Aspects of Lean Thinking Strategy

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Inventory
Overproduction
Transportation
Defects
Motion
Over-Processing
Waiting
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Generally, organizations aim at reducing the cost of their operations irrespective of the type of business operations they are undertaking. They prefer effective and efficient production processes in their internal and external activities. In most cases, they use a lean operations strategy to lower the expenses involved while remaining relevant and engaged in the market to increase profits. The plan is intended to help a corporation apply the minimalist principle in the following areas:

Inventory

In most cases, firms tend to have more stock of commodities in their stores for precautionary purposes. Some of their aims are to meet the possible future demand by customers, overcome the issues associated with delays in production, incidences of having low quality, and any other shortcoming that might cause a shortage of products. However, when an organization holds excessive goods, they are less likely to attain consumer satisfaction, and therefore, there is an insignificant value added to the company (Amaro, Alves, and Sousa, 2019). The process results in depreciation costs and the consumption of ample storage space. In lean manufacturing and service operations, the wastes include undelivered commodities and purchasing office supplies that exceed the business’s needs.

Overproduction

When a company manufactures more products that exceed the market demand, the excess commodities are regarded as waste. Additional production will require the business organization to incur further production costs. Since consumers will be unwilling to pay for the products, they become a burden to the industry’s operation process. Generally, in cases of overproduction, corporations will experience other aspects of waste, such as more waiting time, increased transportation, and extra inventory (Oliveira et al., 2019). When a defect scenario is detected during manufacturing, it will force the firm and its workforce to rework more products to correct the fault. In both manufacturing and service operations, the lean wastes are excess items and filling documents that are of no use to the company.

Transportation

Transportation as lean waste implies that moving raw materials from suppliers to the company does not add value to the produced commodities. When an organization is involved in the excessive shipment of materials, it will incur additional charges, which can impact the operational process as well as the quality of the items. During this period, issues such as space, machinery, and time must be considered to affect the activities. For instance, in manufacturing and service operations, lean wastes are changing tasks more frequently and continuous interruptions, respectively.

Defects

Defects pose a challenge to business organizations in a number of ways. They may make the firm rework the commodities since defective products should be reproduced to meet the required standards. This will make the company waste valuable time while undertaking the processes. Furthermore, it might need additional labor and other resources to manufacture new commodities. For example, in manufacturing and service operations, lean waste includes damaged goods and incorrect data collection, respectively.

Motion

Motion waste entails unnecessary movements of machinery or workers in the firm. It might lead to delayed production and possible injuries to the employees. Generally, when a business is experiencing an increased rate of movement, it might incur the costs of correcting errors caused by complicated movements. In service operations and manufacturing environments, the lean wastes conduct frequent staff meetings and needless machinery actions.

Over-Processing

Over-processing requires an organization to undertake further activities in their products, such as adding more features. Engaging in such operations is considered waste, especially when the attributes do not attract customers to use the items. However, the operations will require the business enterprise to incur more costs. Some of the lean waste resulting from over-processing introduces aspects that add no value and include multiple stages of approving small works in manufacturing and service operations correspondingly.

Waiting

Generally, in business organizations, time is a valuable factor, and when activities experience delays, the operations are considered less productive, hence costing the firm. Waiting occurs when commodities or corporation tasks are not moving. For instance, having products waiting for delivery shows a lack of movement in the process. In manufacturing and service operations, lean wastes are equipment that needs fixing and waiting for approval by management.

The term Quality Function Deployment (QFD) refers to the general process and framework that can be used by a business organization to effectively define the requirement of consumers and adequately structure them during the production to produce goods. The QFD allows companies to produce commodities that meet the specifications of customers, therefore, enabling the corporation to attain the needs and demands of clients in the market. The QFD plays a vital role in facilitating the lean thinking strategy in several ways.

First, the QFD is a customer-focused approach whereby it enables companies to emphasize the customers’ needs but not what the firm perceives is suitable for the clients. In this methodology, the enterprise translates the consumers’ voices into the design and technical specifications. When the corporation adheres to and follows the wants of its customers, it becomes easier to reduce the aspect of producing goods that they might not be willing to buy. This will therefore save the company from producing irrelevant products that increase the overall cost of manufacturing.

