Introduction

Creating a lean manufacturing environment cannot be done through a step by step implementation process that you may find in a manual or tutorial. Implementing a lean manufacturing method of production is in and of itself the most difficult part of the entire lean mentality. Those who are able to implement the majority of the lean principles are held in high regard but even the Toyota Corporation, the corporation attributed with creating most of the lean manufacturing techniques as we know them today, has not perfected every aspect of lean manufacturing implementation. Creating a lean manufacturing environment is a process that will likely have no end. For many mangers embarking on such a process is fruitless if there is no hope of ever achieving supreme success, but for those willing to challenge their former methods of thinking, the lean manufacturing environment holds far more than the simple elimination of waste. Lean manufacturing can also be the key to a happier workplace, excited employees and company loyalty that you never thought possible.

Everyone's opinions matter regardless of their position

According to Gary Convis, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, creating a lean manufacturing environment is all about allowing workers to perform up to their potential. Convis writes that "In my opinion, the key to the successful implementation of TPS (The Toyota Production System). has been the total commitment on the part of everyone to make it work. By that I mean, all levels of the organization, from team members to the senior managers."

The most common road block that American manufacturers come across in the implementation of lean principles is failure by managers, and most especially senior level managers, to have the commitment to be involved in the day-to-day implementation of the lean principles in their actual application in the workplace. Lean manufacturing is not a process of commanding and controlling. Rather it is a process of a philosophy that is applicable to every employee of the organization from the bottom to the top of the chain of command.

The workers who are at the front lines of production know more about their specific responsibilities than anyone else in the company. They should be allowed to have a say in what can be done to improve their own job and how their contribution can benefit the entire company. The result to such open communication and free-flow of ideas is that workers feel a greater sense of job satisfaction and have created jobs for themselves that are not overly demanding. Employees also develop loyalty towards the company that not only says that they are valued but shows that every member is an integral part of the team when supervisors and managers work along side the workers that they supervise in a combined effort to make the workplace better for all.

President Gary Convis reminds any and all manufacturers wanting to create a lean manufacturing environment for themselves that, "The philosophical mindset, the managerial culture and the technical tools - must be in place and in practice for TPS to truly flourish and provide the high-quality, high-productivity results it is capable of producing."

Be willing to challenge your way of thinking

Change is hard for any organization to do, but at the same time change is not something that most people are necessarily afraid of simply because with change comes the hope of better outcomes and improvement. So while manufacturers are willing to change their existing manufacturing environment in order to create a lean manufacturing environment, most of these managers do not know where or how to start. A main reason why this is the case is that implementing a lean manufacturing system involves challenging your former way of thinking.

Understanding the definition of lean manufacturing is easy enough. You want to identify both who the customer is and how they define value. By manufacturing to customer demand, driving out waste and continuously improving, companies can satisfy customers, employees and shareholders alike. It is the concept of continuous improvement that can be particularly challenging as it asks managers to begin a process of improvement that is not defined nor does it have a clear ending in sight. The tendency for traditionally trained managers to deal in absolutes with deadlines and measurable outcomes is not necessarily a thought process conducive to the lean manufacturing environment. Sure you want to have a method of measuring whether or not what you are doing is yielding the kind of results that you want, but you must also be opened to the reality that a lean environment lends itself to constant change and a long-term system focused in immediate gains.

An environment where customers drive production

Economically it only makes sense to produce a volume of product that matches the demand for that product. To make more than what the customer is willing to buy is considered a waste of time, materials, and resources. So in the lean manufacturing environment there have been several methods introduced that are meant to enable a company to better listen to what their customers are saying and translate those things into the production line. Customer driven applications to a lean manufacturing environment include Kanban control methods, Just-In-Time implementation and pull production processes.

Alcatel NIBU vice president of Information Services Saeed Hosseiniyar, sums up what the popular methods for determining production demands are and what methods are used under lean manufacturing when he states that, "We wanted to gain a complete, real-time view of the virtual supply chain and enable demand-sensitive planning. Formerly, we determined inventory levels via demand forecasts and performed final product assembly, configuration, and shipment in our own facility. Now we have a demand-pull environment in which customer orders drive the production process."

Change your mind about inventory levels and whether or not mass production is a good idea

Along with the notion that your lean manufacturing environment should be one where customers drive production is the idea that you will need to change your mind about inventory levels and whether or not mass production is a good idea. In the back of our minds many of us see mass production as a process that maximizes the results yielded by a single process thus making each part of that process less expensive to produce. This may be true for production, but a product can only do good for the company when it is sold and making products beyond what will be purchased by the consumer is waste. The point is to look at the bigger picture. In a lean manufacturing environment you must find the balance between the cost of reduction of inventory and costs in production variations due to technical or other reasons. To some, lean is all about eliminating inventory, this is not necessarily what should be done. Instead what should be done is whatever is necessary in order to get the optimal outcome from your production and inventory process.

Identifying waste in its many forms

One of the main stumbling blocks to a successful lean manufacturing environment is understanding the concept of waste. It is easy to hear that you must eliminate waste and envision the removal of physical waste or some other physical objects that can be removed. In reality lean manufacturing explains that the term waste actually refers not to the physical material but rather the relationship of the resource to the end customer. In other words, if the customer won't pay for it because they see no value in it, it is waste.

Simon Pollard, vice president of the industrial sector for Oracle in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa sums this concept of waste up nicely when he says, "Lean is really about gaining a critical understanding of what the customer values-and then tailoring everything in the process to produce, deliver, and service what that customer wants. Without this understanding, you may become very efficient at creating things that are unwanted or unnecessary."

Make sure that your lean manufacturing environment is sustainable

The lean manufacturing environment's emphasis on eliminating waste while encouraging variability and flexibility is easy enough to understand yet training in methods and techniques to use the concepts are many time difficult to establish on individual company levels. Starting the lean implementation process is one thing, sustaining a lean manufacturing culture over time is quite another.

A lean manufacturing enterprise fosters a company culture in which all employees continually improve their skill levels and production processes. But there may come a point when innovation simply reaches its limit and a need for new inspiration is needed. In cases such as these it is the responsibility of senior management to take ownership of the lean thinking process and to drive that lean thinking initiative from the management sector all the way to every member of the shop floor. You must work through your team leaders (the leaders on your front lines of production) to ensure that the lean systems and processes that you have worked so diligently to implement become sustainable.