The construction industry has been mired in an environment that has been siloed and antiquated for years. The view has been that things have always been done a certain way and there is no reason to change. Meanwhile, numerous industries have embraced lean methodologies and have significantly reduced waste, improved efficiency and delivered higher quality products which meet or exceed customer expectations. Surveys show that at least 50% of processes involved in planning and construction are wasteful. The industry has adopted lean construction methods, which are starting to change an industry that lagged behind others.

Learn more here about lean construction!

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Since 2006, Great American Cutlery has built the reputation for making the finest quality traditional pocket knives in the US. Located in historic Titusville, PA, the brand focuses on a hands-on process which yields the most beautiful and high quality pocket knives on the market. Their products exceed expectations from customers by producing a product that first became a mainstay in the late 19th century.

Check out the unique insights to the process that is Great American Cutlery!

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The Kanban board is a lean tool for managing flow in a process. From simple processes to the most complex, the board will visually represent a every step in a process process and show the status at any given time. During the late 1940’s, the line workers at Toyota displayed colored Kanbans to notify downstream workers that a demand existed for parts or assembly. As early as 2005, the Kanban board tool started being applied to knowledge work, where processes are typically more opaque than in the manufacturing sector.

When a process is mapped out on a Kanban board and Kanban cards properly represent the work, the process becomes visible and hidden aspects of the work becomes more clear. By mapping out the process, the entire team process is visible to every member and provides more clarity in their sense of purpose. The information displayed will answer the basic questions of who, what, when, where, why and how. There are three basic steps in establishing your Kanban board.

Map Your Workflow – Documenting the steps of a process. The starting point is exactly what it is in the real world. For every step, consider the tasks required to complete the step. Now it is time to build your Kanban board.

Visualize Work in Process (WIP) – Once your process is mapped on the Kanban board, start adding the tasks. Every task that should be done or worth doing, name them so everyone understands and put them in place.

Set Your WIP Limits – Early on, it will be a challenge to understand the ideal amount of work in a process. Start with your best guess. With your WIP limits in place, put them on the Kanban board.

It is important to remember, Kanban is a pull’ concept. This means when someone is ready to do work, they look on the board to see what needs to be done and will pull the task into the next column. The task is then their responsibility until it is complete and someone pulls it to the next step. The natural process of the Kanban board will start revealing bottlenecks in any process and quickly identify inefficiencies. Learn from mistakes and move your processes forward!

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Push and pull models of manufacturing are two major approaches implemented by organizations. The decision on which approach to use is often based on their business strategy. Push and pull-based models in manufacturing starts at the planning phase and continues through the execution stage.

Watch this informative video on Push/Pull Production!

https://youtu.be/a7YvJB0n16I

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In Lean production, it is commonly understood to use pull production instead of push production, which is implemented with a Kanban system. But what makes the pull production system the way to go?  Why not use a push production system? For most, the answers are about as clear as muddy water.

A pull production system simply limits the amount of work in a process which can be in the system. Work methods that use pull systems allow people to manage the flow of resources by limiting work in progress and allowing those doing the work to focus. They are driven from a high level that strictly focuses on capacity and material based on actual customer demand. Pull production design is perfectly balanced due to the demand placed on the organization. They are designed to be agile, with the ability to quickly respond to any changes in customer demand. It is often referred to as a Kanban’ system, which is a method for planning, executing and replenishing inventory that allows for greater control.

Push production revolves around extensive planning and forecasting. It does not have limits on the amount of work that can be in the system. The common assumption in a push production system is that everything remains constant. Everything that is required for capacity is on hand, which includes inventory and support staff. Even though it seems agile and proactive, in reality it is not. Often, pull production becomes obsolete before being executed because of the every changing market environment and customer demand. It is slow to adjust to these variations in a manufacturing environment.

While push production is heavily front loaded with planning and forecasting, pull production is agile and customer demand focused. It remains flexible enough to meet ever changing market adjustments and customer demands.

