Value Stream Mapping - Common Mistakes

During many first time Value Stream Mapping exercises, we have noticed some common mistakes. Many times when the mistake is made, it is not recognized and the Value Stream Mapping tool is called into question. It's like trying to use excel as a word processor, it kind of works but you just don't quite get the results you were expecting. So here are some of our observations. 1. You start to follow the people doing the work. We all start out understanding that we are doing Value Stream Mapping on a product or service however at some point, the person doing the job leaves the product and does something else. Rather than staying with the product we start to follow the person. It may even seem like we should follow the person as the task they are doing is related to the product we are following. For example in a dentist's office, the product we will follow is the patient. The patient comes in, they register, they sit down and they wait. They get called into the office and the dentist performs the work, they leave. The nurse takes their folder and does some work to it, she then works on the computer to update the file and finally, she puts the file away. In this case we have stopped following the patient and we have started to observe the work being performed by the nurse. 2. Trying to do a final Value Stream Map without the product or service actually being performed. We all know that it is sometimes difficult when you are training people to do Value Stream Mapping to always 'see' the product move through the entire process. It is sometimes necessary to leave the client with homework to actually observe the process and fill in all the boxes. There are cases however where companies think that there is not enough time to get a complete Value Stream Map, the process is too long or won't be running for another month and they need to present to management a savings plan by the end of the week. They frequently think that they can go to their engineered standards and fill in the information boxes and then predict their savings. In this case the person has forgotten some of the basis of Lean. First without observing the inventory, they don't have a Value Stream Map, they have a Process Map. Second without observing how the time standards were arrived at, how will you determine waste opportunities. Third the person doing the work may have many distractions - for example it may take me an hour to change the brakes on a car but every time I start, I have to do 3 oil changes. We need to observe the work and more importantly what's happening to our product when the work isn't being done. Office Value Stream Mapping A close relative of point number 2 is doing Value Stream Mapping in the office. With so much information on the computer today, many companies have all the information on their processes and value streams on their computers. If you want to know how many people are in an area we can get it, how much inventory between processing steps and what the processing times are are all kept in real time. Layouts of the plant floor are kept and actual distances traveled can be calculated right from the drawing. For many companies it really is possible to put an entire Value Stream Map together in an office and for it to be technically correct. Although the Value Stream Map may be technically correct we are missing the opportunity to observe what is happening. For example a company knew from their standard that a pallet of material could be wrapped in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. They had to be forced out to the floor to actually observe the operation and to prove they were right that they went out there. What they observed was the pallet took closer to 25 minutes to complete because the operator had to answer 4 phone calls. They didn't realize that this was part of the job of the operator. If you don't observe, you will never figure out why your lead-time is so long. Much of what takes place in day-to-day operations is never recorded in any standard. Things like phone calls, interruptions, or reprioritization of work. 4. Double counting of time. It takes a while to understand what to put into an information box and what is a processing step. For example Changeovers. We know that they go into the information box because all the books say so. Sometimes however people still ask why that time doesn't get recorded on the lead time line. How about travel time? I have to travel for 15 minutes between processing steps so I should have a box on my Value Stream Map representing travel time. Should it be counted as processing time? What do we include in processing boxes? The key here is to separate the things that cause inventory to build up, from the actual work to complete the part or service. Long changeover times cause inventory to build up, long distances to travel cause inventory to build up. Therefore these items are causes to be eliminated. They are responsible for the inventory we see in the company. We will account for them in our lead time calculation when we count the inventory. Understand the causes of inventory build up versus the actual steps to completing a product or service for the customer. Shared Resources 5. Ignoring shared resources. In most companies there are resources that are shared. These resources are required to support more than one product family. They may be people, assembly lines, equipment, instruments etc. An example would be a laboratory receiving area. They receive the samples for many labs and distribute them. If we forget this during our Value Stream Mapping process we would get the wrong results. Let's choose a simple example. A receiving area receives samples for 2 labs. Each lab receives 80 samples a day. Therefore they receive 160 samples and over an 8 hour period must supply each lab, 10 samples each. Therefore, they need 20 samples an hour and this requires 2 people. During the Value Stream Mapping, we mistakenly only account for the one product families' work. We believe that they need to supply only 10 samples per hour and we only require one person for 8 hours. This is a simple example and we would probably catch it. However, lets say you have hundreds of products and many product families you may miss this error. Remember to identify the shared resources. If you don't you will incorrectly calculate important numbers like the Takt time and cycle times. 6. Mixing product families. Sometime when Value Stream Maps start to get really complex with many branching streams going in and out of the main Value Stream, it is because the people doing the Value Stream Mapping didn't do a good job of defining the product families before starting the Value Stream Mapping. This problem is generally aggravated by one or both problems identified earlier - either not identifying a shared resource or following a person and not the product. By not doing a good job with the product families we can get distracted and follow the wrong processing path. Let's say we are following a product family that only goes through a lathe machine and is then shipped. The lathe may also be used in a product family that goes to a welding and, then to an assembly area and onto a de-burring area etc. If we haven't properly identified the family we may start to follow the Value Stream Map through assembly and de-burring when we should have gone from the lathe straight to the shipping area. Make sure you know your product families before you start Value Stream Mapping. These are not the only mistakes you can make during your initial Value Stream Mapping sessions; however they are common to many companies when they start to learn about Value Stream Mapping. Avoiding these mistakes will help you to use the Enterprise Value Stream Mapping ® tool better. Like anything else the more you practice the better you will get. Chuck trained in statistical process control at the University of Tennessee and in the design of experiments at MIT. He is certified by the American Society for Quality as a Quality Manager. His diversified technical background leading Lean and other major improvement initiatives across a wide range of industries has provided him with the professional expertise necessary to direct others on how to implement Lean the 'right' way.
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How a Just-In-Time Can Increase the Profit of Your Business ?

