Lean Production
Lean Production
Lean Production
OPERATIONS
Lean Operations
• Lean operation is a flexible system of operation that uses considerably fewer resources
(activities, people, inventory, and floor space) than a traditional system. Moreover, lean
systems tend to achieve greater productivity, lower costs, shorter cycle times, and higher
quality than non-lean systems.
• Lean systems are sometimes referred to as just-in-time (JIT) systems owing to their highly
coordinated activities and delivery of goods that occur just as they are needed.
• Lean operations began as lean manufacturing in the mid-1900s. It was developed by the
Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The development in Japan was influenced by the
limited resources available at the time. Not surprisingly, the Japanese were very sensitive to
waste and inefficiency.
The Machine that Change the World
❑ As described in the book, Toyota’s focus was on the
elimination of all waste from every aspect of the process.
Waste was defined as anything that interfered with, or did
not add value to the process of producing automobiles.
Kanban
➢ A manual system used for controlling the movement of parts and materials that responds to
signals of the need
Heijunka
➢ Variations in production volume lead to waste.
The Toyota Approach
Kaizen
➢ Continuous improvement of the system.
Jidoka
➢ Quality at the source..
An overview of the goals and building blocks of lean production systems
A widely held view of JIT/lean production is that it is simply a system for scheduling
production that results in low levels of work-in-process and inventory. But in its truest
sense, JIT/lean production represents a philosophy that encompasses every aspect of the
process, from design to after the sale of a product.
In lean systems, quality is ingrained in both the product and the process. Companies that
use lean operations have achieved a level of quality that enables them to function with small
batch sizes and tight schedules.
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