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In taking a cue from manufacturing, marketing departments are embracing the principles of lean agile practices. Research shows that over the past five years, 77% of marketing departments have embraced lean agile principles, and 67% of those have shown increases in both revenue and profits. Needless to say, lean agile principles are making an impact in the marketing community.

Please take some time and watch this informative video on the topic!

https://youtu.be/j-r5W_Eq4G4

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Trello is an web-based application, designed for group collaboration and project management. It organizes multiple projects into boards and at the same time you can see what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in process. Trello was initially introduced by Fog Creek Software.
In Trello, boards represent projects and they contain lists — in other words, task lists. Each list contains cards, which correspond to tasks. The tasks or cards progress from one list to the next, using drag-and-drop. One example might be drafting the initial plan and going through the whole process until the implementation phase. Not only can users can be assigned to cards, but users, along with boards, can also be grouped into organizations.

(this is not an endorsement of the product or the developers)

Learn more from this descriptive video

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Kanban is an approach to process change for organizations, which uses visualization with a Kanban board. It allows a better understanding of work and workflow. Kanban practice limits work in progress, which reduces waste from multitasking and context switching, exposes operational problems and encourages collaboration to improve the system. It is rooted in two sets of principles, for change management and service delivery, which emphasize evolutionary change and customer focus. Kanban practice does not prescribe a specific set of steps, but starts from existing context and encourages continuous and incremental changes to the system. It minimizes resistance to change to facilitate it. The Kanban process focuses on the customer and work, which meets their needs, rather than an individual’s activities.

Kanban boards are perceived as a variation on traditional Kanban cards. Instead of the signal cards that represent demand or capacity, the board utilizes magnets, plastic chips, colored washers or sticky notes to represent work items. Each of these objects represents an item in a production process as it moves around the board. Its movement corresponds with a knowledge work or manufacturing process. The most basic board can be divided into three sections: “waiting,” “work in progress,” and “completed work.” Complex Kanban boards can be created that visualize the flow of work across a value stream map.

For individuals and organizations using Kanban boards, a new app is making waves across the business community. Trello is an app that has exceeded 25 million users and is considered a viral runaway success. It uses the Kanban principles for managing projects, originally popularized by Toyota in the 1980s for supply chain management. Projects are represented by boards, which contain lists (corresponding to task lists). Lists contain cards (corresponding to tasks). Cards are supposed to progress from one list to the next (via drag-and-drop), for instance mirroring the flow of a feature from idea to implementation. Users can be assigned to cards. Users and boards can be grouped into organizations.

It supports iPhone, Android and Windows 8 mobile platforms, along with Mac and PC desktop platforms. It is also supported on various tablet and iPad platforms. Another key feature is integration. These API integrations allow users to access features such as Google Drive, Slack and Salesforce directly from Trello.

(This is not an endorsement of a product or its developer)

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The main objectives of TPS (Toyota Production System) are to design out overburden (muri) and inconsistency (mura), and to eliminate waste (muda). The most significant effects on process value delivery are achieved by designing a process capable of delivering the required results smoothly; by designing out mura. It is crucial to ensure that the process is as flexible as necessary without stress or muri, since this generates muda. The tactical improvements of waste reduction or the elimination of muda are very valuable. There are eight kinds of muda that are addressed:

1. Waste of overproduction (largest waste)
2. Waste of time on hand (waiting)
3. Waste of transportation
4. Waste of processing itself
5. Waste of stock at hand
6. Waste of movement
7. Waste of making defective products
8. Waste of underutilized workers

Kanban is a method for managing knowledge work, which balances demands for work with the available capacity for new work. Work items are visualized to give participants a view of progress and process, from task definition to customer delivery. Team members “pull” work as capacity permits, rather than work being “pushed” into the process when requested.

In software development, for example, Kanban provides a visual process management system which aids decision-making about what, when and how much to produce.

The elimination of waste has come to dominate the thinking of many when they look at the effects of TPS because it is the most familiar of the three to implement. In TPS many initiatives are triggered by inconsistency or over-run reduction which drives out waste without specific focus on its reduction.

