Basics of lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a quality control program for your manufacturing plant that focuses on cost reduction in your manufacturing plant. Lean manufacturing also focuses on any increases in turnover that your manufacturing company is dealing with. When it comes to dealing with the increases in turnover what lean manufacturing does is eliminate any activities that are causing the increase in turnover time and by eliminating any activities that are not needed in your manufacturing process. What lean manufacturing is doing is eliminating and reducing any waste that is associated with your manufacturing processes, whether it is wasted time or wasted materials.

One of the most important tools that is used in lean manufacturing is visual controls because visual controls can be applied anywhere in the workplace, including the sales office and the shop floor. Visual controls are tools that you can use to look at the manufacturing plant to see what is going on. When looking at what is going on you are going to want to see what things might need to be improved or what things are broken.

Using visual controls will allow you to spot problems before they occur, which means you can head off the bigger problems sooner rather than later. Using visual controls in lean manufacturing is important because it allows you to manage any variances in your manufacturing processes, but it also allows you to control the outcome of your manufactured product. Visual controls work the best because they allow you to respond faster to any potential problems that might arise when compared with other lean manufacturing tools.

Lean manufacturing a trend that has come back

In today's tighter economy certain trends that were once put by the wayside have come to back to the forefront of manufacturing. One of these trends is lean manufacturing. In a manufacturing environment that must know produce under tightening costs lean manufacturing is once again moving to the top of many companies production methods.

Lean manufacturing or lean production, which is often known simply as "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus it becomes a target for elimination. The idea is that working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for.

Basically, Lean is centered on creating more value with much less work. Lean manufacturing is considered to be a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) (the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s. The process is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes in order to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, (from a small company to the world's largest automaker) has focused worldwide attention on how it has achieved this.

LM

LM, or Lean Manufacturing, is a business management technique popular in the world of manufacturing that is used to improve overall efficiency and value by eliminating waste in all of its forms. The elimination of waste will naturally save a business money. But the use of Lean Manufacturing is designed to also improve quality and production time. The customer benefits from the lean manufacturing system by receiving the cost savings that the manufacturer can pass on to the consumer and also by receiving a product that is free from defect or fault, as is the objective of a waste free system.

Lean Manufacturing is all about tackling the waste problem from a company-wide approach. Lean Manufacturing techniques do not pertain only to the production floor but also to common business practices like management techniques. The objective of the manufacturing company is to create what is called a "value stream." A value stream refers to the continuous flow of products and materials that is not burdened by the starts, stops and delays of dealing with waste. Remember that waste can include not only material overflow but also any activity, step, or process that does not ultimately end in providing the customer with value.

Lean manufacturing during a recession

The manufacturing industry has been hit hard by the current economic recession. Layoffs, drops in sales, and plant closings seem to be more and more common.

However, one process improvement that is very beneficial during a recession is lean manufacturing.

Waste reduction

There are some serious problems that beset every business, and waste is one of the most problematic. A company that wastes is a company that could be doing much better easily. Waste occurs in many forms. Waste is overproduction, lost time, lost resources, or poor use of raw materials. There are literally thousands of forms that waste can take. Many companies are unaware of areas in their business that are wasting valuable time or resources. Companies are constantly looking for ways to increase their sales, but they don't think about cutting waste and streamlining their process. Streamlining is a process through which a company eliminates waste in its production process. This can occur in just about any industry-heavy industry or information technology businesses can streamline because they can all undergo waste elimination. The benefits of waste elimination cannot be underestimated. Cutting waste means increasing total operating income, which can translate into expanded production. Streamlined businesses are also able to more accurately deliver their products. Streamlining helps to avoid the common and serious problem of over production that plagues so many businesses.

Value added activities

One of the most important parts of switching to lean manufacturing is to cut waste from the manufacturing and production processes. Most businesses cannot figure out how they are going to cut any sort of waste but there are always things that can be done to make the system much more efficient. The primary goal of lean manufacturing is to create a product which creates as much value as possible at the lowest cost. Value is anything that a customer is willing to pay for. All processes in lean manufacturing are supposed to either cost as much as the value they produce or should create more value than they cost. Any process that actually costs more than the value it produces should be eliminated. However, lean manufacturing is not simply about cutting waste. It is about producing as much valuable as possible at low cost. If you want to create more value you need to look for what are commonly known as value added activities.

The 8 basics of lean manufacturing

If you want to implement lean manufacturing you will need to find the most important principles of the lean system. Described bellow are 8 of the most important basic principles of lean manufacturing:

Production planning and control solutions

Planning and control are centeral elements of the lean manufacturing process. Visual control of the production line is particularly important in eliminating waste and inefficiency. Waste, in lean manufacturing, is defined as anything that does not add to the actual value of the product. The customer is not paying for the process of manufacturing, so any waste that goes in to the production of a production or of a service is paid for by you, the manufacturer or the provider of the service. Lean manufacturing improves your bottom line, ultimately; lean manufacturing is a way to improve your flow of production by reducing variances in the flow of production. Lean manufacturing also continually improves your production and your production processes, and also improves the experiences of your employees by reducing the waste of their time and their own efforts.

Understanding myths about lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing entails coming up with a management program, the purpose of which is to cut waste as a measure to reduce costs in your business. So, for example, if you are involved in the manufacturing industry, one place where you could cut costs by cutting waste is by reducing the amount of energy and raw materials consumed in the production process. You could also eliminate the total amount of time required by eliminating any waste in the process of production. One of the key things to remember about lean manufacturing is that it is intended to eliminate waste or anything that does not add to the value of your customer's item. Whether or not something adds to the value of your product is determined by your customers, rather than by you. Here's an example of something a customer would consider to be waste: the cost of extra packaging. Your customers don't want to pay for it, and so you can reduce costs by eliminating it, as much as you can. Lean manufacturing is not just beneficial to your customers, however. If you implement a lean manufacturing program in your company, it can aid you in becoming more competitive by freeing up more time, energy, and money for expansion. Studies have been done that show that as many as forty percent of major businesses, manufacturing plants and factories are using lean manufacturing. So lean manufacturing sounds pretty great, doesn't it? However, there have been some myths circulating about lean manufacturing that you should learn about. Discussed below are some of the most popular ones.

