Lean Manufacturing Tools Series

It is true to say base of lean manufacturing is its concepts. But lean tools are very important too. They help in implementing, monitoring, and evaluating lean efforts and its results. On the other hand if used without proper understanding this can spoil your lean efforts. So it is very important to understand the tools before thinking about using them. So I thought of publishing a series of posts on these tools. I got the assistance of an experience contributor in making this series. Some of the tools we are going to discuss in this series of posts are listed below. I have no doubts you have been waiting for this kind of information. 1. 5S 2. Error proofing (Pokayoke) 3. JIT 4. Kaizen 5. Kanban 6. Pull system 7. Work leveling Heijunka 8. Work cells 9. Quick Changeover or SMED 10. TAKT Time 11. TOC Theory of Constraints 12. VSM Value Stream Mapping 13. Workflow Diagram 14. TPM Total Productive Maintenance 15. Visual workplace 16. Cause and Effect Diagram 17. 5 Why technique 18. Six Sigma 19. Hoshin Kanri 20. Jidoka 21. Genji Gembutsu 22. Andon

1. Start Cleaning House with 5S A simple yet powerful lean tool

There are many parts to lean manufacturing. When you, or any of your colleagues, start thinking about lean, you probably begin with the aspect of paperwork reduction. Of course, we all feel the pain of excessive and tedious red tape, but lean processes, in fact, touch on every single part of manufacturing, and non-manufacturing, business practices. 5S is a perfect example of a bottoms-up approach to the lean methodology. There are many businesses, particularly in manufacturing, that are incredibly disorganized, leading to massively inefficient business practices, lost time, and sometimes even workplace injuries. 5S refers to the practice of workplace organization, and the methodical process of optimizing the layout of a manufacturing plant or workstation to become the most efficient, upbeat, and productive workplace it can become. Appropriately named, 5S is the name given to the process because each step starts with the letter S. Started by Toyota in the 1960s, it has framed the success of many manufacturing plants. The fundamental basis behind 5S is that a person or workstation will never waste time looking for tools and equipment because everything has its own place, is appropriately labeled, and flows to the point where the tool is within reach of where the worker will find themselves when working. If 5S is implemented properly, it is common to see efficiencies increase by a solid 20-30%. One of the more common missteps when a company implements 5S is to have the focus come from the top-down, with management recognizing the need for process improvement, but never consulting with the worker that will be practicing and implementing the 5S on a daily basis. Without buy-in from every person on the shop floor, a company will never truly achieve the goals outlined by a 5S method. The 5 Ss, while seemingly complex, are actually relatively straightforward and simple. They are best viewed as pieces and independent of each other instead of holistically. If broken down into its fundamental parts, the 5 steps, you will find that they are nothing more than a standardized approach to optimization. As you can see in the Figure (1), the 5S concept is one in which every step should be intertwined within each other. If an organization is truly on board

with the 5S process, the sustainment of the process should maintain a constant cycle of improvement, and each S should merge with the other steps, making it near impossible to determine when one starts and the other begins. The first S is Sort, or Seiri. Management, or possibly the workers themselves, should go about the workplace and take note of which tools, equipment, and supplies are not needed for the everyday operation of the plant. If one is not needed, it is discarded, or at the very least, removed from the shop floor. Some tools and equipment will not be able to be discarded or removed because they are used, but only infrequently. If this is the case, then these tools should be noted as infrequently used, to be dealt with later. The next phase is oftentimes considered the most important phase of the five. This is where items are arranged, or 'Straightened' (or 'Seiton') systematically and methodically. All of the tools that were identified as unnecessary in the Sort, phase have been discarded, so this phase should be easy. You just simply place the tools such that workflow is maximized, and no tool is any more than 30 seconds away from even the least experienced worker. This step is best accomplished either by the worker that will be conducting the work or with their direct input. It may help to include a diagram of all tools and their locations that is readily accessible for reference for the worker during this step. The next, and least popular stage is Sweep, or Seis. This step is where the shop is cleaned, and a new policy of periodic cleaning is implemented. Most manufacturing facilities find that performing this step at the end of every shift is the ideal time for this action. The most important aspect here is to maintain the shop in the order in which step 2 has identified as being ideal. As discussed earlier, all of the processes described here are not worth anything unless complete buy-in by the average worker on the floor is achieved and practiced. This is where step 4 comes in, Standardize, or Seiketsu. This is the step in which all personnel who will be practicing the 5 steps on a daily basis are brought completely onboard and the practices are standardized by forms, procedures, personnel assignments, and workstation ownership. The final step is that of Sustain, or Shitsuke. This step focuses on the requirement to maintain a constant expectation of good lean practices through feedback systems,

evaluation and mentoring, training, and auditing. The company has come a long way in improving the workplace, and maintaining it in that improved state is a necessity. It may not always be apparent as to when a company should use the 5S methodology to improve the workplace. Before any improvement is attempted, management should commission a study to improve their chances of finding the processes that should lead to a leaning of the workplace through 5S. The following is a good example of how the entire process can be conducted. A new manager was hired to help improve the processes conducted on the shop floor of a generator manufacturing plant. The second day on the job, he notices something that triggered his experienced eye: a worker was walking all the way across the floor, passing by two working cranes, to go to a toolbox and retrieve a specialized tool in order to perform one of the steps he had to perform in order to output a certain component characteristic to his workstation. The manager requested approval from his management to conduct a 5S study in order to identify places in which improvement could be achieved. For one full shift, he plotted out the path of the worker he took note of earlier. He found that not only did the worker go to the toolbox while walking under the crane, he also made a couple of stops to the grinding workstation to polish a part, which was on the other side of the shop as well. The next day, the manager talked in depth to the worker, and helped go through his workstation. He found that there was about 11 tools that were old, outdated, and never used anymore. Thos tools were immediately discarded. After this, the manager helped the worker get a new set of tools that included the one he was going to the toolbox for. He also subtracted the polishing of the part from the process and instead added it to the procedures for the workstation that actually had the grinder at the station. This way, a separate trip was not necessary for the tool nor the grinder. After they went through and rearranged the tools such that they were always within arms reach for the worker, they came up with a schedule for the entire shift to clean the last 15 minutes of their shift. These were all written down and signed by every worker in every shift.

This is a simple example, but most 5S implementations are this simple. If you have any interest in making your manufacturing plant more efficient, you have to start looking at each workstation as a conduit in which work should flow with no restriction. Do this, and your profits will skyrocket.

