The concept of lean manufacturing gained popularity and became the ideal management model for small and medium-sized business owners.
- Is this methodology still in fashion?
- Why is it so successful?
- How to apply it to my company?
- What results can it bring?
We will answer these and other questions below!
The lean manufacturing method has become popular in recent years and is a point of reference especially for startups and companies that are just starting out.
Lean management—that is, lean and limited to the bare minimum—proposes to increase productivity by solving common errors in business processes and reducing waste in various sectors.
Older than many people think, the proposal arose in Japan after the Second World War.
Back then, getting the most out of the least was practically a matter of survival.
Today, the teachings and concepts of this management methodology — which for many is also a philosophy — can be interesting for creating processes and workflows for companies of different sizes.
It also promises to bring benefits to the company’s organizational culture by creating a mindset of continuous improvement. All of this helps to add value to the final product, as well as to make the business more competitive.
Do you want to know more about the topic? Then you’ve come to the right place! Stay with us, clear up your main doubts about Lean Manufacturing and learn how to apply it in your business.
What is Lean Manufacturing?
Literally translated as “lean production,” Lean switzerland telegram data Manufacturing is a corporate management methodology (or philosophy).
It was invented by Toyota during the 1950s in Japan, which is why it was originally known as the Toyota Production System.
In the post-war context, it was imperative to optimize processes and reduce waste.
Therefore, Lean Manufacturing promotes intelligent and effective productivity to increase the added value of products without increasing production costs.
Recently, the term and methodology have come back into the spotlight, especially due to Eric Ries’ book “Lean Startup”, published in 2011. In the book, the author emphasizes how Toyota’s idea can be applied to different companies, especially startups.
For this type of organization, it is essential to have high productivity, which makes it essential to waste as little as possible, especially if we take into account the current context of economic uncertainty in Latin America and the world.
Therefore, management must focus on agility, customer focus and low production costs.
What does this methodology propose to solve?
You probably already realized that one laurencezg563+m1 ops of the main goals of the Lean methodology is to increase productivity by reducing errors and waste. Traditionally, 7 main factors are worked on.
Recent research has updated this issue to identify 8 sources of waste that can be addressed by adopting a Lean Manufacturing mindset. Learn about them below.
1. Transport
This element considers everything ba leads that must be transported within an organization:
- people,
- information,
- raw materials,
- etc.
This transfer, although necessary, generally does not add value to the final product.
Tips for reducing this waste include strategic transportation planning and creating discipline tied to established processes.
This way, you can avoid unscheduled expenses and reduce unforeseen events in distribution channels .
Bringing it into today’s reality, we can understand this waste as that traditional meeting that could have been resolved with an email.
2. Movement
This section talks more specifically about the movement of people. In the context of a factory, it is easy to imagine the need to move around the company, and in the case of a disorganized factory, that would be a big problem.
Pulling different employees from their desks, interrupting the thought of an activity already started, or clashing schedules are examples of situations that can lead to a loss of energy and resources.
3. Inventory or stock
In companies of different industries, purchasing is a major bottleneck when it comes to waste. How can a purchase be made that does not generate excess raw materials or accumulation?
On-demand production is one of the main solutions, as is the adoption of the Kanban methodology. You will learn more about them throughout this text.
4. Wait
Idle machinery is waste! That was the mentality of Lean Manufacturing at its origin.
Today, we can understand waiting as a problem for inactive collaborators, as well as stationary raw materials.
Therefore, for management to be considered Lean, it is necessary to have a well-defined workflow , so that the composition of the staff is strategic for the business.
5. Overproduction
Reducing this waste is a way to value quality over quantity. Overproduction can result in finished products that do not rotate and pile up, which, as we have seen, also causes other waste.
These items can become obsolete, and mass production can also mean increasing the chances of defects in the final product. This is where the snowball begins: user complaints increase and, consequently, brand credibility decreases .
6. Defects
We come to the waste caused by defective products. Reworking is a reality that affects everything from factories to marketing and advertising agencies . We must consider that in all these cases we are not only talking about the waste of raw materials.
Again, knowing the flows and prioritizing quality over quantity can be a way to reduce this problem.
7. Overprocessing
In this article, we consider all the stages of production that do not add value to the final product . This should be done from the customer’s point of view by standardizing processes and quality criteria.
Which actions of your team do not affect the final delivery to the client? Unnecessary meetings can also be evaluated here, as well as deliveries that go beyond what was requested, among other examples.
8. Knowledge
This point concerns your company’s employees. Are you making the most of their skills and intellectual abilities?
Reworking can also be a factor here, as can inactivity, for example. Working on employee motivation and creating a culture of innovation is essential to reducing this waste.