A Critical Evaluation Of Lean Implementation

Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything than in mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment tools and less engineering time to develop a new product. A company becomes lean by continuously increasing its capacity to produce high-quality goods while simultaneously decreasing

Production practices have had an important role in satisfying the dynamic market. Many approaches have being developed in order to respond effectively to specific business requirements. In fact, some areas of management have focused its study on the overseeing, designing, and controlling the process of production in an effort to find the best methodology that ensures the business success and performance. However, complexities arise in this field because many variables such as costs, inventory, scheduling, suppliers, etc have to be considered in any business. Lean approach and the traditional approach are two points of view that aim to address this complexities, and those will be examined in this essay.

This essay is going to analyze a case study based on lean thinking principles and techniques. It could divide in five significant parts. First, outline the definitions of a sequence of process and techniques, next introduce the categories of costs and benefits in establishing the cell, and also non-financial benefits which be taken into account, furthermore, critically discussed the stage should Deane sell his idea to the Joinery Manager and the workers, and additionally, evaluated four main differences of cell work in main Joinery Department, and illustrated the risks in Deane 's suggestion at final.

The implementation of lean operations is one the most popular ways to improve efficiency and productivity in operations. This strategy has afforded many businesses the opportunities to streamline processes that resulted in improved systems and efficiency. However, many businesses face obstacles with implementing lean practices for various reasons such as unclear directions, employees that are resistant to change, and poor planning. Businesses that encounter issues with lean implementation must identify performance metrics to improve operational strategies. This paper will examine the obstacles businesses experience with lean implementation.

Chase et al. (2006) state that “lean production is an integrated set of activities designed to achieve high-volume production using minimal inventories of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods” (p. 471). The essential components of lean production are surplus elimination, constant work-flow, and consumer appeal. The minute these components are in the neighborhood of supply, quality and cost, this outlines the groundwork for a lean production organization. A Japanese plan of continuous progress named the Kaizen is responsible for the lean production idea. Riordan can adjust the lean production concept by employee empowerment and advancement, staying focused on making processes stronger, impact of consumer relations, rapid merchandise growth and production, and cooperation with suppliers are the imperative strategies of Riordan managing lean. Features of a lean enterprise include a combined single piece continuous workflow and near incorporation of the entire value series from raw material to finished product. In addition, demand drives production rather than predictions. This means that manufacture designing is by consumer demand or appeal and not to become system loading or strict work flows on the company floor. This will help Riordan keep minimal inventories at each step of the production process. It is also important to know that having a working participation by employees involved in

Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything than in mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment tools and less engineering time to develop a new product. A company becomes lean by continuously increasing its capacity to produce high-quality goods while

When the bottlenecks in a process are exposed there is a strong correlation between a strategic capacity plan and lean production. When Riordan implements a new process, lean production can be achieved. More can be accomplished efficiently in less time due to a continuous production flow (Kotelnikov, V., n.d.). The new ordering system will allow for all products needed to be available just-in-time to begin production. Eventually, as a more specialized cross-functional

Since the lean operation and the total quality management model are based on a highly technical approach, toolsets and qualitative analysis, hence sufficient training in leadership, functional and technical skill will be mandatory for the employees in every category, including the operation, functional and business area to ensure a successful operation and to communicate and maintain proper control in the process. The Company will follow the agile manufacturing practice which comprises a set of quality standards, practices and iterative testing process driven by the end user feedback method to deliver a high quality customizable product that fits the exact need for a specific market segment and keep constant focus to reduce production overheads and eliminate any unnecessary steps in the process engineering that could potentially increase the cost and the delivery timing (Schnaars,

The application and implementation of lean principles or thinking is a process that requires commitment from every stakeholder in the organization. This process entails commitment to the organization's workers and to the system itself in order to make changes towards improvement. Generally, the implementation of lean thinking is geared towards continuous improvement through the elimination of waste. However, lean management or implementation of the principles sometimes incorporate mistakes that are made by leaders in the execution process. This is mainly because lean leadership appears to be simple though its complex because of the costs associated with it. The mistakes usually occur because of intrinsic complexities of exploring deeply into organizational philosophies, business strategy, psychology, and macroeconomics.

Lean thinking is an organizational change method that is also implemented with the objective of increasing profit. Lean thinking originated in Japan, and is best exemplified by the Toyota Production System. Constraints placed on the Japanese manufacturing industry after the second world war lead Taiichi Ohno of Toyota to pioneer a new type of production system that was so different, and so much better, than mass production, as to warrant a new type manufacturing. Lean production is a method of organizing production using half the effort, space, inventory, and product development time compared with mass production. It also achieves fewer defects, and larger product variety. These improvements should result in increased sales, which is the key to re-deploying freed-up resources. Lean thinking codified and expanded upon the Toyota Production System to include non-manufacturing organizations, as well as product development efforts.

Lean is defines the manufacturing philosophy that reduces the time between the shipping and customer demand, which based on the systematic method by eliminating waste, that means giving the customer what they want when they want it, and don 't waste whatever. Rahmana, Sharif and Esa (2013) suggested lean production is mentioned to improve the company 's performance from the philosophy in reducing waste in order. That means, lean system destination is the decrease cost by removing the non-value activities, which they are applying a category of tools and techniques for checking and eliminating defective in the production process. In the Evenort Company should emulate the five overriding principles of lean thinking in terms of implementing lean that there is guarantee the company has been driving correctly in the lean manufacturing (Cardiff 2015) as can show in table 1.

Related to the large workload, there were also not enough proper quality check points to check the quality of the work in progress. Quality is mainly controlled during assembly, and not checked while being packaged. If a product was not controlled during assembly and was damaged during shipping, the correct department is not able to be addressed to correct the issue resulting in bad quality control. If all the above task inefficiency is taking place the processes cannot deliver a quality product and on time. For the lean system to be implemented all the concerns need to be addressed, and employees are one of the keys to this change. Currently employees are worried to lose their jobs and are over worked, with this state, employees might not be acceptable to the changes. Machines and systems need to be updated to save money, time, and to reduce raw material waste. Quality can be achieved when employees and management are dedicated to make this their priority, it is not only on the quality team but the whole companies.

The original principle of lean production is to identify and eliminate ‘muda’. The term of muda is a Japanese word, which means waste. Then such principle was regarded as lean. The theory of lean is considered that after eliminating waste, there is an improvement in quality and reduction of time and cost (Gershon & Rajashekharaiah, 2011). After that, lean is used to manufacturing, and adding value and fulfilling the satisfaction of customers with less waste become the core idea of lean. According to Ferguson (2006), a successful implement of lean is to lead the whole organization to enhance the value stream.

The operational systems of organizations can be viewed as open systems, which interact with their respective environments on a continuous basis. In this context, these systems comprise synergetic and interdependent subsystems of input, process and output with the main objective of these systems being to efficiently and effectively deliver goods and/or services to their demanding customers (Yasin and Wafa, 2002). Confronting the challenges of global competition, companies have to reduce costs, improve quality, and meet their customers’ ever-changing needs (Canel et al., 2000). Even though lean techniques were developed for the manufacturing firms and

In modern day world, organizations are facing a myriad of challenges. They are facing increasing and continually changing demands by customers, keen and knowledgeable competitors who seize every opportunity that comes their way, and a reduction of the resource base owing to increase spending. Most organizations, therefore, are seeking to increase customer satisfaction, reduce operational costs of doing business, and change their research strategy to improve their know-how on new trends in the market as a way of grasping a competitive edge among their competitors. Companies are engaging the lean supply chain management as a way of achieving their goals. As such, through the approach they can provide the right