Lean manufacturing during economic downturns

In times like these it is critical that businesses find ways to eliminate waste so that they can save money. In the present economic downturn companies are doing just about anything they can to become more efficient. As thousands of jobs are lost companies want to find ways to keep people in the work force. A technique used by many companies can be used in times of economic distress. The method is known as lean manufacturing and it has primarily been atrributed to Toyota. The Toyota company went from being a basically insignificant Japanese care manufacturer to the world's leading automobile producer and seller. Using particular lean manufacturing techniques they were able to create a production method that was remarkable efficient and cost effective. In a time when every business needs to improve efficiency, lean manufacturing is a critcal tool that can be used to ensure stability or continuing operation of a business. If you find that your manufacturing business is struggling in the midst of the econmic downturn you should consider implementing lean manufacturing techniques. However, even if your business is doing just fine, you might want to consider investigating lean manufacturing. A business always has room for improvement, and lean manufacturing is one of those techniques that can help to produce real changes quickly.

Evaluating disruption of lean deployment process

In recent times we have seen some amazing improvement in the organization of manufacturing in the world. Mostly based on innovations by the Toyota company, manufacturing has grown in efficiency. Several methods, such as lean manufacturing, Kaizen, and lean deployment. These innovations focus on reducing the total amount of waste in a production system. They target areas that need to be improved and made much more efficient. They also identify serious problems with the flow of production.

Why it is important to teach lean manufacturing principles to your employees

Lean manufacturing is an initiative that focuses on cost reduction and increases in turnover by constantly and methodically eliminating activities that do not add value to the manufacturing process. Basically what lean manufacturing does is help companies to achieve targeted productivity, as well as other things, by introducing tools and techniques that are easy to apply and maintain. What these tools and techniques are doing is reducing and eliminating waste, things that are not needed in the manufacturing process.

Converting to a lean process

Lean manufacturing is used to help companies eliminate waste. Several manufacturing companies have implemented lean manufacturing or another process known as Six Sigma. The best option for any company is to use lean manufacturing in conjunction with Six Sigma. While lean manufacturing will help you eliminate wastes, Six Sigma will help you improve your current processes. If you would like to convert to a lean process, here are some ways to get started.

Get everyone on board. While lean manufacturing may seem like a management decision, it is actually a company-wide decision. Everyone needs to sit down and discuss the benefits and disadvantages of implementing lean manufacturing. Create a checklist of all the employee comments and review it with everyone. Come up with some ideas as to how the employees think they could change the current production and make it faster and more reliable. Always keep in mind that lean manufacturing is a company-wide change and it will impact everyone at the organization, not just the CEOs.

Consulting services for lean and six sigma

Six sigma focuses on improving quality and efficiency within an organization. Lean manufacturing focuses on creating an environment with good management and employee morale. Manufacturing companies often implement six sigma and lean manufacturing to reduce wastes, save money, increase production, and boost employee morale. In order to become successful with lean manufacturing and six sigma, you need to find the right consulting service.

A good consulting service will be able to help your company focus on the reduction of waste and improvement of the company. Successful implementation will expose the quality problems that exist within the company and you will identify how to reduce the waste the problems are causing.

Why choose Lean manufacturing

The second law of thermo-dynamics tells us that the entropy of a system will tend to increase over time. Also, it is only natural for a system to go from an orderly state to a more disorderly state. In manufacturing, or in other business processes, it is natural for inefficiencies and waste to make their way into the processes. Just as sediment builds up in your household drain pipes, left to themselves, a similar kind of sediment will build up in the manufacturing plant.

When waste and inefficiencies creep in over time to the manufacturing process, these can really add up to big losses over time. Toyota recognized that they could save a lot of money by reducing waste and came up with a methodology known as Lean manufacturing.

Using Lean in Build to Order

Using lean in build to order is a great way to make the system efficient. Even though the products you are manufacturing have to be built to certain specifications, it does not mean that you can't have a smooth system to do so. What you must understand is the relationship between lean production and built to order. To understand this, we must first define the terms:

Lean Production: Lean production is basically a system that uses minimal amounts of resources to produce a high volume of high-quality goods with some variety. Or in other words, a system that takes the concept of assembly line production, but utilizes it for systems that need variety.

Build to Order: This is pretty self explanatory, as it is simply that a customer can specify the components and features they want included. In most cases however, these features are the same for any order that requests them. For example, Dell computers has a system where you can call in and say what you want included with your computer, whether it is a DVD player, burner, lots of ram, etc. You aren't actually customizing the DVD burner you are having put in, you are just customizing what goes into YOUR computer. So, your computer is built with standard parts, but it is built based on what you order. So it is built to order! Build to order is sometimes called mass customization.

Visual control as a key component of production improvement

Visual control is a key component of lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a way of approaching manufacturing that strives to eliminate all waste, from materials that are not used to time that is spent doing unnecessary tasks. Waste, in lean manufacturing, is defined as anything that does not add to the actual value of the product. The customer is not paying for the process of manufacturing, so any waste that goes in to the production of a production or of a service is paid for by you, the manufacturer or the provider of the service. Lean manufacturing improves your bottom line, ultimately; lean manufacturing is a way to improve your flow of production by reducing variances in the flow of production. Lean manufacturing also continually improves your production and your production processes, and also improves the experiences of your employees by reducing the waste of their time and their own efforts.

How to improve productivity and efficiency in your manufacturing

This article will describe the basics of lean manufacturing and the possible implications for your company or business.

