Think lean to manufacture mean

Lean manufacturing maps a world transformed from mass production to lean enterprise, a process that focuses on the end product and its customer, ensuring the fastest, most efficient, economical and reliable methods of providing top quality for the end customer.

Asset managers play an integral role in ensuring that lean asset management comes to the fore in the manufacturing environment. Lean manufacturing hinges on five basic principles:

1) Value: get a high-quality product to the customer as cheaply as possible, and no sooner than required. Cut out any inefficiencies along the way and make the product exactly according to the customer`s specification.

2) Value stream: understanding and optimising the sequence of processes from product concept to market launch is crucial. Map the value stream and remove all non-value-added activities from the manufacture process.

3) Flow: keep the manufacturing line moving - avoid batch and queue manufacturing. Start the production cycle and complete it, rather than making batches and storing them until they`re used.

4) Pull: abiding by the concept of just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, pull refers to a short-term response to the customer`s rate of demand. Make sufficient product for delivery but not so much that stockpiling becomes necessary.

5) Perfection: continuous application of the first four principles brings perfection closer. Perfection does not only mean quality - it means producing exactly what the customer wants, with no delays, at a fair price and with minimum waste. Aim for zero waste, regardless of what competitors are doing.

Traditionally there are seven types of wastes. In each of these the focus

needs to be first to avoid, and then to reduce waste.

Adriaan Scheeres, CEO of PRAGMA Holdings

The identification and elimination of waste is the backbone of lean manufacturing. The prevention of waste is as important as waste elimination. Value is the converse of waste. Organisations need to continually improve the ratio of value adding to non-value-adding activities. There are two ways of doing this - by preventing and reducing waste, and by striving for value enhancement specifically.

Traditionally there are seven types of wastes. In each of these the focus needs to be first to avoid, and then to reduce waste.

Over-production involves producing too much, too early. It leads directly to excessive lead time, extensive inventories, unnecessary storage time, potential deterioration of product during storage and the likelihood of non-detection of defects. There has been a distinct move back to more flexible manufacturing, making specific quantities, to exact specification, just in time and to perfect quality. Manufacturing is turning full circle.

The `80s saw a trend away from flexible manufacturing to long runs, standardisation and limited product ranges. The trend has shifted: customers are now more discerning, they want product runs customised to meet their requirements, and they`re calling for extended ranges and varieties.

Waiting for a product is a waste of time, and time is valuable. Operators and workers waiting for something to do is a waste - their time can be better spent checking, cleaning, training or maintaining rather than doing nothing. Reducing waiting time helps drive improved productivity and quality.

This refers to human and machine motion. If something can be done in a single motion rather than back and forth, time and energy are optimised. Walking between widely spaced work centres on the shopfloor, and having to move goods repeatedly rather than in a single effort are two common examples of unnecessary motion that can easily be minimised.

Using large machines to conduct small tasks is a waste. The use of one big machine rather than several small ones can lead to machine overuse, poor shopfloor layout and more expensive runs. Rather use smaller machines distributed to specific points of use and more capable of producing the required quality.

The smaller the inventory, the better the quality and productivity. Inventory increases leadtime, prevents fast identification of problem areas and takes up space. Reducing inventory exposes problem areas and helps improve product quality.

Defects cost money. This expense is not only carried immediately but in the longer term, as defect costs tend to escalate the longer they remain undetected. A defect should be regarded as a challenge, an opportunity to improve, rather than only an example of poor management.

The seven traditional wastes can be supplemented by four additional types of waste particularly pertaining to asset management and asset performance improvement. Maintenance and asset management practitioners can play a pivotal role in helping organisations create lean operating environments by focusing on these four additional factors:

1) Making the wrong products efficiently

This type of waste is an extension of the first principle of lean manufacturing: remove all inefficiencies from the production process and make the product exactly according to the customer`s specification. Asset managers need to ensure plant equipment is correctly set up and properly maintained to be able to produce quality product. Assets need to be fit for purpose.

2) Utilisation of assets

Asset managers need to measure the exact utilisation of equipment in the plant in order to know the full potential of the assets for which they are responsible. Systems and procedures should be in place to measure the current usage and availability of machines so that production schedules can be planned and asset performance maximised.

3) Optimisation of asset performance

Machines that are not regularly serviced and maintained waste unnecessary fuel and energy, expend ground resources and cost money. Asset maintenance practitioners know the theory behind ensuring plants run efficiently, but are often slow to apply the principles. If a machine is not capable of running to its full capacity, it`s not lean. Such waste not only manifests in slow production and poor quality, but it has a direct influence on energy, water and fuel consumption.

Refurbishment plays an important role in machine optimisation. An asset can only be serviced so many times before performance declines. Machines need to be refurbished to be brought back to original specification.

4) The waste of inappropriate systems

Assets managers need to optimise operational systems and data usage on factory floors to improve manufacture. In what is often described as "the information shadow", there`s a wealth of data gathering taking place in plants that is seldom put to good use. Lean manufacturing emphasises the visibility and optimisation of essential data on the shopfloor to maximise efficiencies.

Condition monitoring is another crucial aspect of lean manufacturing. Asset maintenance practitioners tend to focus on mean time between failures rather than on mean time to repair and shortening the repair cycle. Inefficiencies in the repair cycle are a considerable waste and need to be minimised. Appropriate planning ensures proper repair rather than a "quick-fix" approach.