2. Use Poka-Yoke to Rest Easy

The purpose of Six Sigma is to reduce defects to an acceptable level more consistently. This can be accomplished with a focused attention and everlasting drive toward improving the quality of the processes that are used during manufacturing and other aspects of the business. Ufortunately, even the most lean and highest quality processes have one unavoidable, detrimental flaw. We are only human, and mistakes will always be made. But there is hope, as there is a certain lean tool that may actually assist in removing the human error factor from the equation. While it is impossible to completely eliminate the possibility of removing mistakes from the workplace, it can be possible to make the probability of them occurring so low, that they are virtually impossible. The technique of mistake proofing a process or workstation is called Poka-yoke, and is one of the most effective ways of reducing the number of defects over the course of time. The basic premise of the practice is that the process or conditions involved are designed in such a way that it is virtually impossible for a human, no matter what amount or training or background, to make a mistake when attempting to perform the task. If the quality manager, or any manager for that manner, of a plant or process starts noticing an unexplained increase in the number of defects in a part of a process, the answer may lie in Poka-yoke. The best way to decide whether this tool may be the right answer for your team is to decide whether the flaws that are happening are due to a careless error, or tend to happen at times that are prone to lapses in judgment, such as Mondy mornings, the end of shifts, or Friday afternoons. While this isnt a steadfast rule, experience shows that human errors occur at these times more frequently than others. Another way to approach the decision to use Poka-yoke is by interviewing the workers themselves. Frequently they have anecdotes that outline how easy it is to make mistakes that can only be classified as mistakes. Additionally, you can audit your processes and identify certain elements that are critical to quality (CTQ), or have CTQ characteristics associated with them. These are perfect candidates for mistake proofing because a flaw in a CTQ can be detrimental to the entire products performance.

The key attribute behind mistake proofing is to keep the processes simple, and anticipate the locations in the process where the mistakes are most likely to happen. Then you can use methods like shaping tools and putting tools on lanyards so that the mistakes cannot happen without the blatant change of the tools function or scope. Lets use an example of a manufacturing plant that is piecing together a piece of electronic equipment to place onboard locomotives, as can be seen in the before section of Figure (1). The electronic piece of equipment has a cover that must be installed using a grounded screwdriver, in order to prevent the discharge of static electricity into the card.

A manager started realizing an increasing trend in the breakdown of quality of the results that the electronic equipment was putting out. The voltages that were being produced were going out of specification much more frequently than before, and the manager decided to investigate. She found that the erroneous output was a function of a card that is installed by a workstation on the other side of the line from where the covers are installed. At first, it appeared that there was a severe manufacturing defect in the cards and the workstation that was producing the card. The manager decided to take a closer look, or a deep dive

and find out through a fishbone diagram and root cause analysis what all of the possible causes of a faulty card could have been. After this was done, she realized that there was a possibility the cover was not being installed properly. It was this time that she monitored the worker installing the covers. 1 out of every 5 times, the worker used a screwdriver that was not properly grounded. This is shown in Figure (1) in the before section, where the worker becomes confused with which tool to use. Her immediate reaction was that this worker was being careless, or was not properly trained in the process that he was conducting. Because she was a good manager, she asked the worker why he didnt use the properly grounded screwdriver. The worker had explained to her that he thought he was using the correct screwdriver, since the both the grounded screwdriver and ungrounded one were on a lanyard and looked exactly the same in every other respect. Employing Poka-yoke, the manager shortened the lanyard for the ungrounded screwdriver such that it could not be brought to the workstation that installed the cover on the equipment without cutting the lanyard, as can be seen in the after section of Figure (1). By doing this, she made it virtually impossible to use an ungrounded screwdriver to install the cover in question, and in doing so dramatically increased the quality of the product. As stated before, Poka-yoke is not just for managers and business executives. If instilled properly, every worker and employee of the company should be properly trained in the best methods of mistake proofing, and should provide input on how to eliminate the factor of human error. Mistake proofing is the most effective, and usually the most cost effective, way of increasing quality. The human element is always a variable in every quality equation, but with Poka-yoke, the impact of that variable can be reduced to a mere fraction of a percent of occurrences than if it were never employed.

3. JIT The Backbone of Lean Manufacturing

For many businesses, the biggest expense they face is inventory cost. The never ending struggle of having enough inventory to fulfill orders and leave room for growth while keeping enough cash on hand to meet any need they may meet is the number one cause for business failures, according to the Small Business Association. There are many ways around the skyrocketing costs of carrying a large amount of inventory, and a just in time, or JIT

inventory management is one that can increase the businesss bottom line and return on investment. The JIT inventory management strategy is one that is based on the idea that a business can order exactly the right amount of inventory necessary to fulfill their upcoming orders and not a single piece more. This reduces the cost of warehouse space, transportation costs, and other costs that can be reduced by this form of lean manufacturing. The philosophy associated with this theory is that inventory is considered to be waste, and the lean process of JIT will eliminate that waste. By exposing the hidden causes of inventory, a set or series of signals can be developed that define what the company can use to measure and regulate the inventory necessary to meet the demand needs. Identifying the signals that guide the inventory demand and calculating, harnessing, and predicting the same signals is at the core of the JIT system. Couple this with todays modern day next day shipping capabilities, and you have a very capable JIT system. The signals necessary to make a JIT system successful are able to be generated with the modern UPC and online tracking systems. By tracking sales and the patterns that follow a business can plot the demand necessary, manufacture the products, and send them out next-day shipping. This model made famous by quite a few companies, but mostly by Dell computers, can greatly increase the quality as well as efficiency of a business.

A second aspect of JIT manufacturing is in the setup of the manufacturing plant. The workers, as well as the machines in the plant are oftentimes multifunctional, allowing flexibility in the plants ability to manufacture parts as necessary, independent of equipment or personnel status. With small lot sizes, this is the perfect setup for a dynamic, demand-driven supply chain. As can be seen in Figure (1), in a JIT system, customer orders are generated in a variety of ways. But each one of those ways generates a signal that is processed by the sales department, represented by the lightening bolts in the diagram. Many times, the sales department is nothing more than a remote server that is capable of taking and distributing orders in a JIT system. The necessary components and raw materials are calculated, and the signal is sent to the suppliers and the fabrication assembly to start manufacturing the product. As you can see, because each order generates a new signal, no inventory is incurred. Dell computers is a perfect example of JIT manufacturing. By getting started in the business by manufacturing computers out of his dorm room, Michael Dell quickly learned that he could not spend all of his money on stockpiled parts and equipment. He decided that his computers would be designed exactly to the specifications to the customer, and his selling point would be along the same lines. Without realizing it, his business was the perfect example of JIT manufacturing. His company was founded on the idea that any average person can log on to the internet, and with a little bit of assistance, can identify the parts necessary to build a computer from scratch. When the customer ordered the computer, Michael, in trying to come up with a solution for his dilemma of hot having any money or location to house all of the pieces needed to assemble a computer, stored a few few parts he would need to get the job done, then buy and manufacture new parts, jus as soon as the customer orders them. The raw materials are re-odered, sometimes automatically, and the end user gets a computer that they build online within 15 minutes! Sometimes the end result effects are not always as perfect as planned. When Toytoa decided to shift to a JIT manufacturing process, they hit quite a few bumps in their process capability. The problem that Toyota found is one that will plague all JIT systems that do not make contingency plans for a quickly generated, unannounced increase in demand.

Since the entire supply chain system is built around the flexibility and speed of a company to respond to a demand, they do not have the ability to meet large quantity orders quickly. Normally, this is fine, since the large quantities can be forecasted by the signals generated and production increased to meet the demand. However, sometimes demand rapidly increases without any significant explanation. Sometimes it is due to unplanned media coverage, and sometimes it is just due to the viral success of the product. Whatever the reason, the entire supply chain has to be redesigned and pushed to its capacity when one of these unexpected increases in demand shows. JIT manufacturing was the wave of the future a few years ago, and while it has actually worked for some companies, most have unsuccessfully tried to implement it into their systems. In order to success, JIT manufacturing requires the perfect combination of speed, management, and product something not many companies have. However, those that do find themselves on the receiving end of severe quality increases and cost decreases.

