Lean is defined as a methodology which maximises value for the customer by eliminating waste from a company’s activities. Below, we will identify the five Lean principles to provide a path for the implementation of Lean Thinking and Continuous Improvement within an organisation. These are stated as: Value must always be defined from the end customer’s perspective.
The customer pays for the product or service, so Lean Thinking considers the following questions to define value: Would the customer pay for the activity? To help gain a clearer definition of the difference between Value and Waste, Lean defines waste under the following categories: VALUE STREAMThe value stream is defined as all the tasks completed to produce a product or provide a service. Some of these activities will add value for the customer some will not. The purpose of the value stream analysis is to identify the non-value adding activity and reduce or eliminate these activities. This analysis involves documenting the current value stream of the organisation, understanding all the tasks required both for the physical product flow and also the flow of information between customers and suppliers. Once the essential elements of the value stream have been clearly defined, they are analysed to separate those which add value from those that do not. The activities which do not add value are targeted for streamlining or elimination, serving as the springboard for continuous improvement. By focusing on the areas of waste in your company, you can streamline your business and fulfil your potential. VALUE STREAM MAPPINGValue Stream Mapping is a visual tool used to illustrate how a process flow and information flow transform a product as it moves through the value stream. Its purpose is to identify the sources of waste and drive action plans to eliminate them. The Value Stream Map uses a standard ‘geography’ or layout. The process steps from supplier to final customer along with the associated timeline are illustrated along the bottom of the diagram, running from left to right. The flow of information from the customer back to the supplier is illustrated along the top of the chart, running from right to left. The visual aid of value stream mapping can be a fantastic tool for companies not to lose sight of their goals. The VSM
should show both the process and information flow, tracking the material’s progress from the raw material supplier to the end customer. It should show how the information flow is used to fulfil the customer’s requirements. In service terms, a VSM typically details the process steps and the flow of a report or file through these steps. There are three Value Stream Map variants:
FLOWFlow describes a situation where each individual piece of work keeps moving i.e. being continuously worked on with no queues, waiting or rework. It is one of the concepts passed directly from Henry Ford to Toyota. Ford recognized that ideally, production should flow continuously all the way from raw material to the customer without interruption. Lean aims to establish the environment where items are produced and moved from one processing step to the next, one piece at a time. This is referred to as “single-piece-flow” or “one-piece-flow”. Note that the unit of a “piece of work” can refer equally to information an (electronic file, a report or a document) as to a physical product. Continuous flow is in direct contrast to batch processing where an operation produces more than one item at a time (a batch), in which the part in the batch must wait in a queue to be processed. There are many reasons why batch production is used:
There is a tendency to view batch production as an efficient way of making products, e.g. “if I’m doing one I may as well do twenty”.
If there are quality issues, many products may be affected before the problem is detected. The later the piece gets in a process, the more any problems will cost to rectify. PULLPull means providing only what the customer wants, when he wants it. The Customer can be within the organisation (internal) or the end-customer (external). Pull is producing only what has been consumed by downstream activities instead of producing to a forecast, regardless of customer demand. “Downstream” refers to later process steps; “upstream” refers to earlier process steps. The core idea is to get one process to make only what the next process needs, only when it needs it. Therefore, processes must be linked to each other – from the final customer back to the raw material supplier – in a smooth flow without delays that generates the shortest lead time, highest quality, and lowest cost. Flow when you can; Pull when you must In summary:
For example, the application of Pull includes the implementation of Kanban, defined as a material management and replenishment system which depends on visual controls to signal the production of a part or completion of a task. The essence of the Kanban system is that the downstream process is the customer and must pull from the upstream process, giving it the signal to produce more parts, controlling overproduction and inventory in the production area. PERFECTIONThe final Lean Principle dictates that continuous improvement is a never-ending journey. It does not stop once a specific improvement or project has been completed. Most of the activity completed by an organisation is waste! What are the 5 lean principles?According to Womack and Jones, there are five key lean principles: value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection.
What are the 4 principles of lean?Let me explain each of them for you.. Principle 1: Value. One of the first foregone conclusions whenever someone talks about Lean in a company is who defines value. ... . Principle 2 : Value Chain or Value Stream. ... . Principle 2 : Flow. ... . Principle 3 : Pull. ... . Principle 4 : Perfection.. What are the 5 principles of lean Six Sigma?5 Lean Six Sigma Principles. Work for the customer. The primary goal of any change you want to implement should be to deliver maximum benefit to the customer. ... . Find your problem and focus on it. ... . Remove variation and bottlenecks. ... . Communicate clearly and train team members. ... . Be flexible and responsive.. What are the three basic principles of lean systems?Lean Basics
The Lean approach to business processes, originally derived from the enormously influential Toyota production system (TPS) , is based on three fundamental principles: delivering value as defined by the customer, eliminating waste, and continuous improvement.
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