Enjoy this informative video on TPS and Kanban.

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People often wonder what is lean manufacturing. Lean approaches find use in sectors worldwide for reducing waste and improving productivity. The methodology cuts down on unnecessary expenditure and improves the value delivered to the customer. The goal is to fine tune processes until they’re simple, cost-effective, and devoid of wastes.  

Businesses of various scales can use lean to transform their workflows and deliver greater customer satisfaction levels. Let’s see what lean manufacturing means in greater detail and examine its core principles.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is centered around the use of lean practices to the manufacture of tangible products. Lean practices minimize or eliminate wastes, improve quality, reduce costs, and reduce the turnaround time.

Lean traces its use to the 20th century when companies began thinking about scientific ways to manage production to differentiate themselves with competitors, both local and global.

Waste in lean manufacturing refers to any process that fails to add any value for customers. Wastes could be products, processes, services, or activities, which involve the investment of money, resources, and time but do not produce any value or results for the end users.

Let’s see the various types of wastes:

• Overproduction
• Underutilization of talent
• Transport wastes
• Poor inventory management
• Excessive processing
• Defects in products
• Waiting time

Lean takes a close look at everything production entails. Even the graphic labels on your products play an important part when it comes to lean manufacturing.

The Principles of Lean Manufacturing 

• Kaizen: This approach implies change for the better. It prescribes continuous improvement and also helps in maintaining an environment of mutual respect between team members. 

• Just-in-Time (JIT): This methodology emphasizes the creation of a product only when it is required by the customer. This cuts down on overstocking which is an essential waste in lean production. It will also help reduce space requirements and inventory management costs. 

• Heijunka: The Japanese word means ‘leveling’ or purposely manufacturing in small batches and placing varying products in a sequence. 

• Kanban: Kanban eliminates overproduction and is a powerful visual method to streamline workflows. Kanban helps manufacture products in accordance with customer requirements.

• Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED): The process aims to reduce the time it takes for equipment changeovers. SMED originated in Japan and helps minimize wastes. A series of steps are deployed to achieve minimal delays.

• Poka-Yoke: A Japanese term that stands for mistake-proofing. Poka-Yoke ensures the products produced are free from defects and attain the highest levels of quality possible. 

• Value: Lean begins with an understanding of what value means for the customer. Businesses need to know what customers find significant in their products and what they’re really looking for.

• Value Streams: This is a complete mapping of the product lifecycle from the supply chain to its disposal. Lean manufacturing involves examining the value streams and looking for opportunities to reduce wastes wherever possible.

• Flow: This refers to a streamlined flow within the value stream without bottlenecks. Wastes include waiting times and unnecessary storage expenditures. 

• Pull: Lean doesn’t involve production based on forecasts but instead is based on customer demands. This prevents overstocking and overproduction-related wastes and the consequent expenditures.

Summary

The primary aim of lean manufacturing is to reduce the time it takes for a product to reach customers. It will also reduce the time it takes for suppliers to provide raw materials. The core tenet of lean is to minimize or even get rid of wastes. 

Businesses can take a number of steps to reduce waste which include eliminating overproduction, avoiding unnecessary overstocking for enhanced inventory management, and reducing the unnecessary motion of machinery, people, and goods.

It’s imperative to understand customer value, which will help avoid unnecessary processing and reduce turnaround time for improved customer satisfaction levels. The voice of the customer is a primary input in the lean methodology. A close eye is kept on defects as their production increases costs without adding value.

The post What is Lean Manufacturing: Management Strategies You Should be Making Use of Now appeared first on 6sigma.

The operating room (OR) is a resource intensive and costly unit in every hospital. Finding ways to maximize their efficiency is crucial to ensuring the financial viability of the organization. As the healthcare environment becomes more and more competitive, increasing OR productivity becomes a high priority. The trick is to find the balance between efficiency and patient care, safety and clinical outcomes. More and more, healthcare professionals look to Lean Six Sigma methodologies to find the balances. Watch this video and learn more from this educational video.

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