4. Kaizen The Wheel Keeping Lean Running

When Tiger Woods won his first Masters championship, what did he do the next day? Did he rest on his hands and take a few days off, congratulating himself because he officially was the best in the world at that very moment? No, instead, he was on the golf course, fixing the very few things that he noticed wrong with his swing during the 72 holes of golf he had just finished playing. Businesses can learn something from Tiger, and it probably isnt what you think. Instead of resting on his laurels, Tiger decided that he would constantly be improving his game. As you can probably guess, this is one of Tigers few secrets to becoming the absolute best at his sport. While businesses can learn from Tigers skill, perseverance, concentration, and focus, more importantly, businesses should learn to focus on Tigers example of constant improvement. Luckily, there is a process that already exists that systemizes the ability to constantly be improving ones business. Enter the Kiazen business practices. Kaizen, as you can imagine, got its first start in Japan, and can be directly traced back to account for a large portion of Japans success as a country in the days following World War II. It is now accepted as common culture within most places of business and is adopted by the most successful people and business without fail. It is also used in the self improvement area of development, but the main focus of this article is in the business management application.

Kaizen is the process of constant improvement in all processes, procedures, and methods that drive a business by focusing on small, continuous improvements in everything every single employee does in that company. While it is easy to chalk this up as a very helpful production tool and lean manufacturing tool, the reality is that Kaizen starts to truly come alive when it is incorporated into daily business practiced by every single member of the company, from the CEO all the way down to the most untrained, new line worker. As can be see. When taken on board, Kaizen teaches people to think about every single aspect of their business at all times. In this day of automation and consistent, repetitive tasks, this usually poses the biggest hurdle for the process to take effect. When the workers finally do decide to internalize the efficiency process, they are taught to keep an open mind about every single thing they do, and then use the scientific method to identify, deduce, troubleshoot, and improve any inefficiencies that they may see. As demonstrated in Figure (1), Kaizen is a constant business process, with each stage in the cycle feeding and merging in with each other for a constant state of improvement, leading to the leanest company and processes possible with the most self propelled improvement culture allowed. The end result of using this business practice is a more streamlined business that has employees that continue with the process of improvement almost automatically, whether you tell them to or not. In the following example, youll see how the Kaizen business practices can be incorporated into the everyday life of any business. Frank works in an office cubicle in which he processes a 2 page claimant form for returns of a companys product. This claim form is a document that is filled out by the customer, Frank himself, or the customer service representative that talks to the customer over the phone. Franks job is to review the claimants form, decide whether the claim is a valid claim for reimbursement, refund, or denial. A few forms even end up going to the legal

department because either the customer is threatening legal action or there is a vulnerability in the legal policies of the company that may someday lead to a lawsuit. Unfortunately, Franks job is very tedious and after reading over 100 claims per day, he quickly becomes tired, bored, and unhappy with the monotony. He then was ordered by his manager to attend Kaizen business training. When Frank came back, he realized there were quite a few problems with the way they were going about processing claims. First, Frank noticed that he was finding that there was a lot of unnecessary information requested on the claim form. By restructuring the form, Frank got the size of the form down to one page, saving the company money on paper costs, as well as time needed to process the claim. He also found that the decision to send a claim to legal was one that anybody could make, with a certain amount of training and guidance. He suggested to his manager that the customer services representatives, which accounted for over 80% of the forms, should be trained to decide whether a form goes to legal or him, and cut him out of the loop of reviewing the forms. This saved the company tens of thousands of dollars as well as cut about 2 days of processing time off of those applications. As you can see, the process can be practiced by anyone in the workplace, not just CEOs or lean managers. In fact, when Kaizen is internalized by a company, it will only become effective if every single member of the company jumps on board with the changes. Because of the small change nature of the practice, if this is not internalized by all, the company may only see small changes in their bottom line. If practiced correctly, a business that employs Kaizen thinking will always have an improving bottom line. They will be constantly thinking of ways on the worker level to improve their own jobs, even if it is slightly and borderline immeasurable. After a short period of time, however, many small changes turn into big changes (for the better) to the bottom line.

5. Kanban Push to Pull Processing

Just in time manufacturing (JIT) is the practice of maintaining and manufacturing just enough inventory to fulfill the orders that have been placed, and not a single piece more. With the advent of next day shipping, modern tracking systems, and worldwide interconnectivity through the internet and satellites, JIT is not only possible, but some

businesses could not run without it. Their margins are so razor thin that they would go out of business if they had to allocate any more money toward inventory than they already do. If JIT is the entire system that defines the pull version of production and manufacturing, then Kanban is the signal that triggers the production. Kanban is the path toward JIT achievement, and consists of cards, balls, or other devices like markers or trolleys. It can also be an electronic signal, and many companies are using RFIDs as the signal in Kanban. Developed by Toyota, Kanban is an integral part of Lean manufacturing and is best used alongside Kaizen and JIT. Unless the company that wants to use the Kanban tool is fully versed in lean manufacturing and all of the tools associated with it, it should not be used. To fully and properly implement the process, they have to coincide with each other and require a complete analysis of the manufacturing plant and all of the processes associated with it. When the Kanban tool is properly used, the JIT manufacturing plan can effectively work. This means that a company can use all of its inventory to send to the end user, instead of stacking it on their shelves, freeing up capital for the company so they are able to expand and improve their bottom line. The effective use of Kanban can be demonstrated with a simple example. An auto parts manufacturer wants to expand their product line to include brake pads, but they do not have the cash necessary to purchase the equipment needed to start manufacturing the quality brake pads they want to start building. Management then got together and decided they would try to slim down costs by implementing lean manufacturing processes. After accomplishing a few other things, they turn toward JIT manufacturing to start producing some of their larger parts, one of them being pistons. They have accurate sales data for the previous year on their piston line of products. They decide to cut back on the manufacturing so they can get rid of their backlog and inventory and shift to the JIT system. One of the companys major customers has decided to help the company in employing their JIT system. They have agreed to help them use the Kanban system by keeping track of their inventory and using the companys standardized Kanban cards. These cards contain all of the information about the pistons their model number, their dimensions, weight, color, etc. There is one card for every 50 pistons.

When the customer runs out of pistons, they send the company one of their Kanban cards This triggers the manufacturing of more pistons and subsequently more pistons are made 50 to be exact. The Kanban card represents a signal from the customer that more inventory is necessary in order to keep up with demand. The 50 pistons are not manufactured until the company that needs them is in need of them, and this is the epitome of JIT manufacturing. It should be pointed out that a true JIT manufacturing system is an incredibly complex system that can quickly force complex issues that may turn out to show significant costs or losses to the company that they may not be able to handle. A perfect example of this is the creation of a bar code, internet processing, and assembly line manufacturing system. When introducing the internet processing system, there is an entire system that is now being utilized by the company that requires upkeep, maintenance, and quality assurance. Without these, the system will quickly render itself ineffective. Of course, because of these requirements, additional costs are incurred and the costs saved by switching to a JIT system may not be realized. The bar code is represented by the yellow lightening in Figure (1), which portrays the signal that is generated anytime a customer requires an order. That signal, or The Kanban, goes straight to the supplier to order more material, as well as the fabricator to begin assembling additional product.