How to improve process flow through leveling

Improving flow through production leveling is one component of lean manufacturing, which is an approach to manufacturing that strives to improve productivity and quality by cutting down on waste in all different aspects of the manufacturing process. Lean manufacturing first surfaced in Japan as a process management philosophy from Toyota Production System, also known as TPS. It strives to improve customer value by reducing a number of different wastes. Lean manufacturing can also be used in conjunction with the six sigma approach to management and manufacturing because lean manufacturing works on cutting down on waste and six sigma works on reducing variations in the processes of manufacturing or providing services.

How to convert to a lean six sigma process

In the manufacturing industry there are many different theories and methods for running the companies. Two of those theories or methods include a process called lean manufacturing and the six sigma manufacturing methodology. Lean manufacturing and six sigma are two of the most effective manufacturing methods that are known throughout the manufacturing world. Manufacturing companies or plants can use both methods of lean manufacturing and six sigma together. Here we will discuss how to convert to a lean six sigma process.

Benefits of taking a lean manufacturing approach

There can be many benefits of taking a lean manufacturing approach. Lean manufacturing is an approach to manufacturing that aims for waste removal and implementing flow. Lean manufacturing is a focus on the elimination of the seven wastes in manufacturing. These seven wastes include defects, overproduction, transportation, waiting, inventory, motion, and over processing. When lean manufacturing is implemented these seven wastes can be eliminated according to the philosophy. It may be easy to see the benefits of taking a lean manufacturing approach but here we will go over some of those benefits.

Choosing between six sigma and lean manufacturing

When you are running a manufacturing company there is a lot of things that you have to take into consideration. One of the most important things that you have to take into consideration is your output. If your output isn't what it should be you will not be making as much money. Another thing that you want to be careful about is your waste. If your manufacturing company has a lot of scrap that is just wasted money that you can be using some where else. There are a couple of different options out there that can help your company with both it's output and it scrap along with less defects. Most manufacturing companies either use six sigma or lean manufacturing. If you have heard of both of them but don't know which one is right for your manufacturing company. Here is some information to help you when choosing between six sigma and lean manufacturing.

The first thing is to know the difference between six sigma and lean manufacturing. Six sigma is where you have six steps that help you to determine what your problem is in different manufacturing processes and getting to the root of the problem so you can find out how to solve the problem. Lean manufacturing is when you find different ways to manufacture things to cut down on your cost by cutting down on your waste.

What you need to know about implementing lean manufacturing

This article will describe the basics of lean manufacturing and the possible implications for your company or business.

Lean manufacturing entails coming up with a management program in order to cut waste as a measure to reduce costs in your business. So, for example, if you are involved in the manufacturing industry, one place where you could cut costs by cutting waste is by reducing the amount of time between when a customer places and order and when that order is shipped by eliminating any waste in the process of production.

One of the key things to remember about lean manufacturing is that it is intended to eliminate waste or anything that does not add to the value of your product. Whether or not something adds to the value of your product is determined by your customers, rather than by you. Here's an example of something a customer would consider to be waste: equipment downtime. Your customers don't want to pay for it, and so you can reduce costs by eliminating it, as much as you can. Lean manufacturing is not just beneficial to your customers, however. If you implement a lean manufacturing program in your business, it can aid you in becoming more competitive by helping you streamline your manufacturing processes. Industry Week has done a survey of 967 manufacturing plants, and discovered that 35.7% of those manufacturing plants and factories are using lean manufacturing. Some of these manufacturing plants are Boeing, John Deere, and Caterpillar. In addition to implementing lean manufacturing in their own companies, these three companies also offer training opportunities to their suppliers so that they can become more efficient and more cost-effective.

What production leveling has to do with lean manufacturing

Improving flow through production leveling is one component of lean manufacturing, which is an approach to manufacturing that strives to improve productivity and quality by cutting down on waste in all different aspects of the manufacturing process. Lean manufacturing first surfaced in Japan as a process management philosophy from Toyota Production System, also known as TPS. It strives to improve customer value by reducing a number of different wastes. Lean manufacturing can also be used in conjunction with the six sigma approach to management and manufacturing because lean manufacturing works on cutting down on waste and six sigma works on reducing variations in the processes of manufacturing or providing services.

One way that lean manufacturing works to reduce waste, and even eliminate waste if possible from manufacturing processes and service processes is by improving the flow of work through the manufacturing system, instead of just focusing on eliminating waste. There are several different approaches to improving the flow of products by leveling production by means of what are called Kanban and the Heijunka box.

How to use kaizen to improve manufacturing

Kaizen principles are a comprehensive way of approaching the continual improvement of your manufacturing processes. Kaizen is the Japanese term for "change for the better" or it can be translated as "improvement". Kaizen is often translated into English as "continual improvement." Kaizen works to improve quality in the workplace, particularly in manufacturing companies, though it has also been applied to service providing companies and other types of companies. Kaizen is most often used in reference to Toyota Production System and is the combination of a number of different systems that are geared towards quality control.

What the overall purpose of Kaizen is is to eliminate waste. Joshua Isaac Walters defines wastes as "activities that add cost but do not add value." Very little of the process that goes into producing a product is paid for by the customer; instead, you as the manufacturer have to pay for all of this waste. Reducing waste is ultimately an effort to improve your bottom line, so there is nothing that you can lose by reducing waste. Implementing Kaizen is a way to improve your own financial standing. Kaizen also works to standardize the production process through doing things like leveling off the production flow so that there aren't variations in the production process, and also by doing things like switching from push production to pull production.

How to implement lean manufacturing in order to reduce your business' waste

Lean manufacturing is a way of improving manufacturing processes and making them more efficient and worthwhile and productive. The way that lean manufacturing makes manufacturing processes more productive is by reducing the seven wastes. The seven wastes are defined as the following:

The seven deadly wastes of lean manufacturing
1. Overproduction, or more production than there is actually demand.

2. Transportation, or the moving of products that is not really needed to actually perform the processing.

3. Waiting, or waiting around for the next step in production.

4. Inventory, which consists of either all components, the work in progress, and the finished product not being processed.