If you are still striving to increase the profit margin of your business, do not overlook your inventory management system. The just-in-time inventory method may be what your business needs to increase its profits. Indeed, the ultimate goal of any business is to generate profit. This is accomplished when revenues exceed all the expenses needed to sustain a business activity. Financial analysts have many ratios at their disposal to measure how well a business is performing. Return on Investment (ROI), defined as the "net income divided by the average of total assets," is by far the most important ratio used to measure the profitability of a business. The ROI ratio basically measures how much profit a business is able to generate with the assets it has available within a certain operating cycle. If this concept seems strange to you, just imagine two companies, A and B, which manufacture the exact same product. If the only difference between the two companies is that company B needs to utilize more assets to generate the same amount of profit (because it operates more plants for the same production output for example) it becomes clear that company A is more efficient and profitable than company B. Inventory is an important portion of any business' assets. In the manufacturing industry, inventory is usually divided into three separate segments: raw materials, work-in-process and finished products. Because inventory is often a company's largest asset, the way it is managed can greatly affect a company's return on investment. Generally speaking, with all other things being equal, a company can increase its ROI by keeping its inventory low. Why? Because inventory is an asset item computed in the denominator of the ROI ratio. Any reduction of the denominator will increase the ratio. The amount of inventory that sits on a company's shelves also affects the company's profitability in other ways. For one, inventory ties up capital that the company can no longer use elsewhere. When raw material is purchased on credit, the company will incur an unnecessary interest expense. Second, excess inventory will also cause an increase in the inventory carrying costs, which are costs associated with holding an inventory. Carrying costs can range between 15% and 25% of the inventory value. It is comprised of storage cost, handling cost, utility costs as well as insurance and taxes to be paid on warehouses. Finally, an inventory can also become obsolete, meaning that the parts held in storage are no longer useful (and salable) if the company decides to manufacture a new line of product in order to keep a competitive edge in the market. Obsolete inventory becomes waste which translates into a loss to the company. The just-in-time inventory management is a strategy that was developed by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota in the 1970s, whereby inventory is kept at a minimum. The objective of a just-in-time inventory is for a company to acquire only the exact amount of raw material needed to manufacture the exact amount of finished goods for direct sale. This inventory management has been summed up as "having the right material, at the right time, at the right place, and in the exact amount." This inventory management requires that a company maintains long-term relationships with reliable suppliers and maintains a very accurate production and inventory information system. When correctly implemented, the just-in-time inventory system will effectively increase a company's return on investment and boost profitability by reducing inventory carrying costs and preventing capital and investment from being tied up in unnecessary assets.
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How OEE Can Help Your Business to Become More Efficient ?

OEE -Overall Equipment Effectiveness is a KPI that has been implemented into manufacturing and engineering companies across the globe for a number of decades. However there is a general misconception behind 2 key areas which would aid businesses in starting or maintaining their lean journey. Firstly there are discrepancies regarding the right calculations involved and the second area is the interpretation of the final figure calculated with a rule that a company must be world class if its OEE is 85% and above. The calculation for working out OEE is: Percentage calculation obtained by multiplying the availability rate, the performance efficiency performance rate, and the quality rate. If we look at the performance efficiency of a machine, companies are too quick to look at the overall capabilities of the machines and set it to the highest specification through tune ups. However what is the point in over producing just because the machine is capable of doing more volume. Takt time is the vital ingredient here, were the machine produces enough for the demands otherwise there will be too much waste. Availability rate is another area that needs addressing. The machines should be up and ready to go and meet the takt time. If it is always up and running 100% of the time even though there has been no demand then this again leads to unnecessary usage and waste. PPM scheduling should also look into takt time trends and plan their maintenance programs around this. Measuring the quality aspect again is a vital part of the lean journey and OEE calculation. Defects are going to occur but what is important is to define what an actual defect is and that these defects may increase through wear and tear of the machines. One piece flow is the way forward in being able to identify and react quicker to defects as well as the introduction of SPC. Overall it is evident that OEE is a vital ingredient on the lean journey but more often than not is not properly understood and can indeed create more problems. Companies need to analyse takt time, look into the measurement of defects and quality with SPC and look at the availability rates in comparison with the demands. Only when the bigger picture is understood and passed through the workforce will the lean journey begin gaining speed.
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Is Lean Manufacturing Dead?

Some people learning how to implement lean manufacturing may be asking themselves this question, especially with so many websites and books promoting alternative solutions to your manufacturing ills such as six sigma, business re-engineering, etc. The answer is a very firm NO; at the end of the day lean manufacturing is a very simple and clear way of improving your business using a host of long established tools. Lean manufacturing may not be the answer to every problem within your business but then no "off the shelf" philosophy is going to give you the recipe for business success otherwise everyone would be successful! With lean manufacturing what you need to succeed is a heavy dose of common sense and the will to achieve. It is about making common sense changes to improve your efficiency. There is no need to get into heavy statistical analysis as there can be in six sigma, it can be very simple indeed to implement. However as I have already said, no "off the shelf" philosophy is going to turn your business into the next success story. Everything in life has it's limitations. Lean is no different, if your management team is not committed, or not capable of making change then you will need to look at re-organizing and training your team. Many consultancies will focus on this side of your business, saying that the secret to business success is having the right people in the right positions, having the right structure and right management style. However if you don't then provide them with the tools to actually do the job then the business will not climb to the top of the heap. Some will say forget lean, look at six sigma. Why do you have to implement one without the other? Just because one set of consultants wants you to buy their services over the competitors does it mean that you can only have one set of methods? Does it mean that you have to sit in one camp and not the other? The two complement each other significantly, hence the drive for some to promote "lean sigma", you can come up with quick major improvements using lean and then tune them significantly using the six sigma tools to reduce the variability within the processes. Lean manufacturing is a collection of tools that you use to try to give the customer what they want, when they want it using the minimum amount of resource. Six Sigma is about reducing process variability to ensure that you always provide a quality product or service. They overlap in many areas. But neither really addresses design issues, how to come up with that brand new product or service idea that will take the market by storm. Hence various tools for product innovation and breakthrough technology. At the end of the day, if you have no clear idea of what you want to do within your business then you will just wander in circles never moving forward. You must have clear direction, then use each and every tool available, picking and choosing what you need to meet the challenges of your business. Adapt each and every tool to meet your business needs, few if any can ever be implemented exactly as written in the manual. Not every tool in the arsenal of each philosophy is relevant to every company, there will never be a step by step guide to improving your business. Every business is different, every management structure has it's quirks, every leader has his own style despite efforts by HR professionals to define distinctions. Every method out there has it's place, depending on the market you operate in, the maturity of your products and processes, what methods you chose to improve your competitiveness will change. It is no good focusing on tools to constantly improve manufacturing efficiencies and the like if you are in a market that demands new innovative products every six months. No point in producing last year's "must have gadget" cheaper and faster than the competition if the market has moved on! So lean still has its place, it is still a requirement, whether we call it lean or not if we start to make improvements within our business then you can almost guarantee that we will use some of the basic tools of lean. How many successful businesses do you know that implement some sort of housekeeping process, "a place for everything, and everything in its place". Most do, some will call it 5s, 5C, just housekeeping or any other title they can think of, but no business can succeed without some sort of basic organization at this level. What organization does not try to standardize work to prevent variation, standardization through procedures, instructions, and training. All of these are significant parts of lean manufacturing. But no tools can work on their own, there must be a goal. The goal for most businesses is at the end of the day to make money. Does not matter how flowery their HR and PR statements are regarding how they will develop and involve their employees, how they will protect the environment and help the community, each and every business is there with one aim; to make money. They do this by being efficient, by having products that meet market needs. So make money you must have what the customer wants and be able to deliver it to him when he wants it at the right price, right level of quality, and support it as necessary. If you can't then you will not succeed. Lean can help you with ensuring that you can deliver on time, that the quality is right and the price is right.
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The Continuous Improvement Team's Role in Lean Implementation

