Reference no: EM133411918

Lean Production Process

Production Process or manufacturing process refers to methods and technologies to use raw materials and prepare finished goods ready for customer. But during this process, finished goods are produced along with waste as bi product. Thus, to reduce waste during production Lean production process was established as new and better approach. Along with eliminating waste, lean production process helps organization to rethink the workflow thus increasing productivity. 

Lean production was first coined by John Krafcik. This approach has a basic goal of improving production process. Although this approach is for reducing waste during production but there are many ways that can be addressed which will ultimately help to improve production process in many manufacturing industries. An employee of a manufacturing company realizes he was wasting each hour discarding trash thus one of the other employees came with idea of attaching trash can to each employee chair which saved 15 steps of each employee thus increasing employee's efficiency without disturbance of wasting hours to discard trash. One other manufacturing company realized a cover they send with shipment of electronic temperature controller was always discarded by customers. So, the manufacturing company started shipping the item without covers as they were of no use for customers thus saves time and effort on both ends. Micro approaches like discussed above plays vital role and helps in improving production process. 

These are very few of many examples where companies and industries adapted lean production process approach and find themselves make profit, create value, and increase productivity. Some benefits of adapting lean production process approach are reduction of lead time, improvement in quality of product, eliminate product waste, minimal downtime, increase in cost savings, and sustainability. 

There are many methods established for lean manufacturing/production process which are listed as- 

1. Kanban- This method that helps to manage workflow as it helps to visualize the workflow.
2. Kaizen- This method focuses on continuous improvement in product quality, company culture and production efficiency. 
3. Cellular manufacturing- This method is the strategic arrangement of equipment and processes to reduce waste. 
4. 3P- 3P stands for Production Preparation Process and his method helps in eliminating waste through prototyping improving product quality and eliminating downtime. 
5. 5S- It stands for Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. The focus is on reducing downtime and improving productivity.

Lean production Process has been choice of many industries and one of the best approaches as it carries environmental safety values along with improvement in companies/industries production, product quality, value creation and increment in profitability. 

Discussion Question: 

1. Despite of many benefits of Lean Production Process, could there be any negative impact for the industries with Lean Production Process? If yes, how can the impact be eliminated?
2. Can you talk about any company you know of which implemented Lean production process in the company.