Additionally, the timeliness and quality of the product may be effected when switching to a JIT system. Because they are waiting for an item to become depleted without ordering more of the inventory, the order will always be rushed and with that comes the hurried atmosphere that is the backdrop for errors and waste. The company may also lose its unique selling position if they are to fall behind their competitors in speed of delivery of a product, and they may lose the market share associated with those types of customers. While it is not the answer to every problem a company faces with their supply chain, JIT manufacturing is a great tool that some businesses may find very useful to integrate into some, if not all, of their processes. It is strongly recommended that upper level management be the ones who decide the implementation strategy of this effective tool, and a complete redesign of the supply system be rethought. JIT, if done properly, has the potential to save companies a substantial amount of money, particularly if they are involved with manufacturing and distribution. By reducing the inventory necessary to meet the demand of the customer, the company is investing in their own business through cost reduction.

6. Pull System A Key Lean Concept

It is common for many businesses to think that lean manufacturing ends on the manufacturing floor. There are way too many who also believe that lean manufacturing can only be used to maximize efficiency in production and reduce costs. Of course, as you can imagine, that is not true, as lean manufacturing can be used to manage the supply chain in conjunction with the manufacturing process. With Just in Time Manufacturing, or JIT, the amount of inventory is reduced and a product is only manufactured when a product is necessary. By using Kaban and other lean tools, JIT can become the ideal supply chain system, greatly reducing costs for the business and making it easy for companies to react to demand signals with agility and speed. This is a great example of a pull system, which is the ideal way of running a supply chain., as compared to a push system. A pull system is exactly what it sounds like. The production of a product or system is varied depending strictly on the demand from the customer or the market, not from forecasts or previous performance. While most businesses strive to use a pull business model from end user to shop floor, it is rare for this to happen, as there are usually some aspects of the supply chain that are push systems.

A pull system is one in which the supply chain sends a product through the supply chain because there is a specific demand for that one product, as opposed to creating inventory and pushing the product out to distributors, wholesalers, vendors, or customers so they have to keep inventory, or worse, the production company has to keep inventory. A push supply chain is the exact opposite: they consist of many warehouses, retail stores, or other outlets in which large amounts of inventory are kept to satisfy customer demand on the spot.

As previously mentioned, it is very rare to see a system that is completely run on pull versus push methodologies. For example, one supply chain may be run on pull methodologies from the distributor to the customer. When the customer orders a product from the distributor, the distributor turns that order around immediately and orders that product from the manufacturer. The product is never sitting on the distributors shelves, and the supply chain from the distributor to the customer is strictly a pull system. However, the manufacturer has been producing that product steadily for the last 6 months, whether there has been a demand or not. When a distributor orders the product,

they pull it off their shelves and send it to the distributor (or possibly the customer). This is not based on demand from the customer, and is a great example of a push supply chain integrated with a pull supply chain. When a business employs JIT and the pull model of business, they are taking on a few risks, but at the same time they are reducing costs dramatically. Because they do not have to stock inventory at that point in the supply chain, there is no risk of lost investment in that inventory, and they will not be scrambling when a demand signal changes based on seasonality, current events, publicity, or any of other reasons why customer demand and purchasing behaviors change. On the downside, pull supply chains are much more complex and harder to manage. In order to meet the ever increasing demands of the customer with respect to customer service, and accurate, timely delivery of products, complex systems are necessary to track the status of orders and deliveries. While this has been made easier by modern technology, it is still a fight to maintain these systems in their ideal working order. A perfect example of an almost ideal pull supply chain is the Dell business model. Michael Dell started manufacturing computers out of his dorm room while in college. The difference between him and his competitors is that he did not own a storefront or a manufacturing plant. He had to keep his inventory down to a minimum, if any at all, and did not have room for parts storage, no matter how small the components may have been.To counter these constraints, Dell created the ultimate business model: customers built their computer's specifications on the internet, and using those specifications, the computer was built. Not a single spare part was left over, and Dell had no inventory, as each computer was shipped out the door as soon as it was manufactured. There are many businesses that can benefit from the pull methodology of supply chain management, and it should be the goal of most businesses to make as many aspects of their supply chain pull systems instead of push systems as possible. The businesses that can most benefit from these strategies are manufacturing, more so than any other business. Because they run the greatest risk of losses when they have unsold inventory, they benefit the most from this incredible lean tool.

7. Distribute the workload evenly Heijunka

In a classroom, it is easy to assume that demand for products remains constant. All of the models for supply chain management work out very well and demand can be leveled and predicted when it happens at a constant and predictable rate. In reality, however,

demand is anything but constant and predictable, and needs a system or practice that mitigates the fluctuations in demand so the manufacturing can process orders on the supply side at a more constant rate. It should come as no surprise that a varying demand produces waste. By encountering peaks and valleys on the assembly line, large groups of parts are backed up and lead to downtime, idle workers, and excess inventory. The entire objective of all supply systems, led by heijunka, or work leveling, is to make sure that the assembly line produces a product in a constant, flowing manner. The basis behind production leveling is to manufacture as small a batch as possible, so that fluctuations in demand do not affect the output very dramatically, and the production line may be given time to adapt to unexpected changes. This can be accomplished in a few ways, but one of the more prevalent ways is to set up an assembly line such that variation is accomplished inside of the line. By doing this, the same equipment will manufacture different models or different classes of products with the same machinery. Unless there is a major swing in demand that affects the entire industry, the line will be sheltered from fluctuations, more constant output will be achieved, and waste will be reduced dramatically. Of course, heijunka cannot be made possible without the advent of modern machinery and processes that allow for one assembly line to be able to output multiple products. Henry Ford, when he revolutionized the manufacturing process, built his entire philosophy around the philosophy that an assembly line can be more efficient if one worker was able to perform their work as efficiently as possible and became an expert at one task. According to his system, this could only be accomplished by repetitive tasks that are accomplished by skilled employees repeatedly. As one can imagine, this was completely changed in the last two decades with the advent and industrialization of robots that can perform multiple tasks just as efficiently as it can a single task. This makes heijunka a much more viable possibility, as no time is lost when the production line shifts focus from one product to another. This lean tool can be used in many situations. It does not have to be specifically geared towards manufacturing, but like most other lean tools, was created for it. Heijunka can also be used when involving paperwork reduction projects, project management, cost saving measures, and many other business related situations. Any time a company wants to streamline their processes such that an increase or reduction in demand for a product,

whether that product is a service, a form, or a project output, they should be able to benefit from the process of production leveling. The best way to demonstrate what is possible with heijunka is by illustrating with an example. A car manufacturer has 6 different car models that come out of the same plant. Up until now, there were 6 different assembly lines that put the cars together. The assembly workers were great at putting together their specific piece of the puzzle, and were always able to handle whatever was thrown their way. About 7 years ago, demand for all cars, in general, dropped dramatically. The need for 6 assembly lines to be putting out cars is not necessary. However, in order to cut back in production, the car company had to close one of their production lines and stop making one of their models, something that they did not want to do strategically. They employed heijunka to help them solve this problem. They closed two of their lines, and reprogrammed the other four so that they could each put out the 6 models that defined their business. This was evident when there was a large decrease in the demand for one of their models.