5. Motion, which consists of both or either people moving or walking or equipment moving more than they actually have to in order to the processing to be performed.

6. Over Processing, which results from poor product design or poor tool design, leading to unnecessary activity to compensate.

7. Defects, which refers to the effort that is involved in looking for, inspecting, and then fixing defects in processes and products.

Visual control in lean manufacturing

Visual control is a key component of lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a way of approaching manufacturing that strives to eliminate all waste, from materials that are not used to time that is spent doing unnecessary tasks. Waste, in lean manufacturing, is defined as anything that does not add to the actual value of the product. The customer is not paying for the process of manufacturing, so any waste that goes in to the production of a production or of a service is paid for by you, the manufacturer or the provider of the service. Lean manufacturing improves your bottom line, ultimately; lean manufacturing is a way to improve your flow of production by reducing variances in the flow of production. Lean manufacturing also continually improves your production and your production processes, and also improves the experiences of your employees by reducing the waste of their time and their own efforts.

Visual control is a key component to this improvement of production through lean manufacturing. Visual control is a process that visually compares products as they move through the production process to other products to ensure that they are all the same. Visual control also works to ensure that the production processes are the same, and that there are not variances in production processes or production products. Visual controls works to eliminate variances in production processes, and strives to reduce variances in the flow of production. By doing so, visual control works to eliminate waste. By visually controlling aspects of the production process rather than testing each product for possible defects, quality is improved and less time is wasted by employees.

Reducing the seven wastes lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a way of improving manufacturing processes and making them more efficient and worthwhile and productive. The way that lean manufacturing makes manufacturing processes more productive is by reducing the seven wastes. The seven wastes are defined as the following:

The seven deadly wastes of lean manufacturing
1. Overproduction, or more production than there is actually demand.
2. Transportation, or the moving of products that is not really needed to actually perform the processing.
3. Waiting, or waiting around for the next step in production.
4. Inventory, which consists of either all components, the work in progress, and the finished product not being processed.
5. Motion, which consists of both or either people moving or walking or equipment moving more than they actually have to in order to the processing to be performed.
6. Over Processing, which results from poor product design or poor tool design, leading to unnecessary activity to compensate.
7. Defects, which refers to the effort that is involved in looking for, inspecting, and then fixing defects in processes and products.

Kaizen principles for manufacturing

Kaizen principles are a comprehensive way of approaching the continual improvement of your manufacturing processes. Kaizen is the Japanese term for "change for the better" or it can be translated as "improvement". Kaizen is often translated into English as "continual improvement." Kaizen works to improve quality in the workplace, particularly in manufacturing companies, though it has also been applied to service providing companies and other types of companies. Kaizen is most often used in reference to Toyota Production System and is the combination of a number of different systems that are geared towards quality control.

What the overall purpose of Kaizen is is to eliminate waste. Joshua Isaac Walters defines wastes as "activities that add cost but do not add value." Very little of the process that goes into producing a product is paid for by the customer; instead, you as the manufacturer have to pay for all of this waste. Reducing waste is ultimately an effort to improve your bottom line, so there is nothing that you can lose by reducing waste. Implementing Kaizen is a way to improve your own financial standing. Kaizen also works to standardize the production process through doing things like leveling off the production flow so that there aren't variations in the production process, and also by doing things like switching from push production to pull production.

Using lean manufacturing in a total quality management system

The first example is in your products you are manufacturing. If you are using lean manufacturing it means that you are not only using less many power to make a certain product but you are also using less money and have less waste. But you also have to remember you don't want your customer satisfaction to go down because you start using cheaper materials to save money on your products. A great way to save money is to try to find a wholesaler that is wiling to sell you the materials you need for your products for cheaper then what you are paying. There are a couple of ways that you can go about trying to find a better price. Some wholesalers will give you a better price because they don't have the middle man that they have to pay. Other wholesalers will make you buy in bulk. The more you buy at one the cheaper it is for you to buy. You will want to make sure that you pay attention and figure out which way you will save the most money. This will not only give you more of a profit but it will also make it so that your customers stay happy.

Managing waste at your manufacturing plant

"Lean" manufacturing has long been a manufacturing technique that manufacturers strive to embody. No one wants waste in their business. Wasting resources means throwing money out of the window and subjecting your company poor press especially if your waste has any negative association with environmental protection. Managing waste at your manufacturing plant has only advantages when it can be done efficiently and as cost effectively as possible. Do not be fooled into thinking that all of your waste problems can be solved in a matter of weeks, months or even years. Many manufacturing plants spend their entire time operating striving to have less and less waste. Although it may seem like your company will never full be rid of all kinds of waste, there are small things that can be done on a daily basis to make small improvements consistently over time.

Understanding Production Flow: Extended Entry

Production flow is often call mass production, repetitive flow production, or series production. Production flow uses production lines to continually move large amount of items through the production process. Each product will have the same amount of time dedicated to it on the production line in order to keep the process moving smoothly. This also means that once one product has been produced, the next product must begin production immediately following the completed one.

Quite often production flow is used for car manufacturing where the doors, wheels, bonnets, and engines are all added to a chassis as it moves along an assembly line. Production flow is used for companies who want to produce a high volume of the same item. Henry Ford used production flow when he produced the Ford Model T car in the early 1900's.

In fact, Ford was a late developer of production flow. Production flow was first developed in Venice hundreds of years earlier. The Venice Arsenal used production lines to assemble nearly one ship a day. This made the Venice Arsenal the world's first factory. Production flow became increasingly popular when Johannes Gutenberg published the Bible on a printing press in the mid 1400's. Guns were mass produced during the American Civil War by the Springfield Armory. Also during this time, watches were mass produced as well. As you can see, production flow has been around for hundreds of years.

Production flow became increasingly popular in the American system of manufacturing because it was new, sophisticated machinery that relied on electricity, versus steam power. Production flow is one of the leading reasons for the boom in the American economy in the early 1900's.

