Lean Thinking and Tools areas of speciality
lean thinking
theory of constraints
supply chain
total productive maintenance
total quality management
lean product development
lean office
lean thinking
Lean thinking is a means of looking at how you create value that your customers truly desire with the minimum resources. It can be applied in any industry but common applications include:
> Manufacturing
> Office
> Health Care
> Product Development Generic Tools that can be applied in lean thinking include:
5S
Value Stream Mapping
Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)
Just in Time (JIT)
Waste Analysis
Problem Solving
Teamwork
Visual Performance Measurement
5S
This methodology of lean thinking is centered on the premise that a clean and safe work environment becomes the foundation of a good production system. The benefits of 5S include improved safety, reduced waste, improved morale, more ownership of the work environment and improved productivity and quality. value stream mapping (VSM)
VSM was pioneered by Toyota and is a visual tool to graphically identify material and information flow. It also aids in the identification of value added and non value added steps in a process. The objective is to expose opportunities to reduce waste.
single minute exchange of dies (SMED) The aim of SMED is to reduce all changeovers and setups to below 10 minutes. The process uses simple improvement methods to ensure the equipment is stopped for the minimum possible time. Typically a SMED blitz can reduce setup times by up to 60 – 70% with minimal capital expense. JIT is an integrated set of activities designed to achieve production using minimal inventories. The approach ensures that only what the downstream customer requires is produced at the time it’s needed. Waste is any use of the organisation’s resources that does not add value for the customer. By categorising waste into one of seven types we can more easily identify waste reduction opportunities and plan how to prevent these wastes occurring in the future. This is a key foundation element of the Lean philosophy. Problem Solving is a structured process for identifying and fixing problems through the elimination of root causes. Teamwork focuses on techniques to improve the way groups of people interact in a work environment. The focus is on improving business performance by leveraging the capabilities of our people and helping them work better together. Visual Performance Measurement becomes the cornerstone for Problem Solving by highlighting the highest impact opportunities for improvement. For maximum success these measures should be owned and maintained by the shop floor teams, and become a key focus for all team process activities.
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theory of constraints
The Theory of Constraints is a way of looking at the systems that surround us. It is based on the simple but powerful principle that any system is limited by one factor or constraint. The way to improve the system is to firstly identify the constraint and then work on lessening its effect until it is no longer the constraint. Once this is complete you can then repeat the process on the new constraint. back to top supply chain
Supply Chain looks at the complete system involved in creating what the customer wants. Whilst improvement can be achieved by changing individual steps in the process, true and far larger improvements can be gained by looking at all the steps in the process and the way that these steps link together, i.e. the supply chain. back to top total productive maintenance (TPM)
TPM seeks to maximise the performance of the whole production system through the combination of preventative maintenance concepts and the Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement. The concept focuses on increasing operator involvement in all aspects of equipment operation. It is more appropriate for processes with higher levels of capital investment. back to top total quality management (TQM)
TQM is an approach for improving quality with a focus on employee participation and customer satisfaction. back to top lean product development
Good product development process seeks to maximise the total revenue stream from a product by ensuring the good products get to market faster. It involves managing the whole product lifecycle and ensuring that we understand how the product will satisfy the actual needs of the customer. back to top lean office
Lean Office takes the principles of Lean and applies them to administrative functions. back to top
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