What is Lean Manufacturing?

At the heart of ‘lean’ is the customer, and a focus on the customer’s definition of quality. Lean production involves being able to deliver a product or service to the customer on time, in full, every time. You might be asking; what’s that got to do with lean? The simple answer is 'everything'.

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes for a moment. I know you can do it; you’re probably somebody’s customer several times a day, whether it’s in the supermarket, the petrol station, the news agent or even at work.

So what is it you really want? Could it be value for money? Would you be just a little bit upset if you found out that you were paying for somebody’s poor work practices? What if you found out that a loaf of bread, costs ten cents more than it should, because the baker always made more dough than he used, and made you pay for it? And what if you found out that, that same baker, always baked more loaves than he could sell, and added another five cents to the cost of each loaf to cover that as well?

Lean philosophy tells us that the customer shouldn’t be paying for anything that doesn’t add value to the product, or service that is being provided. So, do you know what lean manufacturing is now?

If you answered with something like: eliminating waste, or only doing those things that add value for the customer, you’d be on the right track. Lean manufacturing is about both. If you are going to do only those things that add value for the customer, you have to eliminate waste. So let’s go back to our baker for a moment.

We know two things about his baking practices, he always makes too much dough (and throws out the excess) and he always bakes too many loaves, and throws out what he doesn’t sell. What do you think the baker would say if you asked him why he made you pay for his waste? He’d probably say that if he didn’t he’d go broke. By not covering all of his production costs, including his waste, he wouldn’t make enough money to stay in business. And if you asked him why he made too much, he’d probably say because that’s they way he’s always done it. It was probably the way he was taught. Remember the old truism “you can never have too much of anything”? Still think that it’s true?

Our baker friend could reduce his waste, and his costs (and perhaps his prices), if he were able to eliminate or reduce the extra dough and bread he threw out. By measuring his excess dough every night (bakers usually bake at night) and working out what the average quantity was, he could reduce the amount he threw out significantly, simply by reducing the amount of dough he made by the average amount of waste. If he did the same thing with the loaves he threw out, he’d be able to further reduce his waste, and his costs.

This is a simple lesson in lean manufacturing, but there is still one thing to learn. It doesn’t stop! You keep trying to reduce or eliminate waste. And the thing is, you not only get less waste, but you get better at what you do, all the time, because you’re always learning, and improving on what you do.

Talk about workplace learning :)

What lean practices are being used in your workplace? How has 'lean' reduced waste and costs where you work? Do you have lean stories do can share with us? We look forward to hearing from you.

Peter Hancock

Work Doctor at Workplace Learning Initiatives Pty Ltd


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