How do Continuous Improvement teams fit in with your Lean initiatives? Improvement teams were introduced as quality circles more than twenty-five years ago. Over time they started to fall into disfavor as companies became doubtful about the amount of effort required coach cross-functional teams to success. Hard work or not, improvement teams are still one of the most powerful tools an organization can use to ensure that people stay firmly focused on meeting customer needs and business goals. Teams that bring employees together from various departments to solve problems and make improvements are one of the best ways to fight 'silo' mentality. Improved communication, mutual respect and shared responsibility for goal achievement are proven results from properly building and mentoring Continuous Improvement teams. Lean initiatives can and should piggyback on these Continuous Improvement teams and similarly, Continuous Improvement or Six Sigma teams should use their Lean Future State Implementation Plan to determine the projects they will work on. These Future State plans are developed for bottom line Value Stream improvement and are both a road map and baseline measure of return for Lean implementation. Many companies have found that these plans make an excellent 'to do' map for Continuous Improvement and Six Sigma work as well. When Continuous Improvement teams act in isolation from Lean initiatives, companies often find they are besieged by a series of 'point' improvements rather than thoroughly reasoned, systemic change. While point improvements can make one area better, and appear solid on paper, they frequently fail to have any sustainable impact on the organization's bottom line. Point improvements tend to pass waste and inefficiencies from one area to another without solving the root cause of the problem for the system as a whole. We call the use of point improvements 'Exciting Chaos'. Everyone involved feels like they are contributing but the effect is isolated to one department, cell, or person without being directly connected to the entire 'system'. The results are minimal and much less than expected. When organizations complain about ineffective Continuous Improvement teams, it's usually because of this 'point' improvement focus. Instead, it is systemic work that makes sustainable end-to-end Lean improvements. The Lean test for correct systemic method is whether you get lasting positive and competitive customer impact as well as dramatic improvements to bottom line profitability. In one well-known business, the company invested a great deal of money in getting faster processing equipment. The result: work was passed on to the next processing step 30% faster, however the work sat idle 30% longer in front of that next step. If the company had done a proper Value Stream Map analysis, they would have discovered there were other areas of opportunity to work on and that the correct sequence of improvement steps was critical. They would have had a system-focused Implementation Plan defining what needed to be done, when it needed to be done, and who needed to be involved. Their resources would have been utilized more effectively and the improvements would be measurable from end-to-end (bottom line and customer). Continuous Improvement teams generally work on problems that are highly visible and clearly need to be fixed. The right Lean questions for them to ask are: "Which problem comes first? Which problem will have the most systemic bottom line return for our efforts? Which problem will add the most value for the customer?" When we complete the Lean Future State of a Value Stream, we produce a properly designed Lean Implementation Plan. It has been prioritized to give the company maximum results. If the improvement teams aren't working on problems from that implementation plan then the Continuous Improvement approach must be changed. Tying improvement projects to the Lean Implementation Plan has additional benefits. People on the Improvement Teams will clearly understand the Lean business strategy and direction of the company. Rather than working on incremental problems, often at the cell or department level, they work from the Future State plan and gain broader, more company-wide support. Continuous Improvement teams are seen as playing an important role in transforming the company into a Lean Enterprise. This brings increased pride of accomplishment and sense of purpose to the team, which in turn, helps them produce sustainable changes. Everyone is now involved in Lean implementation and this keeps improvement energies moving forward without the need to push. This is the environment that is so characteristic of the best and most competitive organizations. In companies where the improvement teams are not part of the Value Stream improvement process, another serious problem occurs. There is usually a struggle and competition for resources and attention. Lack of resources is a major stumbling block for companies implementing Lean. By keeping Lean Future State Implementation and Continuous Improvement teams separate, companies lose the advantage of skilled resources pooled to quickly and efficiently achieve their Future State. Continuous Improvement teams have skills needed to solve problems properly and conduct meetings aimed at making improvements. If they operate outside of the Value Stream, they are probably going to make point improvements that will most likely lead to frustrating and weak return. The solution is to make your Continuous Improvement teams and Lean Future State Implementation teams one and the same. Train your Continuous Improvement people on Lean methods and coach them to think system-wide rather than incrementally for their Lean problem solving. Continuous Improvement teams should be an integral part of the Lean Value Stream initiatives. They will have to make some adjustments in the process, but the result will be changes that help the company systemically improve processes, maximize value to the customer, and dramatically improve the bottom line.
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The Power of SMED

1. What is Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)? Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) is a simple but powerful Lean technique for reducing waste in a manufacturing process. It is a systematic approach that enables organizations to dramatically reduce set-up time or changeover time. It provides a rapid and efficient way of changing the machine set-up in a manufacturing process from one product to another. 2. Why is the SMED important to improving manufacturing flexibility? SMED reduces the set-up time. Long set-up time resulted in a reduced number of set-ups, larger batch sizes and larger buffering work-in-process inventories and poor process flow and performance. Since set-up activities add no marketable form, fit, or function to the product, they are by definition non-value adding. By reducing set-up time, more set-ups can be completed each day, batch size can be correspondingly reduced, flow can be significantly improved. All these improvement will help to improve manufacturing flexibility. 3. What is the history of Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) method? Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) method was pioneered by Mr. Shigeo Shingo since 1950 in Japan, but only became popular to the other part of the world in 1980s. 4. What are the 4 stages of Set-up Reduction? Stage 1. Ensure that external setup actions are performed while the machine is still running, Stage 2. Separate external and internal setup actions, ensure that the parts all function and implement efficient ways of transporting the die and other parts, Stage 3. Convert internal setup actions to external, Stage 4. Improve all setup actions. 5. What is the definition of Internal and External activities? Internal activities are those that can only be performed when the process is stopped, while external activities can be done while the last batch is being produced, or once the next batch has started. Examples of external activities include pre-heating of raw material and preparation of tools before the machine stops. 6. What is the best way to see immediate results when implementing SMED technique? One of the best ways to see immediate result of the technique is to perform a kaizen event using SMED technique on a pilot machine. The kaizen event usually takes about 3 to 5 days and will repeat the 4 stages of SMED over several iterations. A good rule of thumb is to target 50% improvement for each iteration, and repeat the process until the target is achieved. 7. How can SMED helps in Lean implementation? Most people's initial reaction to the quantum improvement brought about by SMED is disbelieved, followed by total acceptance and commitment to Lean transformation. So if you need to gain some ground support and buy-in in your Lean implementation, consider a pilot project on SMED for a good head start!
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How to Reduce Processing Time By 50% in your Office ?

