LEAN MANUFACTURING - A TEAM APPROACH

by Pete Farley, Principal, The Freeland Group

You hear the term lean manufacturing used a lot these days.  Managers for the Boeing Company refer to it when discussing their production problems.  Many aerospace suppliers in the Puget Sound area are using lean manufacturing concepts to reduce cost and improve efficiency.  Consultants have built entire practices around teaching these techniques to industry.  But just what is lean manufacturing and how can you implement it at your company?

Lean manufacturing focuses on those activities that add value and reduces or eliminates those that do not.  If you are a manufacturer, performing a drilling operation may add value to your product but the act of moving it to the next operation adds only cost.  Using lean manufacturing concepts will help you improve your proportion of value-added activities, resulting in lower costs and more efficient operations.

Probably the most effective way to implement lean manufacturing is through the team approach.  The belief is that production work teams are the personnel that are most familiar with the processes they perform and, given the basic concepts, are the best equipped to apply them.  The activity typically takes 4-5 full days to complete and results in specific changes and quantifiable benefits.  The team-based implementation process consists of the following steps.

1. Select a specific product or process to attack.

A machine shop, for example, might select a particular part that has several operations and a large volume.  A lumber operation might select the surfacing process as the focus.  In either case, this selection will be the subject of the analysis and implementation process.

2. Assemble the team of operators who impact the work.

A good cross-functional team will include those workers who perform the actual operations as well as others with some measure of control, such as quality control personnel.  Many times paperwork demands have an impact on operations so this function should also be represented.  Supervisory personnel usually have a knowledge of what has been done in the past and they too can be useful.

3. Confirm management participation and commitment.

 It is absolutely critical that management endorses and actively supports the activity.  Someone from the appropriate management level should kick off the session and management must support the positive recommendations that emerge.  This support includes relieving the team of their normal duties for the week, being open to changes in the process and spending money if necessary.

4. Communicate key techniques and concepts.

The first day of the week is spent building a fundamental understanding of lean manufacturing.  Key concepts such as JIT, one piece flow, point of use tooling and kanban are discussed and illustrated with examples.  The discussion revolves around the application of these techniques to the subject activity.

5. Team assesses and describes current situation.

In this step, team members go to the plant floor to describe the current process through flow charts and layout drawings.  They chart operation steps, record distances and estimate time requirements in order to document the base case situation.

6. Discuss alternatives and develop action items.

Using the information developed and the lean manufacturing concepts learned, the team meets again to outline the issues, set priorities and develop preliminary solutions.  Some solutions may be “no-brainers” while others may require additional data or new information.  The team begins to develop a coherent story for management.

7. Present action plan to management.

Generally at the end of the second day, the team presents their analysis and recommended action plan to management.  At this point management support is critical.  Some changes may be comfortable but others may push the bounds of the way the company has been operating.  Management may reject items but should do so only for important reasons which are communicated clearly to the team. 

8. Assign responsibility for implementing changes.

The team members themselves will be implementing the short-term changes.  Storage racks may need to be built or machinery may need to be relocated.  Plans may need to be developed to deal with the longer-term items.  The tasks are identified and divided among the team members.

9. Implement the changes quickly.

This step is where the benefits are achieved.  In most cases, the opportunities identified will be the 20% of the actions that will capture 80% of the value.  The wheels are put in motion immediately rather than waiting for committee meetings or long approval requirements.  The energy of the team is put to use implementing their own changes.

10. Measure improvement and report results.

At the end of the week, the team makes a final presentation to management that covers all the action items and their status.  Many of these will already have been implemented and the ball will be rolling for most of the others.  At this time, the team makes an estimate of the benefits expected and outlines any follow-up items.  Since the team will be disbanding, someone should be designated to monitor the pending items and to reassess the actual benefits at some time in the future.

What will you have to show for all this effort?  First, you will have some specific and measureable improvements in efficiency and cost.  You will also have an implementation plan for those items that have not been completed.  You will have a team of employees who have been exposed to a new way of thinking and who take a new set of eyes back to the floor.  And you will have laid the groundwork for an ongoing continuous improvement program through the application of lean manufacturing principles.