The manufacturing sector has grown quickly since the Industrial Revolution, driving economic growth and raising living standards.
However, manufacturing activities use up natural resources, such as water, energy, and waste, and they also cause air pollution, water pollution, and waste, endangering our environment and accelerating climate change.
What is Lean Manufacturing?
Lean manufacturing is a methodology which aims to increase productivity while minimising waste in manufacturing systems. Anything that customers do not think adds value to and are not willing to pay for is considered waste.
Lean manufacturing has many advantages, some of which include shorter lead times, lower operating expenses, and better product quality.
Over time lean manufacturing has changed since it was first implemented at Toyota Motor Corporation in the 1950s. The goal of lean manufacturing is to deliver high-quality products on time, for the lowest possible cost, and with greater efficiency. It is a business strategy and a set of tactical techniques.
Due to its beneficial effects on organisational and financial efficiency across a range of industries, lean manufacturing is regarded as a rewarding production strategy. Lean manufacturing’s environmental accomplishments have a strong economic relevance because of the rising ecological consciousness.
Explaining “Lean thinking”
By switching from traditional “batch and queue” mass production to product-aligned “one-piece flow” pull production, lean involves a fundamental paradigm shift.
A “one-piece flow” system reorganises production activities so that processing steps of various types are carried out next to each other in a continuous flow, as opposed to “batch and queue” methods, which involve mass production of large lots of products in advance based on anticipated or potential customer demands.
For this shift, it’s necessary to operate highly controlled processes in a setting that’s kept up, organised, and clean and incorporates the idea of system-wide, ongoing improvement with employee involvement.
The five principles of the lean methodology:
- Identify Value: Specify the precise value that the customer seeks.
- Map the Value Stream: Find the value stream cycle for each good or service that your customers value, and get rid of the ones that don’t.
- Create Flow: Aim to establish a continuous flow of value have been identified.
- Establish Pull: Allow people to pull work instead of pushing work on them.
- Pursue Perfection: Reduce the time and steps needed to provide value to your customers by constantly improving.
Waste reduction is a core objective of lean manufacturing and requires a relentless pursuit of zero tolerance. Continuous improvement, which is at the core of lean manufacturing, is therefore essential.
Companies can achieve significant environmental advantages by fusing lean manufacturing principles with sustainability objectives. The following are a number ways that lean manufacturing can promote sustainability:
- Sustainable supply chain: Lean manufacturing places a strong emphasis on close cooperation and ongoing supplier improvement. Organisations can encourage environmentally friendly practices throughout the supply chain by incorporating sustainability criteria into their supplier selection process. This can involve utilising environmentally friendly materials, cutting down on packaging waste, and choosing suppliers who have a solid environmental record.
- Engagement of employees: Organizations can create a culture of responsibility and motivate staff to support environmental sustainability both at work and at home by incorporating sustainability principles into training programs and promoting environmental awareness.
- Energy conservation: By improving production layouts, maximising equipment utilisation, and reducing idle time, lean manufacturing promotes energy conservation. These actions not only cut back on energy use, but also greenhouse gas emissions and climate change mitigation.
- Water conservation: Lean manufacturing promotes locating and removing water waste from production processes. Organisations can protect water ecosystems, conserve this precious resource, and lessen their overall environmental impact by putting water-saving measures in place.
The “7 Wastes,” also referred to as the ‘7 Mudas’ which identify typical sources of inefficiency within manufacturing processes, are at the core of lean manufacturing methodology. Businesses can optimise productivity by streamlining their operations and addressing these wastes.
Lean manufacturing techniques and ideas
Here are just a few of the various techniques and methodologies which can be applied in the workplace to achieve further sustainability:
Heijunka: a levelling or smoothing of production that aims to create a continuous flow of production by releasing work to the plant at the necessary rate and avoiding interruptions.
5S: A collection of procedures for setting up offices so that employees have quick, safe, and effective access to everything they need to do their jobs. Organisation and cleanliness are highlighted by 5S.
Kanban: is a signal that helps create just-in-time delivery and streamline processes. Signals can be sent through a system electronically or physically, like a tag or an empty bin. Read more about how Kanban can improve workflow and management and improvement of processes.
Jidoka: A procedure that outlines the steps for identifying an anomaly, stopping work until it can be fixed, fixing the issue, and then determining the cause.
Andon: A tool that visually alerts workers to a problem, like a flashing light.
Poka-yoke: A safeguard against human error, such as a light that illuminates if a crucial step is skipped, a signal that appears when a bolt has been tightened the right number of times, or a system that prevents moving on to the next step until all the ones before it have been completed.
Cycle time: The amount of time required to produce a part or finish a process.
At Quantum 3, we recognise the value of streamlining processes and increasing manufacturing efficiency. In order to transform your manufacturing process and increase productivity and profitability, we provide specialised lean manufacturing set ups such as storage systems. Time is money, so time must be lean. Our turnkey solutions are designed in the interest of your line’s productivity – saving time, money and optimising space and work systems for lean manufacturing. Our flexible production lines solutions include Conveyors, Machine Frames, Partitioning and Machine Guarding.
To find out more about our offerings and how we can help you improve your manufacturing process, get in touch with us.
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