Since 1973, family owned Dalco Metals of Walworth has been a premier supplier of flat-rolled steel-processing services to manufacturers throughout the Midwest. John Ring, executive vice president of Dalco, credits this long-term success to the company’s focus on the customer’s needs, close relationships with suppliers, and constant attention to quality in every manufacturing and business process. “About eight years ago, it seemed that everything pointed toward adopting lean manufacturing methods: a customer recommended we look into lean manufacturing, a classmate in my MBA program recommended 5S (a lean method), and I attended the Manufacturing. Matters! conference and participated in a Lean workshop presented by WMEP. 5S is not a static tool – Dalco Metals continually works at sustaining the changes they’ve made and to continually find new ways to make the process better, cleaner, faster and less expensive. “Dalco Metals is a great example of what it takes to generate the benefits of Lean manufacturing over the long-term,” said Thiltgen. “Many companies start lean programs, but lack the stamina and commitment it takes to fully realize the benefits gained when Lean is a way of life. Dalco Metals has tremendous executive support of Lean – it’s a part of everyone’s job.” Chuck Ferguson, inside sales and applications manager, agrees. “The ‘sustain’ part of the program is the toughest part. We are trying to ingrain the 5S mentality in everyone’s minds here at Dalco and I think it is working. As long as we have the support of the management, Dalco will continue to operate at peak efficiency.”
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Lean Manufacturing Concept VS Traditional Quality Concept

Have you ever thought "quality products are expensive"? You might be prepared to pay some extra money for a high quality product. I believe you have taken the correct move. It is always better to buy a better quality product or service than a low quality one. But I have a small problem regarding your concept about higher price you are paying. Why you should pay extra money to get good quality product. Strange question isn't it? But I believe it is very much a valid question. I do not believe that you have to pay extra money for the quality. I will explain why. There are two types of manufacturers around. One is quality manufacturers. They produce quality products and services. Lean manufacturers are naturally quality manufacturers. The other type is average manufacturers. They produce average quality products. They pick best from these products. These selected products are high in quality of cause. Then they sell these products as high quality products. Remember these are not quality manufacturers. They are quality pickers. When your manufacturer is a quality manufacturer, you will be paying only for the products you are buying. It is obvious isn't it? You will pay only for the products that you buy. But when you buy a product manufactured by a quality picker, you are paying for the other low quality products as well. Have you thought before? You are actually paying for the product you are buying, and you are also paying for the products which are removed in selecting best quality products from the bunch of average quality products. The cost of low quality products are added to the high quality product. That is why most of the manufacturers will say "High quality products are costly". If this is a lean manufacturer he will say "Cost is free" instead.
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Creative Problem Solving Techniques

Do you ever need to find some good ideas, or come up with a solution for a persistent problem? Learn some simple problem solving techniques, and start applying them. Choose a few of the methods below, and get in the habit of using them in your personal life and your business. Problem Solving Techniques 1. Clarify what a successful solution is, and that will guide your efforts. In fact, sometimes just clarifying the desired outcome will suggest immediate solutions. 2. Get opinions and/or advice from several people. They might have good ideas, and you'll be sure you're not overlooking the obvious. Also, you clarify a problem when you explain it, and that may help in itself. 3. Challenge assumptions. Are you trying to solve the wrong problem? Do you really need a vacation, or is your job the problem? Don't let your assumptions limit your possible solutions. 4. Break it into parts, and solve the parts individually. Many problems are really a collection of smaller, easier-to-solve problems. 5. Change perspectives. What would the problem look like if you were rich, poor, or from another planet. Einstein imagined riding on a beam of light, which lead to his theory of relativity, so this technique has been known to work. 6. Solve the problems while you sleep. Leave a tape recorder or pen and paper next to the bed for those middle-of-the-night ideas. 7. Write it down, and then find another way to express the problem. Write down all solutions and ideas that come to mind. Later you can pick the diamonds out of the dirt. 8. Try "random presentation." This is a fun one. Randomly pick an object and ask what it might teach you about your problem. A speed limit sign might suggest that you're growing your company too fast, for example. Don't be too dismissive of all the silly ideas this technique creates, as they'll sometimes trigger more useful ideas. This is also great for putting driving time to good use. 9. Look at what others have done. Problems aren't usually unique in every aspect. What have others done in similar situations? 10. Look at ways to cause the problem. Too much stress? Find ways to cause more stress. Over-promise, sleep poorly, be constantly interrupted, leave many decisions unmade, and so on. Each way to cause stress can suggest solutions: Fewer promises, sleep more, don't allow interruptions, make decisions now, etc. The Key To Solving Problems Some of these problem solving techniques will work for you. The key is to get in the habit of using them. Do they require a little work? Sure, but isn't work better than worry?
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The Benefits of SMED

In manufacturing, one of the manager's never ending duties is to find ways to continually optimize and streamline the facility's operations. Even little incremental changes can have a huge effect in improving worker efficiency and output flow. Every level of the assembly line must be analyzed for weaknesses and problems so that the issues can be properly addressed. Anything that can cause a slowdown or pause during any phase of production is an enemy of any factory setting. One common source of work stoppage is the routine shift and employees changes. Aside from creating a backlog that can be very difficult to recover from, such occurrences also cost the company precious time and money. Lost profits can easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars through accumulated interruptions. One excellent way administrators can deal with this matter is with the introduction of Quick Changeover Simulations into their Human Resources Department's employee curriculum. Also called SMED games, these simulations are classroom activities that can be practiced during regularly scheduled HR appointments, or dedicated company-wide team building excursions. A SMED offers many advantages to any firm running an assembly line in the manufacturing industry. Foremost among its many gifts is its ability to instill in employees the proper techniques that can reduce shift change downtime to its very minimum. Through constant practice and repetition, workers get to understand firsthand the actual reason why certain protocols are in place instead of just blindly following their boss's instructions. This is useful when you want to institute stricter measures, but don't want it to negatively affect workforce morale. Running a SMED will also provide employees a safe venue to fail and mess-up operational processes without having it threaten the wellbeing of neither the company nor the workers themselves. In this way, people can learn how to avoid repeating their mistakes without hurting anyone. Finally, a SMED is also an effective team building tool. It allows the workers to build relationships and a sense of camaraderie with each other. This leads to increased employee morale which statistics show has a direct effect on a person's work rate, efficiency and production output. Never forget that happy companies are also profitable companies.
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Lean and Manufacturing Basics