The companys competitor came out with a new, more efficient model that is comparable to one of the models the company puts out. The senior leadership knew that demand for their model would be dramatically reduced, so they started producing less of that model. All they had to do in order to accomplish that was to tell the assembly line to

skip that model every fifth time it came around. Their production of that one model was reduced by 20% and the production of the other 6 models was unaffected. They were able to immediately react to the shift in demand, one of heijunkas end goals. This tool, while used frequently in the assembly line, can also be applied by middle to upper management in many different aspects of business. As stated before, there are plenty of processes that can benefit from heijunka, and it should always be a tool inside the box of a good, capable manager, that should be evaluated from time to time.

8. Work Cells A building block of lean manufacturing

If Lean Manufacturing were a building, then the bricks that lay the foundation of lean manufacturing, particularly with assembly lines, would be work cells. The fruit of the work cell implementation is a more efficient, stronger assembly line with higher quality products, happier employees, and a safer work environment. Work cells belong to a type of manufacturing referred to as cellular manufacturing. The concept behind this type of setup is exactly how it sounds: on a certain floor or line, there exists a string of equipment and workstations that promotes an efficient flow of inventory and materials from raw material to final, assembled product. The important aspect to note about cellular manufacturing is the idea that it minimizes transportation and waiting time, which makes the process ideal for quality leaders to implement. Using the concept of cellular manufacturing as a base, then the work cell is a group of equipment, workstations, and/or personnel that are physically located in a single area and allows for the group of workers and equipment to produce an entire product or group of products completely from start to finish. It can be thought of as a small version of the entire assembly line, complete with its own specific processes, teams, equipment, operating guidelines, and quality standards. The alternative to cellular manufacturing is the batch and queue system, in which the product is produced in stages, then allowed to sit for a period of time in a queue while it is waiting to get to the next workstation, as can be seen in Figure (1). If the production line is large enough, this leads to large amounts of inventory waiting in various queues, incurring costs to the company and taking resources away from the production line. Additionally, the line must become much more complex because additional machines and personnel are needed to transport the product between batches. With cellular manufacturing, the work cell absorbs the queue and ensures that inventory is kept to a minimum by constantly

producing a quality product inside of the cell, which is demonstrated in the bottom half of Figure (1).

The company that should be most interested in using this tool is the one that finds themselves bogged down by excess inventory and slow processes. Another, less obvious telltale sign that cellular manufacturing is necessary is workers that are unhappy with their job, because production is directly proportional to job satisfaction. The company will also find themselves very slow to react to demand changes and cost reduction techniques. The excess inventory directly drives these factors. Not every company is a good candidate for shifting to work cells and cellular manufacturing. Some companies simply do not have a manufacturing process that is long and complicated enough to justify work cells. Other companies produce products that are not able to be split into different assembly steps, leading to a convergent line at the very end of the line, and not allowing any room for work cells. While these are a couple of situations in which work cells will not necessarily be the best choice for a company, a large majority of companies would benefit greatly from the positive impact this model has on their inventory and production costs and times. A good example of the work cell model is with a generator manufacturer. In its most simple form, a generator consists of a rotor, a stator, the casing, and the control systems. Each part consists of many subassemblies that are reflected in Figure (1) by the different processes, Processes A-C.

Up until now, the manufacturer was using the batch and queue model of manufacturing in which each station puts out its product, and then sits in the up and coming queue of the next process. These queues are represented by the yellow boxes in Figure (1). As you can see, with the batch and queue process, there is a lot of inventory sitting around for no reason other than waiting for the next process to take care of it and process it. The second part of the diagram, the work cell, is the model that the manufacturing plant moved to when they decided to finally lean out their processes. The work cells are constantly processing product, and dont have a queue. There may be a few times where a bottleneck happens and there is an excess inventory because of a slow workstation, but in general, there should be no inventory stacking up in a work cell system. This is all because the work cell is constantly running their process, and the previous and next work cells are taking their inventory, also completing their processes on a continual basis. If running correctly, the work cell method should resemble a conveyer belt or assembly line, with a few stops for the processes, but otherwise running fluidly and continuously. Work cells should be designed at the highest levels. While the workers must be trained in the conduct of business inside of the work cells, the actual system should be designed with a 30,000 foot view. Managers should also be trained to operate their cells efficiently to keep the bottlenecks to a minimum. If utilized properly, a work cell system can reduce and possibly eliminate the need for inventory. It will also foster higher quality due to constant improvement and a continuous worker from one end of the cell to the other.

9. SMED Makes Lean Flexible

When looking for places to lean out the manufacturing process, many managers skip over the concept of Single Minute Exchange of Die, or SMED. Quick changeover, as it is called in many circles, should always be a concern, particularly when it comes to assembly lines and manufacturing. The actions needed to take, while simple, have a long lasting impact on the business and the quality, speed, and capability of the line to react to demand changes. To completely understand SMED, you have to understand assembly lines in exacting detail, and it helps to know what the objectives of lean processes in general are. Primarily,

assembly lines produce a very specific product by utilizing specific work cells or work stations that produce pieces of that product with a high degree of efficiency, quality, and speed. Unfortunately, while this may be able to produce the product quickly, one of the major drawbacks is that the line is only able to produce a single class of product. For example, an assembly line that produces stator windings cannot be turned around to produce control circuitry. Therefore, in order to produce a wide variety of products and models, or even a single, very complex product with many assembly stages, a company must run many assembly lines, which takes up a large amount of space, and space costs money. Even if the company wants to produce many variations of the same product, such as a product with different features or model specifications, many times, a single assembly line cannot handle these requirements. The general concept behind lean processes is to reduce or eliminate waste and cut costs by simplification or process changes. Now that you know about the skeletal model of assembly line manufacturing and lean processing, you should be able to see the value of enabling a single assembly line to produce many different products or variations of products. By doing this, the company reduces the amount of space necessary for them to occupy, they are able to react to demand shifts in product lines, and overhead is severely cut down so many products become profitable for the company to produce. This is where SMED comes into play. If a company were following the SMED philosophy exactly, they would be able to produce a company and manufacturing layout that could change the dies and robotic programming in the assembly line so that the assembly line can shift from producing one model to another in a very short amount of time. By doing this, the company will not need as many assembly lines, or as many branches on a single line, therefore reducing the square footage necessary to manufacture a wide line of products. They also will not need a completely different set of employees to keep the assembly line moving, and will not need to upkeep, buy, or power any additional equipment associated with the second or third line. Finally, since the company can quickly adjust the line to manufacture which ever product they would like, they can quickly change the assembly line to manufacture the product that is seeing a higher demand and cut back on the product that is seeing a lower demand. By achieving this incredibly agile position, a company can easily manage its inventory and maintain a large amount of liquidity in their company.

