Work Cells
Work cell concept is another concept developed with the JIT. Work place is arranged in to a cell which is in the shape of English letter “U”. in a work cell there will be 3-12 people depending on the job task performed by this cell. There will be many cells which will complete the total product by working together. People who are in this cell are multi skilled and can perform multiple tasks according to the requirement.
Lean Manufacturing tools
Lean manufacturing is based on continuous finding and removal of the wastes. Value is defined from the customers point of view. Therefore all the tools in lean manufacturing aim to identify and remove wastes from the system continuously. There are four steps in implementing lean manufacturing. They are;
Can all the wastes be avoided?
If I am to give a more theoretical answer for the above question, the answer is yes. Yes you can avoid all the wastes in the system in theory. But in practical situations removing all the wastes might not be possible. Some might be not possible due to technical concerns; some are due to various obvious factors.
Underutilization of Human Resource - Manufacturing Wastes
As I mentioned earlier in the chapter, the eighth waste for me the largest of the all. But most people do not think this as a waste. Think about Japan. They are not a nation blessed with natural resources as other countries. But they are in the top of the world today. How they managed to do this. Simply by using their human resource to its full potential.
Read more: Underutilization of Human Resource - Manufacturing Wastes
Defected Products - Manufacturing Wastes
These are the defected product. In the case of services this is the poor quality of the service. Defects call for higher inspection and related costs. If you find a defect, you will have to remove it. The raw materials, time, effort and the money put in to this product will be wasted.
Excess Motions - Manufacturing Wastes
This waste is often overlooked. When performing a certain task people have to repeat their motions again and again. Although we do not realize, in many places people will have to move, bend or reach to collect some part or to reach a machine.
Inappropriate Processing - Manufacturing Wastes
This is the using incorrect tools for the job. This does not mean that you should use complicated or expensive tools to do the job. It is about using the correct tool for the correct job. Low cost automation is one program where Toyota found to be really effective. Developing such tools can be done with the aid of workers, because they know the job they do more than anyone.
Transportation - Manufacturing Wastes
No matter how well you do transporting. It does not add value to the end product. Therefore simply transportation is one of the wastes that have to be eliminated from the production system. This accounts for the quality defects, maintenance of a higher WIP, and additional cost of transporting the goods. Transportation often caused by poor work place organization.
Work In Progress - Manufacturing wastes
Work in progress or WIP is a direct result of over production and waiting. Every imperfection in the system will create a requirement for the WIP. Therefore WIP also known as the mirror of the wastes that system has. But WIP it self becomes a waste due to many consequences. It blocks money in the form of not finished products.
Waiting - Manufacturing wastes
In conventional batch processing, some studies show that 90% of the time goods are waiting to be processed. Some even say this is higher as 99%. Even a single minute lost in waiting can not be recovered in the process there after. Think carefully. Analyze how long the products are waiting against the time used for processing them.