In order to improve competitiveness and profitability, a Company must have basic technique and important strategy which is in lean manufacturing and processing. A Manufacturing Company need to reduce unnecessary work practices and reduce wastes, this is the fundamental function of lean manufacturing. Due to turbulent concerns and political affecting all countries, companies are facing challenges to be able to keep their efficiency and profitability. Lean manufacturing and processing not totally eliminate the seven “forms of waste” within the systems and the work environment, that the principle of lean manufacturing. The seven “forms of waste” are motion, waiting, transportation, over processing, defects, inventory and scrap. Even in good performing company lean manufacturing and processing aims to drastically improve the competitiveness of struggling or a troubled, restore and to boost it, not only to reduce operational costs that is lean and manufacturing and processing principles. Lean and manufacturing processing learning is basically become mandatory for global and major companies. To be able to survive the hard and rough company challenges ahead in the era of complete globalization, companies must to act right away. Lean manufacturing and processing Enjoying huge benefits of reducing operational costs and moving along is what companies get with lean manufacturing and processing. That could further help company to grow organically and expand by using the save amounts from generated savings. However lean manufacturing and processing is now very easy to adopt and implement. To be able to ensure efforts is succeeded the company should religiously and really pay particular attention to details. There is no doubt that by adopting lean and manufacturing and processing principles, many companies are surely and apparently on the rise. Companies that aren’t doing lean manufacturing and processing’s the techniques and the strategies properly most of the time they are not aimed results and achieving target. Companies’ efforts and capital infusion initiative futile and wasted is surely made if ineffective and insufficient of lean and processing principles. Its principle would not stand on its own that it should be noted also. Companies should strive to attain their goals harder to embrace and adopting lean manufacturing. Learn about lean manufacturing and processing Learn more about lean manufacturing and processing is what companies to really get involved advised by experts. It really makes sense because it can surely help companies get on with current challenges and concerns affecting all institution around the globe. To learn more about lean processing techniques and principles, companies have many ways on how to do it. Experts and professionals who can really help the companies maximize and attain the benefits of such strategies can be hired by the companies. Companies will entail additional investments and additional costs by hiring lean manufacturing and processing experts. Companies shouldn’t really mind it because the implementation of lean manufacturing and processing benefits will surely offset the minimal costs of learning it. In another way to intently and specifically learn manufacturing and processing techniques and principles, key personnel can be designated by the company. Many companies around the world are currently practicing it. Companies had the personnel to learn manufacturing and processing principles by attend seminars and literature about it. Everything that personnel key learned he will relay the message and everything to the whole staffs. The entire organization must be distributed and communicated the knowledge and the skills, which is the important thing to do. The benefits achieved by the companies are much more significant compared to cost of learning manufacturing and processing, all companies should learn it.
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Andon Boards in lean manufacturing

Andon can be defined as "visual control" device that shows machine, process status or line. Most lean manufacturing systems need this device as it is very useful to reduce production waste in all levels. By using andon boards, a company can monitor and ensure productivity easily. Manufacturing warehouse use this tool to see order status or priorities in an instant way even from more than 100 feet away. This device can also function as early warning devices since audible alarms or warning messages are installed in the device. In short, it can be said that this communication tool leads to a better coordination of orders, priorities and parts in a lean manufacturing system. This good coordination finally leads to a better customer service. The use of andon boards replaces the role of traditional communication tool in lean manufacturing systems. With this device, now a company doesn't need to use clip boards, white boards or emails to communicate. Mostly, the boards are able to project a number of 4" characters. If you wish the device to display smaller characters, it is also possible. Andon boards can display 2.1" high characters for a company with smaller areas or less viewing distance. You can also install Windows applications inside the displays. Thus the applications will operate on the boards just like when they run on a PC. HMI applications like Wonderware, Iconics, GE Cimplicity and Visual Plant can also be operated on this device. With the benefits of andon boards, the device has enhanced lean manufacturing tremendously. Therefore, this communication tool has to be developed further to reduce more waste. The older ones usually display only data with fixed and restricted to single word headings. In addition, the data is lost when the display changes. To improve the performance, Gemba Solutions have developed the new andon board called OEE Impact Andon Board. This device offers flexibility and displays that users can configure with a PC. The new OEE Impact Andon Board will give another dimension for lean manufacturing. Its software will inform you how you fare against target by calculating TAKT times. This device can also view progress within work shifts or within a specific period of time. In addition, this latest communication device will inform historical summary that reports targets, down-times, reject. The new products are very helpful since they help a company knows how well their production is going. The EOO Impact Andon Boards can also use powerful software to track problem areas in case the results are less than what you expect.
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lean manufacturing

