Lean Production

Lean production
Womack and Jones define lean as doing "more and more with less and less-
less human effort, less equipment, less time, and less space-while coming closer
and closer to providing customers with exactly what they want"
Lean production can he defined as an adaptation of mass production in which

workers and work cells are made more flexible and efficient by adopting
methods that reduce waste in all forms.
Lean production is based on four principles
1. Minimize waste
2. Perfect first-time quality
3. Flexible production lines
4. Continuous improvement
1. Minimize waste
(1) Production of defective parts,

(2) Production of more than the number of items needed,
(3) Unnecessary inventories,
(4) Unnecessary processing steps,
(5) Unnecessary movement of people,
(6) Unnecessary transport of materials, and
(7) Workers waiting.
2. Perfect First-Time Quality
In the area of quality, the comparison between mass production and lean
production provides a sharp contrast.
In mass production, quality control is defined in terms of an acceptable quality

level or AQT. This means that a certain level of fraction defects is sufficient,
even satisfactory.
In lean production, by contrast, perfect quality is required. The just-in-time

delivery discipline used in lean production necessitates a zero defects level in
parts quality, because if the part delivered to the downstream workstation is
defective, production stops.
There is a minimum inventory in a lean system to act as a buffer.

In mass production, inventory buffers are used just in case these quality
problems occur. The defective work units are simply taken off the line and
replaced with acceptable units; however, the problem is that such a policy tends
to perpetuate the cause of the poor quality. Therefore, defective parts continue
to be produced.
In lean production, a single defect draws attention to the quality problem,

forcing corrective action and a permanent solution.
3. Flexible Production Systems
Mass production is predicated largely on the principles of Frederick W. Taylor,

one of the leaders of the scientific management movement in the early 1900s.
According to Taylor, workers had to be told every detail of their work methods
and were incapable of planning their own tasks.
By comparison lean production makes use of worker teams to organize the

tasks to be accomplished and worker involvement to solve technical problems.
One of the findings reported in The Machine thai Changed the World was that
workers in Japanese "lean production" plants received many more hours of
training than their U.S, counterparts (380 hours of training vs46 hours).
Another finding was the lower number of job classifications in Japanese lean
plants. The study showed an average of 11.9 job classifications in Japanese
plants versus an average of 67.1 in U.S. plants. Fewer job classifications mean
more cross-training among workers and greater flexibility in the work force
In mass production, the goal is to maximize efficiency. This is achieved using

long production runs of identical parts. Long production runs tolerate long setup
changeovers,
In lean production, procedures are designed to speed the changeover. Reduced
setup times allow for smaller batch sizes, thus providing the production system
with greater flexibility. Flexible production systems were needed in Toyota's
comeback period because of the much smaller car market in Japan and the need
to be as efficient as possible.
4. Continuous Improvement
In mass production, there is a tendency to set up the operation, and if its

working, leave it alone. Mass production lives by the motto. If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.
By contrast, lean production supports the policy of continuous improvement

called kaizen by the Japanese, continuous improvement means constantly
searching for and implementing ways to reduce cost, improve quality, and
increase productivity.
The scope of continuous improvement goes beyond factory operations and

involves design improvements as well. Continuous improvement is carried out
one project at a time.
The projects may be concerned with any of the following problem areas: cost
reduction. Quality improvement, productivity improvement, setup time
reduction, cycle time reduction, manufacturing lead time and work-in-process
inventory reduction, and improvement of product design to increase
performance and customer appeal.

Lean Production

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Lean Production

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Lean production

Lean production can he defined as an adaptation of mass production in which

Lean production is based on four principles

(1) Production of defective parts,

2. Perfect First-Time Quality

In mass production, quality control is defined in terms of an acceptable quality

In lean production, by contrast, perfect quality is required. The just-in-time

There is a minimum inventory in a lean system to act as a buffer.

In lean production, a single defect draws attention to the quality problem,

3. Flexible Production Systems

Mass production is predicated largely on the principles of Frederick W. Taylor,

By comparison lean production makes use of worker teams to organize the

In mass production, the goal is to maximize efficiency. This is achieved using

In mass production, there is a tendency to set up the operation, and if its

By contrast, lean production supports the policy of continuous improvement

The scope of continuous improvement goes beyond factory operations and

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