to be produced. Thus product can be produced according to current
demand quickly.

4.5 Cellular manufacturing

In traditional mass production machines are arranged according to its functions. But
in cellular manufacturing machines are arranged according to the processes involved in
production. The plants layout is designed in such a way that transportation between
machineries is reduced to minimum. For the implementation of such a good plant layout deep

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knowledge of processes as well as proper analysis of processes involved in production is
necessary.
Following figures shows the diagrammatic representation of both forms of floor
arrangement.

FUNCTIONAL CELLS

CELL ADVANTAGES OVER FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENT

1. Shorter Lead Time
2. Improved Quality - Quicker problem identification
3. Improved Quality - Less potential rework or scrap
4. Less Material Handling
5. Improved Coordination
6. Reduced Inventory
7. Departmental conflicts eliminated
8. Simplified Scheduling
9. Less Space Required
4.6 The 5 S’s
It is the Japanese method of keeping the work place clean and tidy. This helps in
reducing many unnecessary movements. The 5S’s are:

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•Sort (Seiri) - Perform “Sort Through and Sort Out,” by placing a red tag on all unneeded
items and moving them to a temporary holding area. Within a predetermined time the red tag
items are disposed, sold, moved or given away.

•Set in Order (Seiton) - Identify the best location for remaining items, relocate out of place
items, set inventory limits, and install temporary location indicators.

•Shine (Seiso) - Clean everything, inside and out.

•Standardize (Seiketsu) - Create the rules for maintaining and controlling the first 3S’s and
use visual controls.

•Sustain (Shitsuke) - Ensure adherence to the 5S standards through communication,

training, and self-discipline.

CHAPTER-5
KEYS TO LEAN SUCCESS
Following are some considerations to successful lean implementation:

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5.1 Prepare and motivate people

 Widespread orientation to Continuous Improvement, quality, training and recruiting
workers with appropriate skills
 Create common understanding of need to change to lean

5.2 Employee involvement

 Push decision making and system development down to the "lowest levels"
 Trained and truly empowered people

5.3 Share information and manage expectations

5.4 Identify and empower champions, particularly operations managers

 Remove roadblocks (i.e. people, layout, systems)
 Make it both directive yet empowering

5.5 Atmosphere of experimentation

 Tolerating mistakes, patience, etc.
 Willingness to take risks

5.6 Installing "enlightened" and realistic performance measures,

evaluation, and reward systems

Do away with rigid performance goals during implementation

 Measure results and not number activities/events
 Tie improvements, long term, to key macro level performance targets (i.e. inventory
turns, quality, delivery, overall cost reductions)

After early wins in operations, extend across ENTIRE organization.

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CHAPTER-6
COMPARISON BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND LEAN
MANUFACTURING
For years manufacturers have created products in anticipation of having a market for them.
Operations have traditionally been driven by sales forecasts and firms tended to stockpile inventories
in case they were needed. A key difference in Lean Manufacturing is that it is based on the concept
that production can and should be driven by real customer demand. Instead of producing what you
hope to sell, Lean Manufacturing can produce what your customer wants with shorter lead times.
Instead of pushing product to market, it's pulled there through a system that's set up to quickly
respond to customer demand.

Lean organizations are capable of producing high-quality products economically in lower

volumes and bringing them to market faster than mass producers. A lean organization can make
twice as much product with twice the quality and half the time and space, at half the cost, with a

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fraction of the normal work-in-process inventory. Lean management is about operating the most
efficient and effective organization possible, with the least cost and zero waste.

6.1 OVERALL ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS:

TRADITIONAL MASS PRODUCTION LEAN PRODUCTION

Business Strategy Product-out strategy focused on Customer focused strategy focused on

exploiting economies of scale of stable identifying and exploiting shifting
product designs and non-unique competitive advantage.
technologies

Customer Makes what engineers want in large Makes what customers want with zero
Satisfaction quantities at statistically acceptable defect, when they want it, and only in
quality levels; dispose of unused the quantities they order
inventory at sale prices

Leadership Leadership by executive command Leadership by vision and broad

participation

Organization Hierarchical structures that encourage Flat structures that encourage initiative
following orders and discourage the and encourage the flow of vital
flow of vital information that highlights information that highlights defects,
defects, operator errors, equipment operator errors, equipment
abnormalities, and organizational abnormalities, and organizational
deficiencies. deficiencies.

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External Relations Based on price Based on long-term relationships

Information Management Information-weak Information-rich management based on

management based on visual control systems maintained by all
abstract reports employees

Cultural Culture of loyalty and Harmonious culture of involvement based

obedience, subculture of on long-term development of human
alienation and labor strife resources

Production Large-scale machines, Human-scale machines, cell-type layout,

functional layout, minimal multi-skilling, one-piece flow, zero
skills, long production runs, inventories
massive inventories

Operational capability Dumb tools that assume an Smart tools that assume standardized
extreme division of labor, work, strength in problem identification,
the following of orders, and hypothesis generation, and
no problem solving skills experimentation

Maintenance Maintenance by Equipment management by production,

maintenance specialists maintenance and engineering

Engineering "Isolated genius" model, Team-based model, with high input from
with little input from customers and concurrent development of
customers and little respect product and production process design
for production realities.