A lean manufacturing implementation has as one of its major goals reducing and eliminating waste. The waste that Lean solutions seek to eliminate takes several forms. And for each form of waste there is a specific tool that lean manufacturing consultants use for identification and analysis and, ultimately, elimination. Let's look at just a couple. Because the goal of Lean implementation is, among other things, to eliminate waste, the first object is to identify the areas or forms of waste in a particular company. Generally, though, here's what lean manufacturing examines first with respect to waste: unnecessary human motion, non-value-added conveyance of product, over-production, excess inventory, under-utilized space, over-processing, unneeded waiting, and poor utilization of talent. Two of the most easily addressed and corrected involve human motion and conveyance of product. Unnecessary Human Motion Whenever employees are engaged in non-value-added motion, within the context of production, waste occurs. Very often, both managers and employees are unaware when this kind of wasteful activity occurs. And that's why a spaghetti diagram can be so useful. This is a tool/technique used to identify and so eliminate the waste of unnecessary human motion. It involves, in the initial stage, a consultant's following an employee for between 30 minutes to two hours. In order for this to work properly, consultants have to explain to the employees, in order to obtain accurate data, exactly what is being done and why, making sure to emphasize that processes and layouts-not individual employees-are being evaluated. What happens is that that the work path taken by the employee(s) during this period is mapped out to determine efficiency and contribution to value-added activity. Here, then, are the well defined steps in producing a spaghetti diagram to eliminate unnecessary human motion: 1.The date, the time(s), and the specific process being mapped must be noted. 2.The group should be informed about what is going on and a volunteer called for. 3.The actual work paths of this volunteer taken throughout his shift are traced out on the map. 4.Any stops are noted and sequentially numbered, as well as the time duration for each stop. 5.Anything involving over-reaching or "non-comfort" motion is noted. 6.Any inherent disruptions in the work path and flow should be especially noted. 7.The reason for trips must be recorded. By means of this spaghetti diagram consultants can determine where motion is wasted and formulate a plan to eliminate that waste. Non-value-added Conveyance of Product The analytic tool used in a lean manufacturing implementation to find and eliminate the waste that results from the non-value-added conveyance of product is most often a "process walk." In this, the movement of a product is followed across all processes-from initial quality inspection through compounding through filling through all successive segments of the process to the final product ready for shipment. And here's what the process walk entails: 1.Literally walking at a brisk pace to follow the product through its production processes. 2.Asking questions of the people involved to find out origin of the part/ingredient, its next destination, and the means of conveyance. 3.Having employees assist in the observation of processes. 4.Recording delays for preparation and meeting requirements in moving the product from one location to the next. 5.Making a point to mark on the record material-handling delays. With this tool consultants can locate waste and bottlenecks and propose Lean solutions to promote process efficiency. The right lean manufacturing consultants with the right analytic tools can make your lean manufacturing implementation a profitable success
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A 20 Step Roadmap for lean manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing is being utilized by businesses of all sizes today. Although it took a few years to become mainstream, the success stories from mid-size to large corporations have pushed lean manufacturing down to very small organizations. Most of the large corporations employ a few lean experts. Many mid-size and most small businesses do not have lean manufacturing expertise in the company. It is common that a few individuals have attended a lean manufacturing seminar or read a few books, but lack the expertise to develop a roadmap. The reason most courses and seminars do not teach a "roadmap" is because the tools are best applied to problems or bottlenecks, rather than forcing the tool use on the opportunity. For example, a machine that sets up once per week in 30 minutes probably doesn't warrant a week of SMED activity. However, a roadmap can be used with common sense. Lean manufacturing has been called "common sense manufacturing", although not always "common practice". Lean Manufacturing Roadmap: Form team (mix of lean manufacturing and relevant business experience) Develop communication and feedback channel for everyone Meet with everyone and explain the initiative Begin to train all employees (lean overview, 8 wastes, standard operations, kaizen, RCPS, PDCA) Facility Analysis - Determine the gap between current state and a state of "lean" 5S - It is the foundation of lean. Workplace organization is critical for any lean initiative TPM - begin total productive maintenance early (used throughout lean) Value Stream Mapping - Determine the waste across the entire system 7 (or 8) Waste Identification - Use with value stream mapping to identify system waste Process Mapping - a more detailed map of each process Takt time - determine need to produce on all processes, equipment OEE & 6 Losses - determine the losses on all processes and equipment Line Balance - Use if necessary with takt time and OEE SMED - push setup times down to reduce cycle time, batch quantity, and lower costs Pull/One Piece Flow/Continuous Flow Analysis - utilize kanban and supermarkets Analyze Quality at the Source Application - poor quality stopped at the source Implement Error Proofing Ideas Cellular Manufacturing/Layout & Flow Improvement - Analyze facility and each process Develop Standardized Operations - concurrently with SMED, line balance, flow, layouts Kaizen - continue improving operations, giving priority to bottlenecks within the system The specific implementation plan should be developed from the facility analysis. The analysis identifies areas of opportunity in every area of the business, including sales, service, engineering, maintenance, production, quality, shipping, and administrative functions. Some lean manufacturing projects within a lean initiative require the tools of six sigma to find the improvement answers. The lean manufacturing team needs to be trained to understand when the lean tools must be supplemented to either solve the problem or maximize the improvement. Kaizen events may use all of the lean tools (and some six sigma tools) to meet the team's objective. Kaizen events are conducted on an ongoing basis to achieve a state of "lean". For example, a process may need a quick throughput improvement. The kaizen blitz could include focused SMED (single minute exchange of die) and OEE analysis. The kaizen might have an objective to reduce setup time from 80 minutes to 60 minutes in 4 days. It is important to keep an enterprise view with the analysis and roadmap. No single operation should be improved at the expense of the entire system. For example, if a bottleneck is happening at Process B, improving Process A prior to B only hurts the system worse. A larger scale example is improving throughput if shipping cannot handle the volume. Although many improvements cause bottlenecks elsewhere, forcing a larger known problem is rarely a good idea. The roadmap above is only one example. It could be shown with many different variations. However, there is a logical sequence to many of the tools. Value stream mapping is almost always conducted very early on in the process. The 5S system provides a foundation for most other tools. TPM is large and plays an important role in OEE improvement, and therefore must be started early. The key is to have a plan and get started. The path to lean will not be straight and it never ends. Don't let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of being "better" today.
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Employee Empowerment VS Lean Manufacturing

The management concept of employee empowerment can be defined as the creation of an environment in which people at all levels feel they have real influence over standards of quality, service, and business effectiveness within their areas of responsibility. It is a strategy and philosophy that enables employees to make decisions about their jobs. In an organization where this style of management is not natural, adopting a management style that embraces empowerment will be a difficult but critical change in order to succeed in the effort of implementing Lean Enterprise Thinking. Organizations that support empowered people have some common characteristics: - There are few management layers in the organization - Wide spans of control exist with relative responsibilities and accountabilities - A process-based organization structure is used as opposed to a purely functional based structure - Management stands behind people being empowered Most experts who are familiar with implementing Lean in an organization will probably state something to the effect of "... the major inhibitor to get a lean environment is the inability to trust the workforce and really give up a certain level of control in order to give people the power to implement their own ideas and be respected as experts in their area..." . Without this level of trust within the workforce, those who know best how to improve the operation will not feel they can make the changes required to eliminate all of the waste possible and the thought of continuous improvement will not become a way of thinking as it must for Lean to be truly successful. Empowering the workforce does not mean that management gives up control and lets people do whatever they please. Instead, guidelines and boundaries need to be set so that everyone knows the limits of how they can operate. A process needs to be established that allows management to set the direction for the organization but lets the workforce finds unique ways to achieve these goals and objectives. By letting the workforce be free to implement ideas within their work areas, management will find that the organization is much more productive than by following the direction of a few select individuals. The trick is to leverage one's self though the talents of everyone involved. The process of adapting an empowerment style of operating within the organization is not solely the responsibility of management. True, a manager needs to learn to let go without giving up total control, but in order for empowerment to work, the employee must accept it and the responsibility that goes with it. In short - they have to take it. However, not all are willing or able to do, or they do not know how and what it means, so care must be taken to educate and transition those involved. Changing to a mode of operating that truly empowers the members of an organization is a difficult transition to make but is one that can be accomplished. It does take time and having a coach can be a real help. Everyone involved should be patient and realize that the organization is learning a new way to operate, but once it is successful with this transition, the organization will have taken a major step towards to Being Lean and not just Doing Lean.
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The Characteristics of a Lean Enterprise

