LEAN / THE CONCEPT
Lean Thinking is an integrated system of principles, operation techniques, and tools, which lead to an unceasing search for perfection in creating value for the customer.
The objective of Lean is to render the company more competitive by reducing costs, improving quality and increasing customer satisfaction. This is accomplished by observing certain principles and with the aid of a series of tools –– such as 5S, TPM, Kanban, Setup, Poka-Yoke, manufacturing cells, etc – the purpose of which is to eliminate waste.
These principles and tools are known to apply perfectly to all manufacturing or service companies, regardless of their size or market. This is why we now refer to Lean Manufacturing as Lean Thinking or, simply, as Lean.
It is important to point out that these tools are but instruments to implement a philosophy for conducting business. Their application in an improper or spotty fashion, or without an evaluation of their impact on the production chain would at best result in local improvements, but will not meet the company’ expectations for global performance. The secret is to conduct a real evaluation of the company’s value stream, and to apply the appropriate tool, in an appropriate manner, on the appropriate place.
Companies that have been showing good results with the implementation of Lean are invariably those that apply its tools correctly and extend the concept of waste elimination down to the entire organization, from the purchasing processes to product or service billing procedures.
THE 5 LEAN PRINCIPLES
- Understand the meaning of value from the customer’s perspective;
- Analyze the value chain and remove its waste;
- Make the value stream throughout the chain;
- Do this in a manner that will allow the value to reach the customer when he wants it;
- Accomplish this by managing towards perfection.