The first time a company embarks on a quest to enable SMED, they will not be able to change over the manufacturing lines as quickly as they would like. The end goal is to be able to shift the assembly line from one product to another in less than 100 minutes, therefore reducing the amount of downtime associated with the shift. The company will not realize this significant progress until a few months of lean studies and process evaluation. Thank about the various models of GPS units that are on the market. Some of the market leaders have dozens, if not hundreds, of models to manufacture, in order to meet the demands and wants of the customer. There isnt a single assembly line in the world that can manufacture such a large variation in products, but they can manufacture two, or a few, very similar products. The GPS manufacturer has 12 assembly lines and decides to pursue SMED with the end goal of reducing to 4 lines. They estimate that this will cut costs by 60%, reduce downtime by 20%, and make them able to increase revenue by 30% by expanding their markets by offering additional models to their overseas customers. As shown in Figure (1), they commissioned a study and found that they can consolidate their 12 lines into 4, as they had wanted. They then were able to commission the other lines to produce the additional models without incurring any significant additional overhead.

While this is something that anybody can suggest, it is a very high level concept that has to be evaluated not only at the manager level, but at the upper management level as well. The effects are far reaching, and without careful planning, a company can possibly negatively affect their output capacity, leaving a shortage of inventory in the supply chain.

SMED is a very effective way of significantly changing the way a company does business. It should be fully explored, particularly if a company is in the manufacturing business.

10. Takt Time the Rhythm of lean manufacturing

Do you know how long it will take you to read this article? If you glanced at your watch before you opened this article, look at it again when you are done. Then, read ten more articles and take the average reading time. Is that fast? Or is it slow? Should you be reading faster in order to meet your reading goals? Or should you slow down to maximize comprehension and quality of the reading? Takt time can answer this question. Takt time is derived from the German work, Taktzeit, and can be literally translated to mean cycle time. Using the previous example, if your boss came to you and told you to read an article next week, you would know exactly how much time you would have to block out of your day to read articles. If you werent feeling well, or thought you were particularly distracted, you could compare your time to the time you just derived. Traditionally, Takt time is the maximum time per unit that a production line is allowed to produce a quality product in order to meet demand. After it is benchmarked, it sets the pace and the standard for further production from the same line or workstation. It can show managers and quality teams where to focus their attention and resources in attempting to improve the overall process. It can also alert managers to bottlenecks and choke points that need attention to process resources. The Takt time is computed by dividing the time demand (units required per day) by the net time available to work (minutes of work per day). This will give you a unit of minutes of work per unit required, and provides for a good description of what Takt Time really is. The end goal of determining the Takt time is to produce products at a pace that mirrors what the customers demand is. By meeting the demand from the customer, the inventory is kept to a minimum and thus costs are also minimized. Of course, no machine or person is perfect, and there are inefficiencies in every process, so a good manager and quality specialist will take these variations into account when determining the required rate to run the line at. Sometimes it simply takes trial and error to find the ideal rate to run the line at. Additionally, most companies will have the ability to adjust the required time by adjusting daily working time, increasing workers, and other things that will indirectly affect the line time.

It is very important to realize the difference between cycle time and Takt time. Takt time is only determined by the demand and the amount of time available to work. It actually is not affected by the actual performance of the line or workstation whatsoever. Cycle time, however, is the amount of time it actually takes to complete the production of the unit. They are separate, and most people, particularly those who are relatively unfamiliar to lean processes. While they are not the same thing, Takt time and Cycle time should always be compared to each other for a relative gage of your processs ability to meet the necessary demand. When a car company comes out with a new model car, they perform market analysis, surveys, and forecasts that decide what the demand for the new model will most likely be. This, along with the supply chain management team, can determine what the production goals will be for a certain factory, and consequently, the line. For example, lets say that they will need 30 new models per day. In order to get the production team off the ground, produce quality products, and provide training to the team, management has decided to limit amount of production time available to the line to 5 hours per day. Therefore, the Takt time is 30 units per day / 5 hours per day, or 6 units per hour required to produce to meet customer demand, and can be further broken down to 1 unit every 10 minutes. This will lead to every car that comes off the line being shipped and no inventory being held at the factory the ideal way to run the business.

This can be further broken down to workstations. For example, the door installation workstation for the new, 4-door model car would also need to put out one car per ten minutes. However, since there are 4 doors, the workstation will have to install one door every 2.5 minutes. While this may seem obvious, what may not seem obvious is that this is beyond the capacity of a single workstation, and will lead to a bottleneck , and subsequently a focused lean project which will bring the cycle time to the Takt time, leading to an efficient process.

Takt time can be used in many applications that arent necessarily the traditional line manufacturing application. It can be used in order processing, call center operation, project management tasks, or anything in a business that can be measured by processing time. A good tool to have in your toolbox, Takt time will give a company an insight into what the capacity of a method or process must be in order to meet the demand a customer places on it. By doing this, the company can set a benchmark that will guide the company toward the ideal situation of perfect supply chain management.

11. Theory Of Constraints (TOC)

The Theory of Constraints is a tool that came about in 1984 from the Israeli physicist and business management author Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The theory and philosophy was born from the appropriately named Goldratt book, The Goal, which proclaimed that all systems and processes are driven by a goal or a few goals which are limited in their capacity only by one or a very slight few constraints. It goes on to claim that the only way to fully achieve this goal or goals is to identify the most limiting constraint and either reduce it so it is no longer the limiting constraint or eliminate it altogether. While the focus of the theory and the ensuing improvement is the constraint, there are important assumptions that are considered vital to the success, or to some the downfall, of the theory. Goldratt asserts that all organizations and processes can be measured by three characteristics: Throughput, Operating Expense, and Inventory. Of course, by measuring these three characteristics, we can then track and therefore control them. The variations that are inherent in these is what leads to the constraint. A good example is to look at an organization and its three characteristics. Throughput can be viewed as sales, or even the revenue generated through these sales, Operating Expense is exactly that, and Inventory is reflected in the investment in goods or services that the organization participates in to sell their own goods and services. By measuring all of these characteristics, and tracking and controlling them, we can identify the constraints upon which this theory is built. These constraints are the heart of the theory, and state that there is always at least one, and at most very few, constraints that are holding the organization back from either fulfilling the goal or limiting the rate at which the goal is achieved. These constraints may be internal or external. Some examples of internal constraints are equipment, people, and policy.