What is Lean Manufacturing?:Extended Entry

Lean manufacturing is often referred to as lean production or just "lean". It was developed in the early 1900's as a method to reduce waste while producing goods. Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda are given credit for developing the Toyota Production System (TPS) which is known as lean manufacturing. The TPS system was developed between 1948 and 1975. Ironically the idea for lean manufacturing came to Toyoda when he was in a supermarket. He observed the simple idea of creating an automatic drink re-supplier, when a customer wants a drink he takes it and it is replaced with another.

Toyota defines waste as being three-form, muri (overburden), mura (inconsistency), and muda (eliminate waste). Muri or overburden is considered to be all the unreasonable work that management assigns upon workers and machines due to poor organization. Some examples of muri are carrying heavy weights, dangerous tasks (behavior-based safety issues), and working at a significantly faster than normal pace. Muri defines this work as pushing a person or machine to a pace beyond their normal limits. Muri is associated with the preparation or planning phase of the production process.

Mura or inconsistency focuses on the implementation and elimination of fluctuation of scheduling. This usually falls to the operations level to schedule the quality and volume of the production process. Finally, muda or waste elimination is dealt with after the process is completed. Management oversees muda and should consider how to eliminate the deeper causes of muda formed in muri and mura. Once the causes are determined, management will then use them in the next project and slowly begin eliminating all waste together.

The 5 "S" approach to Lean Manufacturing: Extended Entry

Improving quality, reducing costs, and improving safety are all key concerns for anyone who works for a manufacturing company or other organization. Many companies implement lean manufacturing in order to reduce excess wastes that occur within a company.

What is lean manufacturing?
Lean manufacturing is often referred to as lean production or just "lean". It was developed in the early 1900's as a method to reduce waste while producing goods. Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda are given credit for developing the Toyota Production System (TPS) which is known as lean manufacturing. The TPS system was developed between 1948 and 1975. Ironically the idea for lean manufacturing came to Toyoda when he was in a supermarket. He observed the simple idea of creating an automatic drink re-supplier, when a customer wants a drink he takes it and it is replaced with another.

Toyota defines waste as being three-form, muri (overburden), mura (inconsistency), and muda (eliminate waste). Muri or overburden is considered to be all the unreasonable work that management assigns upon workers and machines due to poor organization. Some examples of muri are carrying heavy weights, dangerous tasks (behavior-based safety issues), and working at a significantly faster than normal pace. Muri defines this work as pushing a person or machine to a pace beyond their normal limits. Muri is associated with the preparation or planning phase of the production process.

Lean training: Extenden Entry

The goal of lean manufacturing is to reduce or eliminate excess waste and increase overall profit and production. There are several different ways to implement lean manufacturing into your company. Depending upon the type of company you are, one of the following lean manufacturing approaches will work for you.

The Toyota Production System
Toyota defines waste as being three-form, muri (overburden), mura (inconsistency), and muda (eliminate waste). Muri or overburden is considered to be all the unreasonable work that management assigns upon workers and machines due to poor organization. Some examples of muri are carrying heavy weights, dangerous tasks (behavior-based safety issues), and working at a significantly faster than normal pace. Muri defines this work as pushing a person or machine to a pace beyond their normal limits. Muri is associated with the preparation or planning phase of the production process.

Mura or inconsistency focuses on the implementation and elimination of fluctuation of scheduling. This usually falls to the operations level to schedule the quality and volume of the production process. Finally, muda or waste elimination is dealt with after the process is completed. Management oversees muda and should consider how to eliminate the deeper causes of muda formed in muri and mura. Once the causes are determined, management will then use them in the next project and slowly begin eliminating all waste together.

Creating a Lean Manufacturing Environment

Creating a lean manufacturing environment in your workplace boils down to two things; employee motivation and good management. Several companies implement lean manufacturing, but do not take the proper steps to ensure it is successful. Lean manufacturing must be a total commitment by all parties involved in order to become successful. All the different levels of the organization need to put forth their best efforts on a day-to-day basis and work together toward achieving improved performance and a reduction in waste.

Several companies choose to implement the Toyota Production System. The Toyota Production System is a "customer-first" mentality. Within the Toyota Production System, each department is completely dependant upon the customer and making sure the customer is satisfied. In order to implement, you must first understand some of the basic concepts of lean manufacturing.

Lean manufacturing is focused on the elimination or reduction of waste and the improvement of the overall performance of a company. The philosophy behind lean manufacturing is often given credit to Toyota for their development of the Toyota Production System. Toyota focuses on reducing wastes in order to improve the overall customer satisfaction level. The Toyota Production System believes there are 7 wastes in the workplace that can be reduced or eliminated in order to improve the overall performance of a company.

There are several different approaches to lean manufacturing including 5S, Kanban, visual control, and production flow. Toyota defines waste as being three-form, muri (overburden), mura (inconsistency), and muda (eliminate waste). Muri or overburden is considered to be all the unreasonable work that management assigns upon workers and machines due to poor organization. Some examples of muri are carrying heavy weights, dangerous tasks (behavior-based safety issues), and working at a significantly faster than normal pace. Muri defines this work as pushing a person or machine to a pace beyond their normal limits. Muri is associated with the preparation or planning phase of the production process.

Continuous Process Improvement- The Kaizen Approach: Extended Entry

Kaizen is the Japanese strategy for continuous improvement. The main goal of kaizen is to eliminate waste. This strategy is similar to lean manufacturing, with a few differences. The kaizen approach focuses on continuous improvement in all aspects of life. For a business; the kaizen approach works at continually improving all the functions of a company from the CEO down to the assembly line of workers.

Toyota Motor Company was one of the first Japanese businesses to implement Kaizen. After World War II, Kaizen was adopted by several Japanese companies to help rebuild after the war. Since this time, kaizen has become so successful, that it has spread to several businesses throughout the world.

