LEAN isn't LEAN without E2E PULL
Manufacturers around the world have been implementing Lean since the early 1990s (when the term was first popularised in "The Machine that Changed the World" and "Lean Thinking"). Many companies are now onto their second or third re-launch (sometimes termed Lean 2 / Lean 3 / Lean Six Sigma) in an effort to achieve the transformational improvement
There is no doubt that Lean has delivered benefits, especially tools such as TPM, TQM and SMED. But many companies now get bogged down in repetitive value stream mapping
How enterprise-wide Pull operates, and why it has such a transformational impact, is explained at Factory flow is non-linear so don't use master production schedules &/or The supply chain replenishment problem (and how to solve it)
Many companies have 'islands' of Pull on the factory floor, using kan-ban, but in ex-stock manufacturers (where it has its most impressive results), enterprise-wide Pull is vanishingly rare. The main reason is that enterprise-wide Pull, which involves more than one de-coupled independent inventory location (eg. across the finished goods network and raw materials and, sometimes, within the factory), cannot be managed using ERP/MRP/APS alone because they are designed to use forecast-push replenishment through a fully dependent-demand network using just one independent inventory position, usually finished goods at the customer interface.
Enterprise-wide Pull can now, however, be implemented using software through your ERP transaction system and supply chain network
Enterprise-wide Pull is not a form of assemble or make to order, it is for ex-stock supply (to customers/consumers or the factory) and is not just for steady demand patterns. In fact, it's relative effectiveness grows as item demand patterns become more erratic / less forecastable and it uses a robust process for recognising and managing significant & exceptional demand/supply events
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LEAN ISN'T LEAN WITHOUT PULL
Case studies from your industry can be found at DDI case-studies
Academic research on enterprise-wide Pull can be found at DDMRP academic research
Relevant software providers can be found at DDI certified software
See also Why Pull is So Great_allaboutlean_Roser, The (true) difference between Push & Pull_allaboutlean_Roser and What is Flow?_allaboutlean_Roser
Toyota Alum. Author of "The Toyota Template". True Lean Consultant at The Toyota Template
6 个月Well done again Simon Eagle. "True Lean", as Toyota has rebranded their system, isn't possible w/out pull. Push scheduling w/ MRP/ERP systems injects waste into production. Push scheduling and waste elimination are mutually exclusive. The tools (TPM, TQM, Kanban, etc.) enhance pull by limiting the frequency and duration of variability (delays) from frequent delays like machine downtime, quality issues, etc. While important elements of a pull system, their effect on results in push systems is minimal. (TPM doesn't increase EBITDA in push systems because of variability throughout production). Pull in production is a series of de-coupled independent inventory locations in the baton-passing zone of each hand-off. Each process reacts, in real time, to their buffer information in the baton-passing zone. It's granular as each person/process is building to their individual buffer based on immediate and accurate information. The bad news: Enterprise-wide pull will continue to be rare. Influencers/academics ignore it. It's absent from lean conferences and it's not a part of the academic world. A casual perusal of course content at 30 major U.S. colleges/universities offering lean programs reveals the absence of enterprise-wide pull.
Lean's also of questionable benefit unless it is really embedded in the organisational culture. I think that often "lean" is seen as an initiative, whereas it needs to be the way an organisation works from day to day.