What is Lean Manufacturing?
Very simply put, the lean manufacturing process is a comprehensive way to reduce waste of all types. It could be a waste of time or material, it is still waste. Many studies have measured the amount of waste a typical manufacturer has, and it is usually shocking, as well as revealing. It takes time and a lot of effort to change a shop culture. It is not enough to add slogans and banners, or even add one program after another. Lean manufacturing is like adding spokes to a wheel, so the wagon can roll.
Lean should be recognised as a totally different way of looking at manufacturing. Its about attacking waste; the massive areas in the value stream (manufacturing process), from raw material to finished goods, where no added value is taking place. Lean thinking first appeared in the 1920s Henry Ford used it to improve his manufacturing flow lines while producing his famous Ford model T. He used it to rid his companys production lines of all waste, be it an activity or other form of waste, so he could meet his vast order schedule. Lean carried on in its infant form up to the seventies, where the global oil crisis demanded that petrol-guzzling engines, (that Ford had become used to making), be replaced by economical smaller engines. This is when lean was adopted by Japan and the Toyota car company. Here it was refined to the present standard we are accustomed to. So what is lean? As already stated its the removal of waste from our business, but what do we class as waste. There are seven w
