What is Lean manufacturing and how do you apply it?

Lean manufacturing as the core of quality management

In the jungle of standards, certifications and paperwork you could almost forget what it is really about. Quality management was once created to ensure that quality improves. From the customer's perspective, it means that the customer determines whether the delivered quality is good enough and it is the employees of the company who must realize this quality together. That sounds simple in itself, but in practice it turns out to be difficult to realize. For example, some organizations fail because they want to record far too much in rules and systems. These are then poorly maintained.

The biggest challenge is still creating broad involvement and support. Because only when all employees of an organization are continuously involved in mapping and implementing possible improvements in the production process, can a company maximize the value of its product and/or service for the customer. Lean helps to achieve this.

The customer doesn't want to pay for that!

Scania Netherlands – Read the whole story

What does Lean manufacturing mean?

If you look for the meaning of Lean manufacturing, you will find descriptions such as ‘philosophy’, ‘business strategy’ and ‘systematic approach’, in which everything and everyone in an organization is busy creating value for the customer in all the processes that are required for this. Process management, that is. Toyota was the first company to apply Lean. Toyota's founder, Taiichi Ohno, not entirely coincidentally laid the foundation for Lean manufacturing in the 1950s. “Costs exist to be reduced” was his starting point.

Lean manufacturing is not about changing processes, but about improving them. A seemingly small difference with a major impact on the willingness of people to contribute to this themselves. By working (according to) Lean principles, you delegate the responsibility for possible improvements to those employees who actually contribute to specific processes, and you also give them the necessary mandate to be able to realize improvements. This way, you create a corporate culture in which everyone is always looking for improvements that increase value for the customer and prevent unnecessary waste.

Lean manufacturing works on the basis of five Lean principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection. In addition, Lean focuses on combating a number of wastes.

The 8 types of waste within Lean

The waste that Lean manufacturing attempts to prevent occurs in different phases of the production process.

1. Overproduction: producing more than needed, resulting in excess inventory
2. Waiting: ime loss due to idle resources
3. Transportation: unnecessary movement of products or materials
4. Extra processing: extra steps that do not add value
5. Inventory: excess products that are not processed
6. Motion: unnecessary movement of people
7. Defects: products that do not meet quality standards and must be reworked
8. Underutilized talent: not using the skills and abilities of employees effectively

Can you use Lean principles anytime and anywhere?

Lean manufacturing principles can be applied in all companies and market segments where products and services are delivered to the customer. In fact, everywhere. From transport and logistics to catering and business services. As soon as there is a need for a structured approach to prevent waste during the production process, you can use Lean manufacturing. You can also use Lean when you want to deliver a high-quality product or service to the customer.

This only leaves business processes and process steps that the customer is willing to pay for or wait for. All other activities are waste and therefore unnecessary. The difference in the way Lean is developed per organization or sector is in the implementation. For example, consider the following questions:

• What processes take place within a company?
• What is the scale of those processes?
• How does the company communicate with each other?

Lean can also be applied in healthcare. It is never finished, it keeps going. We had a standard, but a standard is actually a starting point for improvement.

Corina van Gelderen – program manager Steeds Beter at Icare

This is how Lean manufacturing contributes to the impact of quality management

Lean manufacturing is intended to improve the quality and efficiency of a company. Avoid using Lean to save costs and manpower, because in practice this is almost always counterproductive. When you focus on (improving) quality, the costs often automatically decrease. Motivated and involved staff are also much more productive than employees who rush through their work on autopilot.

Lean manufacturing:

• contributes to customer satisfaction
• minimizes the consumption of resources, time and energy
• optimizes the use of knowledge and expertise present in the organization
• improves processes and is therefore also valuable in the context of ISO certifications
• increases employee involvement and motivation
• prevents unnecessary activities and waste
• ensures broader support for your quality management system

Getting started with Lean

Do you want to start applying Lean manufacturing principles within the quality management of your organization?

Then, start experimenting small. Lean is not so much about applying a method as it is about developing the right skills, which is best done in small steps.