6.2 MANUFACTURING METHODS:

TRADITIONAL MASS LEAN PRODUCTON

PRODUCTION

Production schedules are Forecast — product is pushed Customer Order — product is pulled
based on… through the facility through the facility

Products manufactured Replenish finished goods Fill customer orders (immediate

to… inventory shipments)

Production cycle times Weeks/months Hours/days

are…

Manufacturing lot size Large, with large batches Small, and based on one-piece flow
quantities are… moving between operations; between operations

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product is sent ahead of each

operation

Plant and equipment By department function By product flow, using cells or lines for
layout is… product families

Quality is assured… Through lot sampling 100% at the production source

Workers are typically One person per machine With one person handling several
assigned… machines

Worker empowerment is… Low — little input into how High — has responsibility for identifying
operation is performed and implementing improvements

Inventory levels are… High — large warehouse of Low — small amounts between
finished goods, and central operations, ship often
storeroom for in-process
staging

Inventory turns are… Low — 6-9 turns pr year or High — 20+ turns per year
less

Flexibility in changing Low — difficult to handle and High — easy to adjust to and implement
manufacturing schedules adjust to
is…

Manufacturing costs are… Rising and difficult to control Stable/decreasing and under control

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CHAPTER-7
BENEFITS OF LEAN MANUFACTURING

According to the study conducted in various industries world over the main benefits
achieved by implementation of lean manufacturing is as shown below.

Percentage of Benefits
0 25Achieved
50 75 100
Lead Time Reduction

Productivity Increase

WIP Reduction

Quality Improvement

Space Utilization

(From ERC staff meeting, march 20,2002,Maryland University)

Establishment and mastering of a lean production system would allow you to achieve
the following benefits:

 Lead time is reduced by 90%

 Productivity is increased by 50%

 Work in process is reduced by 80%

 Quality is improved by 80%

 Space utilization is increased by 75%

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These are areas in an establishment that directly affects its survival. There are many
other benefits also which directly or indirectly affects the performance of the industry.

OTHER BENEFITS

 Reduced scrap and waste

 Reduced inventory costs
 Cross-trained employees
 Reduced cycle time
 Reduced obsolescence
 Lower space/facility requirements
 High quality & reliability
 Lower overall costs
 Self-directed work teams
 Lead time reduction
 Fast market response
 Longer machine life
 Improved customer communication
 Lower inventories
 Improved vendor support and quality
 Higher labor efficiency and quality
 Improved flexibility in reacting to changes
 Allows more strategic management focus
 Increased shipping and billing frequencies

However, by continually focusing on waste reduction, there are truly no ends to the
benefits that can be achieved.

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CHAPTER-8

CASE STUDY
The company:

The Parker Hannifin Aircraft Wheel & Brake Division.

The product:

Designer and manufacturer of aerospace commercial and military wheel and brake
systems.
The challenge:

To reduce high finished goods, spares components and work-in-process inventory

levels and the need to reduce long engineering and manufacturing cycle times.
The project objectives:
• 1. Reduce total Final Assembly (F-A) cycle time from 30 to 15 days.
• 2. Redesign F-A operations to:
a. Integrate product-lines where feasible;
b. Kit, build, pack & ship in one day;
c. Optimize available floor space;
d. Minimize operational transportation.
Measured results:
• 1. Implemented "one-piece flow" philosophy;
a. Eliminated Build-to-Stock paradigm.
b. Reduced F-A Cycle Time from 30 to 4 days.
• 2. Saved approximately 3,200 sq. ft. of floor space (40 percent of area);
a. Integrated four product-lines into three;
b. Reduced Transportation up to 30 percent.

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This case study was provided by FlowCycle, Texas-based lean manufacturing
consulting and training firm. (www.advancedmanufacturing.com)

CHAPTER-9

CONCLUSION

“LEAN” can be said as adding value by eliminating waste being responsive to

change, focusing on quality and enhancing the effectiveness of the work force.
Although lean has its origin in the automobile industry it is being successfully used in
other production industries. Lean manufacturing is now extended to fields like I.T, service etc
in order to reduce production cost and meet changing customer needs.
Since lean is completely customer oriented it is here to stay. It is also important as it
emphasis customer satisfaction.
Lean has made its way into curriculum of major universities around the world. In
universities like MIT, Maryland university etc Lean manufacturing is included into the
syllabus and it is given importance to new entrepreneurs. Many consulting firms are also
functioning for proper guidance to those who are interested in lean.
Lean manufacturing cannot be attained in one day or one week or one month or in a
year. It needs lot of commitment and hard work. Also there is no end in lean manufacturing.
The more you eliminate waste the more you become lean. That is why it is said that:

“lean is a journey”

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REFERENCES

1. Besterfield, Dale H.: “Total quality management”,

(Pearson education)

2. www.advancedmanufacturing.com

3. www.1000ventures.com

4. www.mamtc.com

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