The key to success, Goldratt claims, is to follow five focusing steps, which assist in identifying the constraint and destroying it such that we are no longer constrained by that specific constraint and instead another constraint takes its place. It is imperative to understand that a constraint always exists, but the limiting constraint may change as they are identified and improved or cleared. If you assume that the goal is clearly articulated, then the five focusing steps are: Identifying the constraint. This is the resource or policy that is preventing the organization from achieving the specified goal. This is found by monitoring the three characteristics as defined previously. Exploiting the constraint. Ensuring the constraints full resources, attention, and intention are dedicated toward the goal. Then, identifying ways in which more resources, attention, and intention can be focused solely on the limiting constraint. Subordinating all other resources and processes. This entails taking full inventory of the processes and resources available to the organization and dedicating them toward supporting the exploitation determined in step 2. This usually includes aligning the entire organization around the decision behind step 2. Elevate the constraint, if necessary. If necessary, dedicate more resources or processes toward eliminating the constraint outlined, or perhaps place more resources on the constraint so the constraints capacity is increased. Re-evaluate the constraint, and repeat with step 1. Over the course of accomplishing steps 1-4, the constraint may have shifted or changed. Re-evaluate the constraint and start again from step 1. One very important characteristic to note is the propensity to continue with step 4 indefinitely, not recognizing that there is a new constraint. If managed correctly, this is a constant cycle which is repeated indefinitely, and is identified by Goldratt as the Process of Ongoing Improvement (POOGI). Like anything else, there is always variation when we measure our three characteristics. Because of this, Goldratt preaches the use of buffers, particularly during the exploiting and subordinating stages, to eliminate or reduce the variation effect on the constraint. According to the TOC model, the organization should always be able to output up to the capabilities of the constraint. With the buffers, that constraint is constantly the constraint, ensuring no other piece of the organization becomes the constraint. The Theory of Constraints can be used by any complex system or organization in which the desired outcome is a goal that is either achieved faster or more cost effectively. By systematically reducing the constraints that keep us from attaining this goal, we dedicate

more resources toward the constraint and less toward other operations that are not constraining the process. You should use this tool over others when your organization cannot define what the single most constraining process is that is affecting your organizations process capability.

A good example is one of a widget manufacturing line that has been manufacturing widgets for the last 20 years. The company has used lean and six sigma for the last 10 years to bring its costs down significantly, and is now the leading manufacturer of widgets across the country. A manager has been brought in to analyze the process used to manufacture the widgets and recommend areas for additional improvement. The manager, has decided to use TOC as a tool. He then took about 16 weeks to measure the throughput of every workstation and has found that a single workstation is the constraining factor. They are constantly working on a backlog, and while lean processes have cut their production time by half, they are still the weakest link in the chain. Management decided to put a second workstation dedicated to that constraining factor, therefore doubling the capacity of the constraint, and thus increasing the capacity of the line. While the cost was increased twofold, so was the production output, allowing the organization to increase their sales offerings and double their revenue. The Theory of Constraints is a process for ongoing, continuous improvement of a process or organization. By taking this tool onboard and implementing it, you will find the most constraining factor that is holding back your company from its best performance.

12. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) Visualize the Value

It should be obvious that an ideal business and manufacturing process should run smoothly without any interruption between steps or departments. The quickest way from point A to point B is in a straight line, and the easiest way to achieve that straight line is by using Value Stream Mapping, or VSM. VSM is used to identify the areas in which a large amount of waste exists. This gives the quality team a good idea where to focus their efforts and lean processes. By practicing VSM, a company can also streamline their business processes and achieve record levels of productivity. More commonly known as Material and Information Flow Mapping, VSM seeks to analyze and optimize the flow of materials and information necessary to bring a product or service to a consumer. As you might expect, the simpler, more straight-line, and clearly defined the processes or value stream is, the more efficiently the company will run. If used correctly, VSM can be used in many different industries and processes, from customer service, to consulting services, and from optimizing manufacturing lines to paperwork reduction. No matter what industry, effort, or process, there are a few steps which outline the processes necessary for mapping the different value streams. Many times, VSM is used in conjunction with the first S, Sort, in the 5S model. It can also be used when trying to achieve a visual workplace, something else that goes after the same objectives. In fact, the Sort phase of 5S talks about finding out what the most efficient stream of information and parts flowing is and how to achieve that by removing the unnecessary tools and equipment are on the shop floor. While it may seem like a simple task o do, often times, management does not realize that they do not have a firm grasp on the conduct of the processes within their own organization. When they attempt to start mapping out the flow, they are shocked to find that a lot of them are highly inefficient and contain many unnecessary steps, actions, and diversions. They end up having to interview their own employees about the processes that are in place to find out exactly how they are conducted. If the workplace in question is a manufacturing or assembly plant, it is advantageous to get to a vantage point in which the manager can see the entire shop floor and all of its equipment, personnel and other resources in motion. The manager should be able to view the entire production as it is happening. Much like a conductor of an orchestra, this will give

them a birds eye view of the actual conduct of the operations inside of the plant as they happen, instead of talking about what is supposed to theoretically happen inside of a boardroom or office. When it comes time to implement the VSM techniques, it should be employed in four stages. The first is to identify what it is that is to be mapped, or what the target will be. Second, using the helpful hints from above, the current state of the process should be drawn. The steps, information flows, and delays that are necessary to deliver the target product or service should be included in the preliminary map. The next step is where the magic happens. Management should be brought in to assess the current state of the value stream map it possibly identify areas which need work in creating flow by eliminating waste. And lastly, taking into account what was found in the previous step, the future VSM should then be drawn and implemented. An example of this process can be seen in Figure (1). As you can see, this company has decided to outline their value stream. There are many places in which the company can improve the flow of information and parts.

Luckily, the management was able to identify the areas that can be improved. They noticed that process B1 was taking 8 hours, while taking up resources of 5 people. Part of

this is due to the fact that the process in this figure sent 83% of the inventory through process B1 instead of B2. Management also noticed that there was a solid 18 hours of delivery time, or 20% of the products cycle time. The team thought that putting Process B1 in the same location as Process C would improve delivery time, and it did. This way, the 8 hours of delivery time from B1 to C was removed, leading to a 10% decrease in production time. Process B2 was also dissolved, but the best practices from the better performing cell were incorporated into Process B1, leading to value improvements that led a chain reaction of savings. While it is usually a management-lead initiative, in order to effectively create an accurate VSM, a company must employ the cooperation of its line workers to help the management create an effective VSM. Like a house without a strong foundation, without a good VSM to start with, the rest of the process will be useless. Value Stream Mapping is one of the best ways for a company to understand its own processes and procedures. As most managers will be surprised at the inefficiencies, it is good to put them on paper so they can be addresses. Just as it can be used to identify the weak areas, it can also be used to project what the ideal VSM would look like, and use that as a reference when employing other Lean tactics to improve the performance of the company by eliminating waste. The end result is usually a stronger, leaner company that is streamlined to the point where it produces its maximum output with the least amount of defects.