How kaizen works in business.
Kaizen calls for never-ending methods of improvement. It goes beyond simply improving productivity. Kaizen is a process and if it is done correctly, it will help to humanize the workplace, eliminate hard work, and will teach people how to perform to the best of their abilities and reduce waste in the manufacturing process.

Lean manufacturing techniques pros and cons

Lean manufacturing is when a company is trying to use less of everything in the production of their goods compared to the mass production. In other words it is a way to help companies reduce the amount of waste they use and achieve their targeted productivity by introduction some different tools and techniques. This includes using less human effort, less manufacturing space, and less investment tools to develop a new product. Although lean manufacturing is fast becoming the latest fad in the twenty first century, there are some pros and cons to the lean manufacturing techniques to consider before implementing them in your company.

Lean Manufacturing Pros


• Lean manufacturing minimizes the overhead fixed cost to thirty percent. It also reduces operational costs, targets to boost restore and raise the competitiveness of a company.


•  Lean manufacturing aims to eliminate most if not all forms of waste.


•  Many experts claim that by implementing lean manufacturing techniques and strategies reduce the manufacturing time.

Using lean manufacturing to reduce costs and improve quality

Lean manufacturing was developed in part from the War Manpower Commission that led to the Toyota Production System (TPS). Lean manufacturing is a concept that focuses on eliminating seven wastes. Toyota defined three types of waste: "muda" or nonvalue-added work, "muri" or overburden and "mura" or unevenness. By eliminating waste, overall quality can be improved and production time as well as cost can be reduced.

The Toyota seven wastes are as follows:

1. Over-production (production ahead of the demand)


2. Waiting Time (waiting for the next production step)


3. Transportation (moving products that are not required to perform the processing)


4. Over-Processing (Poor tool or product design creating activity)


5. Inventory (Finished product not being finished)


6. Motion (people or equipment moving or walking more than the production requires)


7. Defects (Effort involved in identifying and fixing defects)

Comparing lean manufacturing to TQM

Lean manufacturing has become a popular trend among companies and especially among manufacturing companies. Total Quality Management is also a great tool mainly used in government, manufacturing, education, and service industries. So how do lean manufacturing and Total Quality Management compare? Let's take a closer look at the two.

Total Quality Management
As a definition, Total Quality Management or TQM is a management strategy aimed at the awareness of quality in all organizational processes. The hope is to provide everyone with a way to create customer satisfaction at lower costs. It consists of three paradigms:


• Total- which means it involves the entire organization of your company


•  Quality


•  Management- implementing a system of steps to achieve your goals.

Lean manufacturing techniques pros and cons

Lean manufacturing is when a company is trying to use less of everything in the production of their goods compared to the mass production. In other words it is a way to help companies reduce the amount of waste they use and achieve their targeted productivity by introduction some different tools and techniques. This includes using less human effort, less manufacturing space, and less investment tools to develop a new product. Although lean manufacturing is fast becoming the latest fad in the twenty first century, there are some pros and cons to the lean manufacturing techniques to consider before implementing them in your company.

Lean Manufacturing Pros
 Lean manufacturing minimizes the overhead fixed cost to thirty percent. It also reduces operational costs, targets to boost restore and raise the competitiveness of a company.
 Lean manufacturing aims to eliminate most if not all forms of waste.
 Many experts claim that by implementing lean manufacturing techniques and strategies reduce the manufacturing time.
 As manufacturing lead time is lowered, it is the hope that the operational costs incurred from the use of energy will also be significantly reduced.
 Lean manufacturing helps companies maintain and increase their profits and earning. It also helps them generate a little more savings as the costs are lower.
 As lean manufacturing tries to eliminate wasted space, this proves to be an advantage to implementing it within your company. Workspace is one of the primary factors that keeps companies running smoothly and effectively.
 Experts have estimated that if lean manufacturing techniques are adopted correctly, it will help companies reduce the requirement for physical floor space by about five to thirty percent.

Using lean manufacturing to reduce costs and improve quality

Lean manufacturing was developed in part from the War Manpower Commission that led to the Toyota Production System (TPS). Lean manufacturing is a concept that focuses on eliminating seven wastes. Toyota defined three types of waste: "muda" or nonvalue-added work, "muri" or overburden and "mura" or unevenness. By eliminating waste, overall quality can be improved and production time as well as cost can be reduced. The Toyota seven wastes are as follows:
1. Over-production (production ahead of the demand)
2. Waiting Time (waiting for the next production step)
3. Transportation (moving products that are not required to perform the processing)
4. Over-Processing (Poor tool or product design creating activity)
5. Inventory (Finished product not being finished)
6. Motion (people or equipment moving or walking more than the production requires)
7. Defects (Effort involved in identifying and fixing defects)

Lean manufacturing techniques

Lean manufacturing is when a company is trying to use less of everything in the production of their goods compared to the mass production. Or in other words, it is a way to help companies achieve their targeted productivity, (and other things as well) by introducing tools and techniques that are simple to apply. This includes, but is not limited to less manufacturing space, less human effort, and less investment tools to develop their new product. The purpose of lean manufacturing is to improve the overall customer value by eliminating waste and things that are not needed in the manufacturing process. Lean manufacturing has become a hot topic in the 21st century, and is seen as one of the latest management fads. So let's look at some steps you can take to help you get started down the road to lean manufacturing and some techniques to help you get there.

Top five things you need to know about lean manufacturing

Here are the top five things you need to know about lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is the process of eliminating the non-value added operations of a company's production or process.

So when you think about that you can see that by eliminating the waste, the money that is saved, can go toward the more necessary and beneficial parts of the company expenses and costs for operations.

The fast track to lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is an initiative that focuses on cost reduction and increases in turnover by constantly and methodically eliminating activities that do not add value to the manufacturing process. Basically what lean manufacturing does is help companies to achieve targeted productivity, as well as other things, by introducing tools and techniques that are easy to apply and maintain. What these tools and techniques are doing is reducing and eliminating waste, things that are not needed in the manufacturing process.

