Lean Manufacturing Delivers Value with Less Work by Eliminating Waste

Just-in-Time is an inventory management philosophy that aims to reduce inventories by implementing systems and processes to supply a product or service exactly when it is needed, and how it is needed in the production process. The concept of JIT is widely accepted today by many American manufacturing companies, and it is a means of controlling costs through striving to maintain lean inventories—in fact, the concept of JIT was introduced in the early 1980’s to the U.S. as a concept know as “zero inventories”. This inventory control concept involves close relationships with vendors or suppliers, who are able to provide components of the product direct to the work-in-process area, in a “pull” type fashion, whereby the components are

Lean Manufacturing system pursues optimum streamlining throughout the entire system by the elimination of waste (non-value added/ waste) and aims to build quality into the process while recognizing the importance of cost reduction.

We just do it better than anyone else." The production process is like a flow following a routing from one cost center to another in a sequence of move, wait, setup, and runtime for each process. Work-in-process inventories in the move and wait stage litter the plant. Economic lot size rules determine the size of each batch while production schedules push jobs onto the floor.

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.

Lean can be simply described system that is designed to create more value for customers with fewer resources. Lean principle is best described as a series of processes or methodology that eliminates waste in a production cycle. Lean principles originated from Japan in the manufacturing industries, commonly in the Automobile sector. Over the last decade, Lean has stepped outside the norms of manufacturing to become a process improvement method for both service sector and more recently in public sector organizations that are interested in improving their output efficiency and increase customer value.

Push method of material flow forecast the inventory needs in the production unit according to the customer demands. Companies predict what the customers will be needed in the nearby future and the quality of that stock. Thus the company will produce enough to meet that forecasted demand and with carry the related inputs. Disadvantage of this system is that the forecasting can be proved wrong due to certain factors that will result in overstocking in the warehouses and storage. Consequently it will result in the holding or carrying cost of inventories. Unlike this system, JIT uses pull method of material flow which provide goods and services only when the certain demand or need arise. It begins with the customers’ order and the production department will make only to fulfill customer’s order. In this way, JIT characterizes to reduce inventory level and their related holding costs.

Shipping the same quantity of a product to different retail outlets, for example, might not make much sense if the demand for that good is significantly greater at one location relative to another. This approach to delivery cost savings also facilitates decreases in aforementioned holding costs by not overstocking certain locations with a product. The same principle holds for inputs in production; parts are not delivered and held at production centers where they might lay idle.

The core idea of lean is to relentlessly work on eliminating waste from the manufacturing process. Waste can be defined as any activity that does not add value from the customer’s perspective. According to research conducted by the Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC), fully 60% of production activities in a typical manufacturing operation are waste – they add no value at all for the customer. Every company has an opportunity to improve, using lean manufacturing techniques and other manufacturing best practices. Techniques that enable you to deliver higher quality products at significantly lower costs (Vorne Industries Inc., 2010-2013).

Lean Manufacturing Systems were first introduced in Japan by the Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lean movement is a type of a system that relies on simple visual cues in order to manage production stages that are based on customer demand. The system is a is also a kind of manufacturing that put great emphasis on the minimization of resources, time included, that is utilized in various activities of manufacturing and provides techniques for uninterrupted quality improvement. Although this system has gained enormous momentum and respect over the last decades, some companies have found it difficult to use Lean Manufacturing Systems, and, as a result, the companies have ended up failing. The concept of Lean Systems is best understood when companies familiarize themselves with certain key insights that are utilized during the course of systems architecting. The article provides a synopsis of the lean and is divided into four parts that will be mainly used for the purpose of this review.

22. ___________ refers to the delay of value-added activities such as assembly, production, and packaging to the latest possible time.

II) Work - in - process is generally valued at cost, which includes cost of materials, labor. And the proportionate factory overhead, as it is reasonable according to degrees of completion.

Most people wouldn’t know what Lean Manufacturing was if they hadn’t either learned about it or use it at work. Lean manufacturing is a way to eliminate waste and maximize customer value. Delivering the right product, in the right quantity, with the right quantity, at the exact time the customer needs it and at the lowest cost possible is the main goal of lean manufacturing. With lean manufacturing you can have benefits such as reduced lead times, improved quality, improved on-time deliveries, less inventory, less space, less human effort, lower costs, and increased profitability.

An inventory strategy companies employ to increase efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process, thereby reducing inventory costs.

Figure 1 provides a conceptual framework of lean principles across the supply chain of the enterprise thereby yielding value to the customer. Lean thinking helps in providing flexibility to the needs of the customer. Emphasis is also put on organization of workplace which leads to more simplified work environment. Ease of access in the workplace and good ergonomic designs are some of the by-products of lean thinking methodology. Lean enterprises are more adaptable to changing market trends and also provide prompt delivery to products and services. [3]

The modern concept of lean management as used today can be traced back to the Toyota Production System (TPS). The manufacturing philosophy was pioneered by Japanese engineers to emphasize the minimization of waste and focus on “doing it right the first time” (Davis and Heineke, 2005). Engineers knew that waste was something that customers were not willing to pay for thus they should try and eliminate it. This led to the discovery that inventory is essentially waste. Keeping parts and products in stock adds no value to a company, and should be eliminated. Although lean production began in Japan, it now has been successfully implemented across the globe (Agus and Hajinoor, 2012).