13. Workflow diagram An important lean tool

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of business and process management, this couldnt be any more true. When it comes time to lean out a process, system, or business, the question of visualizing the process always comes up. Luckily a tool exists to bring everyone on the same page as well as visualize the processes involved, and this tool is a Workflow diagram. A workflow diagram is like the secret decoder ring that will result in the teams understanding and focused improvement. Just as it sounds, a workflow diagram is a visual depiction of a workflow, using visual representations such as flowchart symbols and annotations to show the different steps and decision points in a workflow. A workflow is a sequence of operations or processes as defined by the work of a person, a machine, a group of machines, or a group of people, organization or staff. The work itself may actually be a virtual representation of actual work, such as a decision, processing of a document, or a procedure that is conducted. The flow

part of the workflow is oftentimes depicting a transfer of a document or piece of a product from one step or workstation to another. The workflow itself is not a great lean tool. While depicting the process helps to visualize what is happening inside of the company, it does not show the places for improvement. Like a roadmap, it maps out the different destinations and paths to get to and from a destination. Also like a map, it does not show where the roadblocks, bumpy roads, heavy traffic, or bad weather is. Just as a map can be used as an underlay for a weather map or traffic map, the workflow can be used as the building block on which other assessment tools are based. The workflow can be used as a great learning tool, especially for newcomers to the organization, which is an ISO requirement. Additionally, they should be characteristic to the company with its own terminology such as silos, teams, projects, and hierarchies. In reality, it is often hard to trace the exact path of a task or document, especially when functional tasks and operational teams are not clearly defined. The workflow will often be better represented by a series of intertwined webs instead of clearly defined paths and flowing roadmaps. It is very common for a company to employ the use of software to help in defining and managing the workflows associated with a company. After it is defined and improved, the end result is usually a better overall understanding of the companys processes as well as improved efficiency, less complicated processes, improved process control and better quality and standardization. If all of the members of a workflow and business understand where their place is in the workflow and how they are supposed to interact with other teams and organizations inside of the workflow, the results are sometimes amazing at the level of improvement that is possible. When a company first decides that it wants to employ lean processes, they usually start with a workflow diagram. Most managers and company executives are shocked to find out the inefficiencies that occur inside of their organizations. It is also a great way to make a big difference quickly by reminding, or informing all personnel that operate inside the workflow of what they should be doing with respect to processing the documents or materials that they handle. An example workflow diagram is given in Figure (1). The workflow depicted outlines a company that produces software. The specific workflow depicted here is that of the

customer service workflow. In another words, what happens when a customer calls this software company?

Figure (1) should be relatively straightforward, but the company would like to lean this process out. In order to conduct the lean process properly, they hire a lean expert who documents the workflow you are looking at. Immediately, the lean expert sees some room for improvement. The first issue addressed in the lean report was the fact that an operator, in the first step, is basically used as a call screener. They waste valuable time ensuring the call gets to the right place, oftentimes with no further action necessary on their part. The lean expert recommended that this step be replaced by a PBX system, which will reduce the amount of time an operator spends handling a call. In turn, they can handle more calls more frequently. He also notices that the form 1182 and 1187 are used in very similar situations. He recommends combining the 2 forms into one that is applicable in every situation, whether it is a complaint that can or cannot be resolved by the operator. While the company may have alternative reasons for having two separate forms, this is a lean opportunity, and should be evaluated as such. Someone who is well versed in lean processes should complete the workflow diagram. By diagramming even the smallest details, an opportunity for improvement may be realized where it may not have been readily apparent in prior attempts. If it were left up

to the person who is actually completing the process, they may have a bias as to what they think they are actually doing compared to what they are actually doing. Workflow diagrams are very powerful tools in the fight against waste. It should be obvious by now that they are not necessarily the end tool, but instead a tool to visualize the processes that are already in place. Many times managers and supervisors are shocked to see what actually happens compared to what should be happening.

14. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

The saying goes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Nothing symbolizes that more than the concept of Total Productive Maintenance, or TPM. As a newer concept to hit the marketplace, it is used to help maintain the plants and equipment at a company. If successfully conducted, TPM can rapidly increase the production associated with a production line while making the employee job satisfaction and morale hit new highs. Maintenance of equipment is a part of life, particularly if a company is running a manufacturing plant. TPM will bring maintenance to the forefront of the business and ensure it is a top concern for management. With TPM, maintenance can be viewed as a profit activity, generating real dollars as the maintenance is conducted, and therefore is always allowed to squeeze in some maintenance related down time in the manufacturing day. Before TPM, maintenance would be conducted whenever the machine was down because it was broken, or whenever it was down for another reason. Once the TPM program is put into place, the uncontrolled down time due to emergency or unscheduled maintenance is kept to an absolute minimum. TPM can accomplish many things, but there are five primary reasons a company will switch to the TPM mode of thinking. First, it can reduce cost by reducing the amount of unscheduled downtime associated with a piece of equipment or possibly even an entire production line. Next, quality will either be maintained or increase while the production quantity will increase. Because the equipment is more reliable, not as much inventory will be kept on hand, leading to lower inventory levels, therefore reducing the costs incurred by a company that has to hold this inventory. Of course, because it is a lean process, it will also avoid the waste associated with pieces of equipment that are not optimized to their highest performance levels. This also costs the company money, time, and sometimes customer satisfaction.

Lastly, along the same lines as product quality, the goods that are delivered will be in top shape and send to the customer without defect. There are four different types of maintenance associated with TPM. The first, breakdown maintenance, is when an equipment fails, the maintenance is purely conducted to bring it back online and in a condition that it will be sustained online indefinitely. These repairs are typically very costly, result in a large amount of downtime, and occur at random, unpredictable times. It is in the best interest of most companies to keep the breakdown maintenance to a minimum. Preventative maintenance is exactly what it sounds like. It is maintenance that occurs on a periodic basis, whether it be monthly, weekly, or daily, and is designed to maintain a piece of equipment in the best working order possible, and prevent the occurrence of breakdowns. It also extends the lifetime of the equipment dramatically. Unlike breakdown maintenance, it can be scheduled to coincide with production cycles and planned downtime. Two subsets of preventative maintenance are periodic maintenance and predictive maintenance, with both serving very specific functions in the TPM plan. Corrective maintenance is another form that fits into the TPM puzzle. With corrective maintenance, the equipment is improved to make up for design flaws or inefficiencies that are associated with the manufacturing, supply, or design process. A good example of this would be upgrades for software which patch vulnerabilities discovered after the software is released. The last form of maintenance is in a different class, and is called maintenance prevention. While the other three forms are actively fixing problems that have already occurred, maintenance prevention is fixing weaknesses that are going to prevent defects, safety, and failure prevention. It is the act of proactively changing the design at the manufacturing plant such that these changes will effectively improve the product.

Figure (1) demonstrates how other quality tools are intertwined within and work in conjunction with TPM. While TPM can be seen as a higher level concept that incorporates all of these tools, the reality is that these tools support the TPM idea and without them, TPM would be nothing more than time wasted. Take note that 5S is considered the strong foundation that a solid TPM program is built upon. Without the clarity that 5S brings to the workplace, TPM is just another case of trying to find your way in the dark. TPM is a very high level program that must begin at the CEO level. Because it effects all stages of the lifecycle and involves implementing large programs with very deep cuts into resources, as well as significant design, supply, and quality changes, it should be approved at no less than the highest level of management. Usually the best TPM programs have some method of feedback, however, in which the workers who will be performing the maintenance have the opportunity to voice their opinion and offer suggestions. As stated before, TPM has the capacity to reduce downtime, improve product quality, improve reliability, and make life for employees inside a company much more enjoyable. It is ,however, a very large program to implement, and in doing so many incur significant upfront costs that dont always have immediate recognizable returns on investments. In the long run, however, TPM should be integrated into every companys equipment life cycle plan.