Many companies want to convert their manufacturing plant to lean manufacturing as quickly as possible. But what they do not realize is that there is no way to fast track the conversion to lean manufacturing because there are certain steps that need to be followed in order to switch your manufacturing plant over to lean manufacturing. Not to mention the fact that if you do not take the time to properly train yourself and your employees on lean manufacturing you are going to end up failing with the implementation of lean manufacturing.

Introducing lean manufacturing to your plant

Lean manufacturing is an initiative that focuses on cost reduction and increases in turnover by constantly and methodically eliminating activities that do not add value to the manufacturing process. Basically what lean manufacturing does is help companies to achieve targeted productivity, as well as other things, by introducing tools and techniques that are easy to apply and maintain. What these tools and techniques are doing is reducing and eliminating waste, things that are not needed in the manufacturing process.

Here are the steps you will need to take to introduce lean manufacturing to your plant.

Six sigma versus lean manufacturing, which is right for you?

If you own or manage a manufacturing company, you might have heard the terms Six Sigma and lean manufacturing. They are closely related, as they are both strategies developed by big business companies in order to reduce or eliminate manufacturing excess. The principle difference between the two strategies is that Six Sigma is a strategy used to eliminate defects and lean manufacturing is a strategy used to eliminate waste. Looking carefully at each strategy might entail a class on each; however, the basics of each strategy are presented for you here.

Six sigma focuses on eliminating problems with the manufactured product. The strategy was developed by the Motorola Company and primarily focuses on the customer. Defect that are to be eliminated are defined as not delivering what the customer wants. To paraphrase an old saying, "if the customer ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". That's what Six Sigma is all about: customer satisfaction. Six Sigma has two directions. The first is the goal of improving the current process and product. The other direction is to create new processes that are better suited to elimination of defects. These two goals aren't mutually exclusive and often a company can make changes to the current processes while also implementing new one. If this is sounds like what you are interested in doing in your company, Six Sigma might be the strategy for you

Six sigma versus lean manufacturing, which is right for you?

If you own or manage a manufacturing company, you might have heard the terms Six Sigma and lean manufacturing. They are closely related, as they are both strategies developed by big business companies in order to reduce or eliminate manufacturing excess. The principle difference between the two strategies is that Six Sigma is a strategy used to eliminate defects and lean manufacturing is a strategy used to eliminate waste. Looking carefully at each strategy might entail a class on each; however, the basics of each strategy are presented for you here.

Six sigma focuses on eliminating problems with the manufactured product. The strategy was developed by the Motorola Company and primarily focuses on the customer. Defect that are to be eliminated are defined as not delivering what the customer wants. To paraphrase an old saying, "if the customer ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". That's what Six Sigma is all about: customer satisfaction. Six Sigma has two directions. The first is the goal of improving the current process and product. The other direction is to create new processes that are better suited to elimination of defects. These two goals aren't mutually exclusive and often a company can make changes to the current processes while also implementing new one. If this is sounds like what you are interested in doing in your company, Six Sigma might be the strategy for you

Visual controls for lean manufacturing

Before you can understand what the visual controls for lean manufacturing are and how they can be used to improve your manufacturing process you are going to need to understand what lean manufacturing is. So let's take a quick moment to review what lean manufacturing is before we go on to the visual controls of lean manufacturing.

Lean manufacturing is an initiative that focuses on cost reduction and increases in turnover by constantly and methodically eliminating activities that do not add value to the manufacturing process. Basically what lean manufacturing does is help companies to achieve targeted productivity, as well as other things, by introducing tools and techniques that are easy to apply and maintain. What these tools and techniques are doing is reducing and eliminating waste, things that are not needed in the manufacturing process.

The steps to implementing lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is an initiative that focuses on cost reduction and increases in turnover by constantly and methodically eliminating activities that do not add value to the manufacturing process. Basically what lean manufacturing does is help companies to achieve targeted productivity, as well as other things, by introducing tools and techniques that are easy to apply and maintain. What these tools and techniques are doing is reducing and eliminating waste, things that are not needed in the manufacturing process.

Here are the steps you will need to take to implement lean manufacturing.

Manager's guide for going lean

There are a lot of different things that can help save and make companies money. One thing that more and more companies are doing is going lean. If you want to make your company more money you might want to think about making your company go lean. Here are some things in a manager's guide for going lean that might help you out.

The first thing in a manager's guide for going lean is to know what going lean is. Going lean is a process that companies have started doing to cut down on their cost. Going lean means that you take a in depth look at your company and figure out what type of wastes you have whether it be services or materials and figure out how to make it better. You will first need to make sure that you take into consideration your customers and what they expect. You don't want to take away from quality when you are going lean.

How can we become better at lean management.

If you are the manager or owner of a business, whether it’s involved in manufacturing or not, you should be asking yourself how you can become better at lean management. This article will answer your questions about how you can improve your lean management and how that will help improve your company.
Lean management, otherwise called lean manufacturing, is a way to approach manufacturing that cuts down on waste. Anything that is considered by the customer not to add value to the product is eliminated, at least as much as possible. It is easy to see how lean management can apply to the manufacturing process—you can start with simple things like making sure that equipment is always in the same place, cutting down on the amount of time that a product is in the manufacturing process, and other things of that nature. But lean management can and should also be applied to every aspect of your company’s organization—supply chain management, customer relations, general management, product development, and more.

How do I become a six sigma black belt?

If you are a manager or an engineer, one of the questions you might want to ask yourself if you are interested in improving your career and your earning potential is how you can become a six sigma black belt.
Six sigma is an approach to management that uses a statistical and observational approach to improving productivity, efficiency, value, and customer satisfaction. Developed by Motorola, six sigma has become one of the most popular approaches to management and product improvement out there. In order to correctly and productively practice six sigma, you need to be six sigma certified. There are different levels of six sigma certification—yellow belt, green belt, black belt, and master black belt.

How do I convert my process to six sigma?