While Lean can be beneficially applied to any process within an organization, its greatest benefit comes when it is applied across the enterprise. that Lean thinking can be applied by any company anywhere in the world but that the full power of the system is only realized when it is applied to all elements of the enterprise." Over time, it can be said that an organization that implements Lean becomes a Lean Enterprise. While there is no precise definition of a Lean Enterprise, I believe those organizations share common characteristics. A Lean Enterprise can be defined by these 15 characteristics: 1.Customer Focus - The external customer is both the starting point and ending point. Maximize value to the customer. Optimize not around internal operations, but around the customer. Seek to understand not only the customer's requirements but also their expectations of quality, delivery, and price. 2.Purpose - The purpose of an organization encompasses your vision (where you want to go), your mission (what you do), and your strategies (how you do it). Focus on purpose, not tools. 3.Organizational Alignment - You want people to understand their purpose, not just their job description or the tasks that are assigned to them. All the people involved need to have a common understanding of the organization's purpose, and practical understanding of the consequences of failure and the benefits of success. 4.Knowledge - People are the engine of the company, so it is vital to build knowledge and share it. This includes explicit knowledge (like that from books) as well as tacit knowledge, involving soft skills. Knowledge is built through the scientific method of PDCA. 5.Questioning - Encourage a questioning culture. Ask why several times to try to get to the root cause. Encourage everyone to question. "Seek first to understand, then to be understood," said Stephen Covey. 6.Humility - The more you strive for Lean, the more you realize how little you know, and how much there is yet to learn. Learning begins with humility 7.Trust - Build confidence in your promises and commitments. Building trust takes time. 8.Empowered employees - Give frontline employees the first opportunity to solve problems. All employees should share in the responsibility for success and failure. 9.Flexible workforce - As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said "The only constant is change." Flexibility is the ability to react to changes in customer demand. The key to success is to maintain redundancy and hence flexibility within the core competency. 10.Partnership - Use teams, not individuals, internally between functions and externally with suppliers. Employees are partners too. As Covey says, "You must find a win-win, never win-loose, solution and if you can't you should walk away." 11.Simplicity - Lean is not simple, but simplicity pervades. Simplicity is best achieved through the avoidance of complexity, than by 'rationalization' exercises. 12.Process - Organize and think by end-to-end process. Think horizontal, not vertical. Concentrate on the way the product moves, not on the way the machines, people, or customers move. 13.Improvement - Continuous improvement is everyone's concern. Improvement should go beyond incremental waste reduction to include innovation breakthrough. 14.Prevention - Seek to prevent problems and waste, rather than to inspect and fix. Shift the emphasis from failure and appraisal to prevention. Inspecting the process, not the product, is prevention. Use poka yoke to mistake proof process errors. 15.Visualization - Visuals translate performance of every process into expected versus actual, throughout the management systems. It is regular, frequent, and factual data driven. Visuals provide the opportunity to quickly spot and take action at the earliest point that performance has not met what was expected. A Lean Enterprise is not created quickly. When a business applies lean thinking, culture, and methods throughout the entire organization and beyond its four walls to customers and suppliers a Lean Enterprise is formed.
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Lean Production

To start off with, what is lean production? One definition of lean production is; a manufacturing performance improvement approach and philosophy that emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all the resources (including time).

It involves identifying and removing non-value-adding activities in design, production, supply chain management, and dealing with the customers. Put simply it's a way to cut costs by taking away/minimizing time consuming activities. Note that implementing lean production is difficult.

The lean manufacturing history is thought to stem from the research Ford carried out in 1986 on Toyota, the business strategies implemented reduced production times, giving lower costs per unit, but it also gave an increase to quality. The lean manufacturing success of Toyota sparked the beginning of a new production method.

A common mistake among students is to identify lean production with Just in Time (JIT), although it is a part of it, it is not the basis of the production method. When/if a business decides to become a lean producer there and 4 principles they must apply for the lean strategy to work:

Lean quality
Lean design
Lean people management
Lean component supply

Lean Design

The first of the lean techniques involves assessing and improving upon product development, or product modifications, so that the firm can quickly and efficiently adapt to the changing business environment. Computer aided design (cad software) is one of the most flexible and quickest method for firms to design new products quickly, and transfer new product ideas from the conception stage to the market, this can lead to first mover advantage. First mover advantages include such things as; A high, if not 100% market share in the product, brand loyal customers (since they can see you as the first, therefore the best) and allows the business to establish a foot-in-the-door effect, which is needed to focus customers on their specific product when the copy firms move in.

When lean companies look for speedy product development and launch, time-based management plays a crucial role. Time-based management is, essentially, minimizing the time between product design and product launch. It looks for the areas in the business where simultaneous engineering can take place (decision trees are a good example of this) which cuts costs by saving time and money.

Lean quality

Quality is an expensive area for business organisations, but there are greater costs when ignoring quality. Bad quality can lead to bad publicity, a poor brand image and a great loss of customer loyalty. On the human resource side of things, one of the best ways to increase quality is by training the employees in all aspects of the production, making them multi skilled and making them feel more empowered giving greater motivation. The importance of quality will also be reflected throughout a firm's culture. Quality techniques include quality circles and kaizen groups: using both of these would be the best way to bring in ideas from employees, this brings greater employee motivation and productivity.

Lean people management

What is people management? People management is simply as it says, a way in which people involved in and outside the business are treated and used. Lean producers will aim to fully utilize all the skills and ideas of their workers. They will attempt to ensure that all their workers are fully trained and multi skilled in the businesses production methods. Empowerment and delegation are key to lean people management and they therefore create participation schemes to enable staff to contribute their ideas and experiences. This not only makes them feel valued, but also benefits the firm by getting ideas from experienced workers. This delegation of decision-making power makes workers feel more involved and, therefore, more committed to the business objectives of the firm. Motivation is key to productivity and therefore lower costs.

Lean Component supply

Just-in-time (JIT) is a system of stock management that involves only requesting a new supply of materials once there is a definite need. This is the moment students say 'Good, JIT, I know all about that.' But, in addition to understanding the benefits of JIT such as: saving money on space and insurance and removing the risk of holding stocks that may become damaged or obsolete (as with food), the opportunity costs also need to be considered. The firm will no longer be able to benefit from bulk-buying discounts (economies of scale) or be able to respond immediately to a customer order. The conditions necessary for JIT to work also have to be recognised. The firm must have reliable suppliers who are able to supply on demand with a short delivery time. Proximity is always good and accessibility is also important for a quick supply and delivery.

Conclusion

To summarize, the key aspects of lean production students should know that: Lean production is expensive, there are high start up costs and it cannot be applied to every business, most economies of scale advantages are lost and it can take a long time for the workforce to adapt to a such a change and some employees may reject the changes.


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Kaizan vs Kaizen

Everybody in the business world is familiar with the Japanese word 'Kaizen' and it refers to the process of effecting continuous improvement in a business organization.

Quality of products cannot be improved in one or two steps. Every business organization should strive to introduce improvements in every stage of the production process and there will always be room for further improvement. By introducing improvements, the production process becomes easier and more cost effective. The profits of the company increase and the company will have the edge to compete with any other company in the market.

There is another word, Kaizan, which sounds similar but is entirely different in meaning. It refers to the unfair practice of falsifying business records and it is illegal in many countries. By cooking the books, the company tries to cheat the authorities and the public. The company's only aim is to make money by hook or by crook. In practice, no improvement takes place in the business organization and whatever it tries to portray is market hype.

In a competitive business world where everybody is trying to make profits, only a very few people understand what kaizen means. It is therefore necessary to explain the tools of kaizen and the healthy business practices to make improvements in the production process.

The most difficult obstacle to overcome while implementing improvement is the business culture. Talking about improvements will not bring about quality in the company's products; there have to be concrete steps taken to change the existing business practices.

