Lean manufacturing implementation is a challenge



Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Lean manufacturing implementation is a challenge article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Lean manufacturing offers many mental challenges for all levels in an organization. First of all believing there are wastes in the system is a challenge. People have a safe territory. They do not want to leave it. People are very comfortable in this territory, whether it is truly good or assumed to be good. Understanding the fact, there are wastes to be removed from the system offers a threat to the safety of this comfort zone. People therefore are not willing to come out of this, unless they see something they can't resist. For an example people will not see their high work in progress as a waste unless they have a good reason to see it as. If one can see huge lead time savings and improved flexibility as the results of removing work in progress from the system, then they will have less resistance in looking work in progress as a waste. With all these resistance, lean manufacturing is spreading throughout the world in a rapid phase. This implies the fact that there are many, many organizations understand the advantages offered by lean manufacturing. This goes to show how strong lean manufacturing principle and concept is. It has a proven ability of removing the wastes from the system.

The second phase of lean manufacturing is understanding the root causes of the wastes. Ones you understand the fact that your system has wastes, then it is the time to remove them from the system. This is necessary for a successful lean manufacturing implementation. How to do this? First of all, we have to understand the sequence in which wastes to be removed. Priority should be in removing large wastes which have biggest impact on the system and so on. Once this is done, we will have to understand the root causes for this problem. We will have to map these root causes, and systematically remove them. We can use a lean manufacturing tool like Ishikawa diagram or a cause and effect diagram in doing this.

When we know the root causes, it is the time to remove these root causes from the system. Actually this can be described as the starting point of lean manufacturing implementation process. This process needs lot of skill, leadership and support. Talking to the emotions of the people is one of the important aspects of this phase. For an example, if you have found out that machine breakdown as the prime source of problem, then you will have to work with the inefficiencies of maintenance process. This will create pressure among the people in the maintenance department if they are not trained well to understand the lean manufacturing principle. These situations must be handled with great care.

At the end of the process of removing these root causes, it is very important to make sure that you have successfully removed the waste. Removing 90% will not do. Once you make sure that you have successfully removed the identified waste, and then you can repeat the same cycle for another problem. This will go on and on. Problems will be identified continuously and will be removed continuously.




Database Of Chinese Manufacturers. - Largest database of more than 400,000 manufacturing companies in China.
Beyond Lean. - Lean Manufacturing Diagnostic Tools - Awesome Business Builder.

6377697081_6f2fb2163c_o

Jonathan and I had a great time doing this episode with Mary Jo Foley. We did the broadcast live from TechDays Vancouver in front of a live audience as well as our usual online audience. Mary Jo was a great guest and even wrote a follow up blog post based on her experiences with us up here in the Great White North with tips for how IT mangers can keep up to date on the latest happenings in technology and at Microsoft.

In this episode, we talk with Mary Jo about her views on what’s new at Microsoft and what’s important for technology managers, strategists, leaders and architects to keep their eyes on when planning for the future.

This episode is also available as a audio podcast (download as MP3):


Subscribe to the audio podcast series (so you don't miss an episode) :

Zune ButtonRSS ButtoniTunes Button

mjfFeatured Guest: Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has been a tech journalist for more than 25 years. She has worked for a variety of tech publications and Web sites, including PCWeek/eWeek, CRN and ZDNet. She is the editor of the "All About Microsoft" blog on ZDNet, and the author of the book "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" (John Wiley & Sons). She also is the co-host of the Windows Weekly show on the TWiT network and a frequent commentator and speaker on all things Microsoft-related on TV, radio, podcasts and at industry events.

About AlignIT Manager Tech Talk

The AlignIT Manager Tech Talk is a monthly live streamed video series hosted by Ruth Morton (LinkedIn) and Jonathan Rozenblit (LinkedIn). Each Tech Talk episode airs on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 12:00pm to 12:30pm ET. The show focuses on a range of topics for both infrastructure and development managers and is interactive, taking questions via a live chat and providing answers on air.

About AlignIT

The AlignIT program is dedicated to keeping IT leaders informed about what matters in business and technology. We do that through in-person events, web casts, our blog and, of course, this audio and video series. You can find more information about the Align IT program at www.alignit.ca. If you have comments, suggestions, and ideas for future topics please let us know by connecting with us via email, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

signature2 (100x78)



Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81


More Articles:


1. Communication: Management's Responsibility By Robert F. Abbott
I've just watched, again, an episode in the Back to the Floor television series, which aired on the BBC (United Kingdom) and PBS (United States). Once more, communication turned out to be a key issue, as it often does in business stories.If you're not familiar with the series, it features real-life CEOs who leave their comfortable offices (well sort of comfortable, these days) and go work on the front lines of their organizations for a week. Cameras follow the CEOs and record their interaction…
Router Bits
Symptoms of STDs in Women

2. Recruitment - Do You Know What You're Looking For? By Alan Fairweather
The time will come when you'll need to interview someone to join your business or your existing team. If you work in a large organisation then this could be someone from inside the company. You might even be the owner of a small business and about to start your first employee. Whatever the situation, you're going to have to make a decision about whether this person is suitable for the job or not.I'm aware that in some organisations a middle manager may have a new team member picked for them. T…

3. Towing on the Net By Todd Althouse
The Internet has grown significantly in the last several years. Almost all businesses today use email for everyday correspondence. It is being used in the towing industry by motorclubs and towers alike. The motorclubs dispatch calls and accept claims over the Internet. Many towers are using it to send pages to drivers, to track their truck locations, and in some cases they have even virtually eliminated the radio by using two-way pages or Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs). The next generation of to…

4. The Seven C's: Partnership Danger Signs - Competitive, Not Complementary Action By Dorene Lehavi
A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that can indicate a partnership is in trouble.Competitive, Not Complementary ActionJames Carville and Mary Matlin are public relations spokespeople for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. They are each articulate, sharp and feisty. Sparks fly when they debate in favor of their parties, so much so that they seem like arch enemies who couldn't possibly exchange a friendly word. I remember the shock reaction I had (how many …