Lean Manufacturing - TPS

This month I've been talking about ways to improve production and lower costs using techniques such as 5S, Kaizen and Kanban. These were all originally part of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which has since become known as "lean manufacturing".

Lean Manufacturing can be defined as: "A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection." (NIST)

The term "lean manufacturing" has been adopted because TPS methods use less human effort, they lower inventories, use less capital investment, require less floor space, use fewer materials, and fewer manhours are used produce the same or greater amount of product.

Some of the benefits of Lean Manufacturing include:
<> Greater Flexibility
<> Reduced Inventory
<> Reduced Work-in-Process
<> Quicker Identification of Problems
<> Increased Production Capacity
<> Reduced Lead Times
<> Better Quality
<> Improved Safety
<> Higher Profits

The way to see these benefits is through a process of continual improvement. Implementing lean manufacturing is not a one-time event--it continues into the future forever. Tomorrow I'll introduce Kaizen, which is a system of continual improvement.