5 Key Benefits of Lean Manufacturing
Sometimes called lean production, lean manufacturing is a series of methods designed to minimize the waste of material and labor while maintaining or increasing levels of production.
This results in a net improvement in total productivity.
Lean manufacturing’s roots lie in Japanese manufacturing with the Toyota Production System. Lean principles pioneered by Toyota “just-in-time” manufacturing include keeping inventory at low “as-needed” levels, automation supervised by human workers to maintain quality control (known as jidoka), and the minimization of downtime and transportation.
Ultimately, lean manufacturing is about eliminating that which does not add value, and delivering the best possible product to the customer as quickly and with as few barriers as possible.
There are several benefits from using a lean manufacturing approach. Here are five key benefits of lean manufacturing:
1. Eliminates Waste: Waste is a negative factor for cost, deadlines and resources. It provides no value to products or services.
2. Improves Quality: Improved quality allows companies to stay competitive and meet the changing needs and wants of customers. Designing processes to meet these expectations and desires keep you ahead of the competition, keeping quality improvement at the forefront.
3. Reduces Costs: Overproduction or having more materials than is required creates storage costs, which can be reduced through better processes and materials management.
4. Reduces Time: Wasting time with inefficient working practices is a waste of money.
5. Enhances Customer Relationships: Lean focuses on loyal customers' concerns and suggestions to cut some wasteful processes. Rather than focusing on the needs of all customers, companies are able to focus on their loyal customers to build strong and reliable relationship. This way, your customer interactions will improve and the relationships with your trusted customers will offer a steady flow of revenue coming in.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers several courses in Lean Manufacturing that cover the concepts and techniques of Lean and Lean Management and how you can apply those in your own business. Courses include:
Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing Training workshop (2 days)
Introduction to Lean Manufacturing Training (3 days)
Lean Manufacturing Training (2 days)
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.