What is lean manufacturing?
Lean is a term used to describe a methodology developed by Toyota Motor Company to optimize production efficiency and remove waste without sacrificing quality. Lean encompasses many terms and tools including the following:
- Kaizen: a focus on continuous improvement
- Kanban: a card used to communicate when parts or material is needed
- Just – In – Time (JIT): the right parts and the right amount of parts reach a production station at the time
- One-piece flow: the concept of moving one piece at a time along a production line
- Poka – yoke: (mistake - proofing) an approach to designing a product or process so that mistakes cannot occur
- Quick change over: elimination of waste from machine or process setup for switching between part types
- Standardization: to establish a uniform process for completing a task
- Takt time: the rate of sales and the market place and the ideal rate of production
- Value stream mapping: an analysis technique focused on the flow of materials and information
- 5S’s: (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain) a system for workplace safety, order and efficiency