Lean Manufacturing: Introduction

Lean manufacturing is a common name in nowadays industrial field. The reason was lean manufacturing is an added value tool which assist factory plant to decrease operation cost while increase their yield performances. Do you know how lean manufacturing play it role in manufacturing industries?

Before we get into how lean manufacturing assisting production plant, we must know that lean manufacturing is focus on increasing productivity and it quality while lowering it cost.

Increase productivity means to increase the output rate for the production plant. Higher output rate is critical objective which need to be achieved. It is to remain as a supplier toward other company which may needed a part in a bulk quantity. Take for an example, company A is supplying capacitor to company B which produces electronic devices. Company A which unable to cope with company B's output rate, this could cause company A to lose one of the their client. Also, higher productivity means more product quantities could be sold.

However, when high productivity is achieved, this would compromise the quality as the production line may rush in achieving the output rate. When quality is compromised, this would cost the company to pay for a customer's claim. High productivity increases the chance of customer's when the quality is not on required standard.

Rising customer's claim also would affect the operational cost. It does not stop only there, when operator are tend to make mistakes and slowing output rate, operational cost to produce a single product also increase. For example, a product when it is on hold at few processes, the utility charges, labor cost, and etc remain charged into the product. Also similar to mistake made by operator would lead to material wastage as it count as defected. In order to overcome this high operational cost, a tool is used to keep production line earning money instead of wasting them away.

That is how lean manufacturing kicks it way in. However, on this blog, we will be more particularly on how design is useful in lean manufacturing tool.