Lean Manufacturing Principles Made Easy!

Lean Manufacturing Tools
Some of the lean manufacturing tools that might be able to help you in your processes are:
§ 5S
§ Cellular Manufacturing
§ Mistake Proofing
§ Set-Up Reduction
A basic fundamental tool in Lean manufacturing that can help any business the '5S' approach is
an organizing, structuring technique to get rid of clutter and waste. Cleanliness and having a set
place for everything is key.
The name stems from the Japanese meanings and equivalent words for…
§ Sorting things (seiri)
§ Setting things in a particular order (Seiton)
§ Shining, daily maintenance (Seiso)
§ Standardization (Seiketsu)
§ Sustainability (shitsuke)
Cut costs and reduce waste by applying these simple techniques to your business today.
Cellular manufacturing has to do with organizing not the workplace only but the work as well.
Work-cells and designated work- areas, certain spaces for certain activities, minimizes
movement of people and things, therefore costing less. In an operational sense this means no
batching, no waiting, no delays, no queuing, just smooth operation and easy flow.
Mistake-proofing (Poka-Yoke)
Built-in safeguards, reducing defects to zero is at the center of this approach. Highlighting
problems as they occur, not letting mistakes, oversights and errors slip through is key.
Lean Manufacturing Principles Made Easy

Processes are designed around this principle to be more efficient and will help you business cut
down on cost, scrap and waste.
(SMED or single minute exchange of dies ) Quick and speedy change-over in business
processes, manufacturing and operations are essential. Remember time and quality matters,
means money! Process thinking is the key here. Getting rid of unnecessary steps, actions or
movement are key. Reducing time on any line, saves money.
There is more to lean manufacturing that just these couple of tools. They just serve as an
introduction to some of the major business enablers that LM can bring to your business and
organization.
Lean Manufacturing Principles Made Easy

Questions, Diagnostics And Assesments
You can not change what you do not acknowledge or know about. Lean Manufacturing brings
with the appeal and awareness to ‘take note’ and notice things around you (cost, waste,
movement, clutter, scrap etc.) and then DO something real, meaningful and constructive about
it!
What improvements should and could be made are both important questions to ask, prioritize
and act upon. Customer priorities, things that affect your incoming revenue should get attention
quickly and first. Things like quality, lead and waiting, cycle time, cost, inventory and other
internal processes that affect the customer and are ‘internal’ and controllable, should be dealt
with expediently.
In order to get you started asking the right type of questions could provide you with hints as to a
strategy and starting point/priority:
Which process or step should get the bulk of our immediate attention –where is the biggest
WIN-WIN for both the customer and the company? What are all the priorities that we need to
pay attention to in this organization/business and operation, map the processes and make the
list. Then ask in what order you should tackle the priorities? How do we get the BEST
improvements the quickest way? How do/can we tap into the benefits of LM right away?
If reducing overhead, quality costs and inventory to save money, reduce weight and be a
smooth operating, streamlined and cost-efficient provider are keys to your business success,
LM can help your business in all aspects and areas.
Taking the theory of LM to the practical implementation will take planning, patience and
persistence. Determination, detail orientation and discipline. We often refer to these as the
THREE p’s and the THREE d’s to make them easy to remember. Gradual, planned, focused
effort is what it is all about. Step-by-step instructions and actions to get to improvements over
time, that can be sustained, stable and predictable are essential. If any of the following
scenarios are important to your business, LM can help you reach targets and goals in this area
that you set for you, your team and your business:
Lean Manufacturing Principles Made Easy

Increasing operating margin and revenue
Reduce manufacturing lead, wait and cycle times
Lessen WIP or work-in-progress inventory (half-completed product), time and space costs
money! Reduce costs
Reducing manufacturing overhead and quality costs
Increase gross profit margin