Kaizen, in its real sense is not merely about reducing the workforce and trying to create an image of a prosperous company among the public. These efforts may result in some short term benefits but they don't improve the quality of the company's products.

Toyota, the leading manufacturer of vehicles, which doesn't give false and unrealistic promises to its customers is an example of a company in which kaizen is practiced earnestly. Its mission statement simply states that the company will be fully responsible for its actions and the quality of its products.

To achieve product quality, waste must be eliminated at all levels of the production process. It includes efficiency in accounting, workforce, marketing and so on. The company should aim at long-term goals rather than short-term ones. The business organization as a whole, starting from the top to the bottom, should be responsible for bringing about continuous improvement in its production process.

Konusuke Matsushita once explained why Western companies are doomed to fail. He attributed strict adherence to Theory X as the main reason for the failure of Western companies. Western companies exclude the working class from decision making process and the employees are forced to work like machines. There is no unity between the workers and the management in Western companies. Such companies will fail to bring about any improvement in the quality of their products.

Kaizen, on the other hand, emphasizes unity among all and respect for each other. It recognizes the fact that the backbone of a company is its work force. It, therefore, takes all possible means to improve the quality of the workers. To improve the quality of products, the company should respect not only its workers but all other people who the company has dealings with as well. This is one area where the Western companies miserably fail. They put forward lame excuses for lack of respect for its employees and customers.

Any step taken to improve the quality of services and products must be based on long term goals. Quality improvement is possible only if every individual in the company is committed to improving the quality of its products. It is the mindset of people that has to change most in order to achieve quality improvement.


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Supply Chain Management Optimization

End-to-end supply chain management optimization leads to organic performance. This helps supply chain management system to improve its forecasting and inventory management, fulfill commitment with more efficiency, become more effective in handling sourcing and supplying management, streamline logistics management, and certainly help to enhance post-market supports.

In the ongoing economic scenario, business organizations are focusing on how to keep going on with their businesses and at the same time, preparing themselves for future development. This chain of a business organization represents an untapped opportunity to gain short-term and long-term cash-flows and cost-savings. Business organizations stand to justify their working capital and develop with making use of the advantages of the given business atmosphere and implementing better and streamlined end-to-end supply chain expedients by utilizing world-class technologies.

The companies are concentrating much on increasing cash-flows. The reason that causes them to run after the cash-flows is the given economic scenario where almost all kinds of businesses are struggling to survive due to cash-strapped economic situation. Even the blue-chip companies are being seen to have been battling in this antagonistic atmosphere. Banking institutions are reluctant or slower in processing loan advances to them, aggravating their agonies. All these factors affect adversely the supply chain system. Getting bailout of this axis is possible with replacing their supplier chain procedures with an end-to-end view. This replacement deals with the following activities.

1. Stronger inventory road-map

2. Efficient forecasting method

3. Efficient means for sourcing and procuring

4. Fulfillment of commitment

5. Planning for on-time delivery of logistics

6. Post-market support

There are three distinct unproductive supply networking procedures that impede the progress and the companies need to be careful about them. They are as follows.

1. Dynamic inventory road-map deficiency

2. Ineffectually speedy processes affect supplying process and delay timely delivery

3. Inattentive to benchmark freight rates and use low-cost carriers

Supplying chain operators are required to closely monitor over these issues. These processes siphon off cash of a company and their cumulative impact can drain out their competitiveness and productivity also. All of these processes are interlinked and if any of them is incompetently devised, the other processes will definitely get affected. To save the system from degeneration, an end-to-end supplying chain management system has to be introduced and optimized.

For making this optimization process successful, business organizations are to ensure that they have brought in comprehensive changes instead of incremental changes. They are to plan for an end-to-end optimization approach and implement it to address full-range of this chain procedures. In addition to it, the companies are to ensure that they have undertaken the changes into their own system and have combined the system with their associates who can be, for example, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers. When the effective processes are driven in and the ineffective processes are driven out of the chain, the objectives of supply chain management will definitely be realized.




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Production Optimizes Manufacturing Automation

The production flow in any factory has a very important associate that helps manufacturing achieve its optimum rate. That associate is one piece flow production.

When a production line design includes cellular work stations it is in the best interest of the management of the production operation to consider implementing one piece flow production. Including one piece flow production in the operation is the best way to have manufacturing create only products that are needed. As a product moves through the work stations of the production line there is no accumulation of partially completed products between the work cells.

The scenario called one piece flow production is very simplistic, but it yields excellent benefits. The queue that is allowed between work cells on the line in this scenario can only contain one product at any one time. The first work cell starts the production of a product and when the work is completed at that cell the product is placed in the queue for the second cell to begin its work. There is never more than one product in queue between work cells on the production line. If the queue immediately after a given cell has a product in it that is to be worked on by the following cell, the cell before that queue is idle and does not work. It is only when the queue after the cell is empty that the cell can work on a product.

This one piece flow production process may seem over-simplified, but actually it delivers great benefit to the overall operation. For example, if there is a problem with the work that is done at a given cell in the production line, and the line runs in such a way that each cell is allowed to produce as many products as it can. This could build up a large backlog of products that could be waiting in queue to be processed by the next work cell. Once the problem is discovered, it will be necessary to rework all those products in the queue that are defective, causing an increase in labor expense. If the problem is too great to be reworked, then the defective products may need to be scrapped, causing an increase in raw material losses. As the production line runs and products are accumulated between work cells there will need to be a place for all those partially completed products to be stored, increasing the need for warehouse space. These are definitely extra costs and losses that can be avoided by using one piece flow production.

In order to achieve an effective implementation of one piece flow production in a manufacturing operation, the output of each cell in the production line has to be able to routinely create good products. Each of the cells must be able to accomplish work that is consistently repeatable, so that the single product queue is always filled for the nest work cell. There can be no periodic downtime for equipment that is running on the production line. The proximity of tasks that are done in a well designed work cell can have a bearing on the time required to complete the work at any given cell. This is dictated by the way the production floor is laid out. The work area of any given cell must be designed so that the employees in that cell can reach resources and perform tasks in a reasonable time frame that allows for continuous work.

The design for one piece flow production is best accomplished with manufacturing automation. In fact the likelihood of creating a cost-effective production line with one piece flow production without manufacturing automation would be nearly impossible. The design of the work flow of the production line has to have very precise cycle times for each work cell in the line. Coordination of the movement of products from one cell to the next is easily dictated by well-defined manufacturing automation. The controller for each work cell must be set to give the cell or cells that it instructs timely orders, so that the work of each cell is in perfect relationship with the work of the other cells on the production line.

Cycle times are set up so that at the completion of the cycle at one work station the start of the cycle time at the next work station begins. It should be near a hand in glove relationship, as one work cell completes the next work cell begins its work. When a company is setting up manufacturing automation, one of the main goals of the completed automation process is to have one piece flow manufacturing in place because this type will yield optimum results.


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