How Do You Start A Lean Manufacturing Program?
Lean manufacturing means doing more with less. It’s a concept that focuses on eliminating steps in the process that don’t contribute value to your customer. Regardless of the state of the economy, a lean approach is always timely and always a good idea. Lean manufacturing focuses on each step of the process to determine whether or not it’s got value to your customer–in other words, will your customer pay you to perform that step? If not, streamline it and/or excise it. Select the product for review. If you’ve got several, pick one to start. The one you select may be the one with the shortest production process or the one that’s the least profitable to you. That choice is yours, but think about grabbing the “low-hanging fruit” to start. Choose the one that will be the easiest to apply the lean method to and yield the most benefit to your bottom line. Pick a team to help with the review process. It’s always best to select staff members who have a vested interest in process improvement.