Similarly, the QFD enables business operations to lower the excessive production of products. When the company has a specific consumer requirement, it becomes easier for the firm to produce the exact goods with needed features, thus making the enterprise minimize overproduction which consumes time and resources. The approach will allow the organization to lower the waste that comes as a result of trying to manufacture different items to satisfy clients’ utility. For example, assuming a car manufacturing company wants to develop a new brand model, it should collect and understand the taste and preferences of potential buyers in the market. When they have information, the firm will include the exact qualities required by consumers making them avoid producing different vehicles with varied features that consume capital yet do not add value to end-users.

Generally, the lean thinking strategy is a continuous process that has no finite end. Most of the companies using the technique experience better improvements as they apply the approach in their production. Since business organizations are aimed at advancing their operations, they focus on developing new methodologies to achieve the needs of the customers. There is a gap between the current state of the firm’s operation and where they aspire to be in the future. The difference provides an opportunity for a company to advance its activities. This allows the organization to value the lean process as a journey but not as a destination.

Despite the advantages associated with using the lean thinking strategy, there are several challenges that hinder business organizations from effectively applying the approach in their operational processes. First, most management teams do not fully understand the significance of applying the plan in business operations. This makes them less concerned, and hence little effort is made towards promoting effective implementation of the approach. Second, firms have the tendency to follow their old ways of undertaking business activities. The backsliding might discourage them from achieving the best output as a result of using the lean model.

Moreover, limited skills and competencies can be a hindering element that prevents manufacturers from becoming lean. The strategy requires a workforce with unlimited abilities to facilitate the application of the approach at each level of business operation. Lastly, resistance to change is another contributing factor that plays a vital role in thwarting the effort to be lean. Generally, employees are key participants in developing and enhancing the process. However, suppose they do not feel comfortable with how the organization is introducing the method. In that case, it is possible for them to resist the advancement, thus making it difficult to effectively implement the plans. Therefore, it might be challenging to practice the lean thinking strategy in manufacturing and service firms without proper consideration of the issues.

Six Sigma strategies is an approach used by companies to improve the quality of manufactured products by identifying possible causes of deficiencies and removing them. Furthermore, it aims at lowering the variability in business processes (Singh and Rathi, 2018). On the other hand, lean thinking is aimed at reducing the waste produced by the company. Therefore, through the six sigma model, the business organization can detect the defects that would result in waste, enabling the firm to remove them before interfering with the products. This procedure will make sure the firm achieves its goal of operating at a low cost since there will be limited rework involved in the production.

The Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a metric that helps business organizations to determine and evaluate the proportion of planned production time, which adds value. The process allows the company to focus only on the good parts within a limited time frame (Cheah, Prakash, and Ong, 2020). In relation to the lean thinking principle, the OEE can help in reducing the waiting waste that corporations experience during operations. The practice ensures the manufacturer uses the most reliable and effective machine to lower possible delays resulting from breakdowns during operations. Understanding the effectiveness of the available machinery is essential in promoting quick operations.

Conclusion

Value-Added Ratio (VAR) refers to the duration taken to include features in a commodity divided by the time when the order was made until delivery. The VAR enables business organizations to understand the value consumers are willing to pay once the form of the product is changed to meet their desires (Singh and Singh, 2019). When the firm has proper VAR, it becomes easier to understand what should be added to the item, thus preventing the company from using more resources that, in the end, does not improve the performance. Therefore, the ratio enables the corporation to have practical insight into the requirement of customers hence minimizing additional unnecessary value to the goods and services. It is significant to apply the VAR methodology to facilitate the use of lean in manufacturing firms.

Reference List

Amaro, P., Alves, A.C. and Sousa, R.M. (2019) ‘Lean thinking: A transversal and global management philosophy to achieve sustainability benefits,’Lean Engineering for Global Development, pp.1-31. Web.

Cheah, C.K., Prakash, J. and Ong, K.S. (2020) ‘Overall equipment effectiveness: A review and development of an integrated improvement framework,’ International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 30(1), pp.46-71.

Oliveira, M.S., Moreira, H.D.A., Alves, A.C. and Ferreira, L.P. (2019) ‘Using lean thinking principles to reduce wastes in reconfiguration of car radio final assembly lines,’Procedia Manufacturing, 41, pp.803-810. Web.

Singh, J. and Singh, H. (2019) ‘Application of lean manufacturing in automotive manufacturing unit,’International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 11(1), pp.171-210. Web.

Singh, M. and Rathi, R. (2018) ‘A structured review of Lean Six Sigma in various industrial sectors,’International Journal of Lean Six Sigma. Web.

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