Lean manufacturing is the process of incorporating the lean principles into an organization. First formulated by Womack and Jones in their publication of 1996, the five principles aimed to eliminate waste in processes and procedures, maximizing value they provided to customers and minimizing risks. An organization that has adopted lean manufacturing understands customer value and concentrates its primary processes to increase it continuously. The central goal, therefore, is to generate the ideal customer value to the clients through well-established value creation process that minimizes waste. The principles of lean manufacturing are used in international companies, such as Bosch, Nike, and Intel. The present outline writing assistance paper describes the lean manufacturing, its implementation, main advantages and issues.
There are five central principles of lean thinking that are suitable for the manufacturing and service industries. The first principle states that the company should identify its customers and specify the value. The main thing to understand about the first principle is that even an insignificant fraction of the total effort made and time spent by a company can add value to the end customer. According to the lean philosophy, the most important aspect of any product is the value that it delivers to the customers. Thus, a clear definition of the value of a specific product or service from the perspective of the customer will help to remove all the non-value activities. Examples of these activities are unnecessary complexity, waiting, excessive controls, and defects.
The second lean principle includes identification and mapping of the value stream. According to this principle, the value is created by means of a value stream, which is a process initiated by the customers and aimed to deliver the necessary quality of value in the shortest deadline. Given that the company has identified what the customers need in the previous step, it is logical to decide how to deliver the desired product or service to them. The third lean principle involves the creation of the flow by eliminating waste. This implies that the activities should follow each other with the fewest interruptions, which slow down the process. Usually, when an organization maps the value process for the first time, it discovers that only five or ten percent of the activities actually add customer value.
The fourth principle of lean philosophy explains that the companies should respond to customers pull. In other words, the customers are able to receive the necessary level of value on demand, and the organization understands and responds by creating the corresponding process. Finally, the fifth principle of lean states that organizations should pursue perfection in their activities. However, this does not mean they should introduce more quality controls that would manage the process of creating products and services and provide significant delays. On the other hand, it states that the creation of flow and pull should start with a radical reorganization that would separate process stages and continue with considerable gains as the stages connect together.
The process used to implement lean manufacturing includes five stages. The first stage is the preparation period, which involves planning and focusing on data associated with the implementation. The second part of the lean introduction plan focuses on the organizational human resources as the source of energy and enthusiasm about the initiative. The third stage of lean implementation is the provision of the employees with the freedom they require to make positive changes. The fourth stage is a change in the company's approach in terms of continuous improvement and the philosophy of working. The success will be achieved if the employees do not repeat the mistakes and share their experience with other colleagues, thus allowing the flow of information. The latter will contribute to training, which is the last stage of the lean introducing process.
To illustrate the advantages of the strategy, the benefits brought by lean for Nike, Bosch, and Intel will be described. First, in terms of qualitative results, all three companies have improved their supply chain, performance management, capacity-building, and eliminated many waste processes. On the other hand, in terms of quantitative benefits, the companies reported to have increased the production volumes, eliminated duplication in processes, introduced the process of standardization, and tested management. The list of these benefits proves that lean manufacturing clearly contributed to the success of Nike, Intel, and Bosch and their becoming the leaders in the respective business areas.
Lean manufacturing is known to increase the efficiency and productivity of manufacturing organizations, and recently it is widely adopted in companies around the world. There are five central lean principles that are aimed to improve organizational operations and increase customer satisfaction. The lean implementation involves specific stages, which should be adjusted to meet the needs of different companies. By identifying the main concerns associated with lean during the introduction and implementation, the companies will be able to overcome barriers and enjoy benefits provided by the strategy.