Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy focusing on reduction of the seven wastes

• Over-production
• Waiting time
• Transportation
• Processing
• Inventory
• Motion
• Scrap in manufactured products or any type of business.
• By eliminating waste (muda), quality is improved, production time and costs are reduced.

Key lean manufacturing principles include:

• Pull processing: products are pulled from the consumer end, not pushed from the production end
• Perfect first-time quality - quest for zero defects, revealing & solving problems at the source
• Waste minimization – eliminating all activities that do not add value & safety nets, maximize use of scarce resources (capital, people and land)
• Continuous improvement – reducing costs, improving quality, increasing productivity and information sharing
• Flexibility – producing different mixes or greater diversity of products quickly, without sacrificing efficiency at lower volumes of production
• Building and maintaining a long term relationship with suppliers through collaborative risk sharing, cost sharing and information sharing arrangements.
• Lean is basically all about getting the right things, to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity while minimizing waste and being flexible and open to change.

The seminal book "Lean Thinking" by Womack and Jones, introduced five core concepts:

• Specify value in the eyes of the customer
• Identify the value stream and eliminate waste
• Make value flow at the pull of the customer
• Involve and empower employees
• Continuously improve in the pursuit of perfection.