lean production

• what is lean production?

  an approach to operations management that focuses on cutting out waste, whilst still ensuring quality.
• The Importance of Reducing Waste (Cost)

  Less waste means lower costs, which is an essential part of any business being competitive.
• key aspects of lean production that you should be aware of

  • Time based management

  • Simultaneous engineering

  • Just in time production (JIT)

  • Cell production
• Time-based Management

  Recognises the importance of time and seeks to reduce the level of wasted time in the production processes

  • Quicker response times (reduced lead times) to meet changing market and customer needs

  • Faster new product development

  • Reduction in waste, therefore greater efficiency
• Simultaneous Engineering

  project management approach that helps businesses develop and launch new products more quickly.

  • New product is brought to the market much more quickly

  • Business may be able to charge a premium price that will give a better profit margin and help recoup R&D costs

  • A greater sense of involvement across business functions improves staff commitment to the project

  • Can be a source of competitive advantage (‘first mover advantage’) for the firm if it can get a reliable new product into the market and build brand loyalty before its competitors
• Cell Production

  production processes are split into cells.
• benefits to cell production

  • Closeness of cell members should improve communication, avoiding confusion arising from misunderstood or non-received messages

  • Workers become multi-skilled and more adaptable to the future needs of a business

  • Greater worker motivation, arising from variety of work, team working and more responsibility

  • Quality improvements as each cell has ‘ownership’ for quality on its area
• drawbacks of cell production

  • The business may have to invest in new materials handling and ordering systems suitable for cell production

  • Cell production may not allow a business to use its machinery as intensively as in traditional flow production

  • Some small scale production lines may not yield enough savings to make a switch cell production economically worthwhile

  • The allocation of work to cells has to be efficient so that they have enough work, but not so much that they are unable to cope

  • Recruitment and training of staff must support this approach to production