Lean
by Ron Pereira
Welcome to LSS Academy!
If you found this website via Google or some other method you may be wondering what this lean and six sigma stuff is all about. On this page we will discuss all things related to lean manufacturing.
What is Lean Manufacturing?
As with six sigma, lean manufacturing has many definitions. To me, lean is all about respecting people while eliminating the 3 M’s which are muri (overburdening), mura (unevenness), and muda (non value added activity). Sadly, respecting people is often left out which turns lean manufacturing into mean manufacturing.
Modeled after the Toyota Production System (TPS), the term “lean manufacturing” was coined by a group of MIT researchers in the 1980s, lead by James Womack as they prepared to write the book “The Machine that Changed the World.”
The House that Toyota Built
A house is often used to describe the Toyota Production System. One pillar of the house represents JIT (just in time). Here we look at how to make things flow using principles like takt time. We also focus on the customer and only produce what the customers asks for, and when they ask for it. In other words, we allow the customer to “pull” value instead of us attempting to “push” things onto them. Finally, we never “overproduce” which is one of the seven (or eight) deadly wastes.
The other pillar, Jidoka, is all about ensuring we make a quality product and eliminate, as much as possible, any opportunity to produce defects. Contrary to what many people falsely assume, lean is very concerned with process capability and eliminating defects.
At the base of the TPS we often speak about heijunka, or leveling. Here we work to smooth out production in such a way that allows us to better utilize resources among other things.
Related Lean Manufacturing Posts
- Finance 101 by Taiichi
- Misconceptions
- Once and Month Cooking – Lean or Not?
- Repent, I mean Hansei!
- OEE – Not Just for TPM Programs!
- Playing Fast – American Football and Lean
- The Forgotten M’s
- Heijunka in the Front Office
- Standard Work
- Value Stream Mapping Confusion
- Why Heijunka – Part 1
- Why Heijunka – Part 2
- Is Laying People off Really Anti-Lean?
- Tsurube System
- Stop Moving and Start Working
- TOC Bottleneck versus Lean Pacemaker – Part 1
- TOC Bottleneck versus Lean Pacemaker – Part 2
- Jidoka – The Forgotten Pillar
- Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)
- The Mysterious Process Cycle Efficiency
- Confused about Waste
- Get on your Knees
- Two Bin Kanban