If you are a manager of an office or a senior management member of a business owner, you've probably heard a lot about six sigma management. And if you've heard about six sigma, then you might be wondering: "How do I convert my process to six sigma?" This article will go through how you can convert your process to six sigma in order to increase quality, efficiency and process and product value.
Six sigma has been one of the most popular and one of the most publicized quality control management programs in the last few decades. Six sigma, in a nutshell, uses different statistical and analytical tools in order to improve the quality of your processes and the value of your products, based on consumer perceived value. Six sigma presents you with a box of different tools and techniques that you can use in order to improve your processes, including ways to measure, analyze, define, and control your processes.

How do we achieve six sigma certification?

Are you wondering how you as a company or as an individual can achieve six sigma certification? This article will review how you can receive six sigma certification, a process that, when used correctly can greatly improve the productivity of your business along with your customer satisfaction.
One way that you can achieve six sigma certification as an organization is by hiring a certification training company. There are many of these different certification companies out there, willing to hire your employees and to teach you six sigma management techniques. These hands-on training courses are specifically designed to help your particular company needs and to help you fix your specific company problems. These training programs will give you a larger, more general framework within which you can work on implementing six sigma tools and approaches to improve product quality and value. These different six sigma training programs will help you learn how to correctly manage already existing processes, working on improving them, and ultimately will help you effectively and efficiently design new processes.

What cost savings are available using six sigma?

This article will discuss what cost savings are available by using the Six Sigma methodology.
If you have been at all involved in business during the last two decades, then you've heard a whole lot about Motorola's development of the Six Sigma methodology. Six Sigma has been hailed as one of the most powerful quality management systems to have ever been developed, promising incredible results as you use Six Sigma techniques and tools to statistically analyze your processes in an effort to locate where you can improve the value of your processes and increase customer satisfaction and perceived value.
But can Six Sigma really improve your business that much? Is it really worth the cost that you have to invest in receiving all of the training, revising your processes, changing your methodology? Is Six Sigma a waste of money, or can you actually save money by improving your processes and increasing their value?

What is a scatter plot and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A scatter plot is also known as a scatter diagram or scatter graph. It is a graph used to visually display and compare a possible relationship between two or more sets of related data by displaying points, each having a coordinate on a horizontal and a vertical axis. A dot in the body of the chart represents the intersection of the data on the x and y axis.
One advantage of a scatter plot is that it does not require you to specify dependent or independent variables. Either type of variable can be plotted on either axis. Scatter plots do not imply any causation, but rather an association between two variables. Your scatter plot may show that a relationship exists, but it does not and cannot prove that one variable is causing the other. If there is an apparent relationship, there could be a third factor involved which is causing both. It could also be a result from some other systemic cause or could just be a fluke. Nevertheless, the scatter plot can give you a clue that two things might be related, and if so, how they move together. The two axis can generally be displayed as:

Converting to a lean manufacturing mode

What does it mean to convert to a lean manufacturing mode? Let's look at some of the basic meanings of this manufacturing philosophy, and briefly discuss some ways of converting to it or implementing it.

Lean manufacturing and lean production are also known as lean thinking. This implies that lean manufacturing starts in the brain. Nice point, you might be thinking, what doesn't start in the brain? The point is that there isn't some kind of scientific formula that can convert a company to a lean manufacturing mode overnight. There isn't some kind of scientific formula that can convert a company to a lean manufacturing mode in a year, or in several years. Converting to a lean manufacturing mode is essentially an imaginative and creative process guided by the intellect. Its basic principle is that a company becomes increasingly economical and more productive through the process of cutting down on waste.

A run down of lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is a type of manufacturing where unneeded tools and parts are tossed aside, and the production process runs smoother and faster. The whole goal of lean manufacturing is to cut costs and reduce waste. While producing the product the quality and safety of the produces is supposed to increase because of the decreases amount of the unneeded materials. You can also produce more of the product with out wasting time. When you are a business owner and you are looking for a good way to produce your product a lot of research is involved. The decision of finding a good manufacturing system can be stressful and you have to explore all of the available options. Lean manufacturing is certainly an option you might want to consider. The Toyota Company uses the lean manufacturing method. Let's talk about the Toyota Company, and the history of lean manufacturing.
TPS (Toyota Production Systems)
The idea of lean manufacturing started with TPS. Three men by the names of Sakichi Toyoda, Kiichiro Toyoda, and Tiiachi Ohno came up with the logics of lean manufacturing. While visiting the united stated in early 1920, they were able to take a tour of Henry Ford's assembly line. The three men where said to be very unimpressed with the manufacturing process. Then they made a trip to a grocery store and where awed by the soda machine. They thought the idea of a customer choosing what they want and then another one product automatically takes the place of the previous item.

What you should know about implementing lean manufacturing efficiently

There are so many different ways that you can make your manufacturing business more successful. One way that you can make you're your manufacturing business more successful is implementing lean manufacturing. A lot of manufacturing companies have started to do this. If you are thinking about implementing lean manufacturing into your company you might want to know a few things. Here are some tips on what you should know about implementing lean manufacturing efficiently.

The first tip on what you should know about implementing lean manufacturing efficiently is to know what lean manufacturing is. Lean manufacturing is something that Americans have adopted from Japan. Lean manufacturing is a way to help manufacturing companies improve productivity while keeping costs down. By doing this manufacturing companies earn more money and reduce having to hire more help. There are different ways that you can implement lean manufacturing. You just have to make sure that you don't cut back to much that you have poor customer satisfactory

What you need to know about using six sigma in your manufacturing

Are you looking into using six sigma in your manufacturing business? Six sigma has become one of the most popular systems to help reduce process variation within the manufacturing environment. There are a couple of things that you need to know about six sigma in your manufacturing, not only so you can decide if this tool is right for you, but also so you can effectively determine what you need to do in order to implement six sigma! Here are a couple of things that you need know about using six sigma:

1) Six sigma is often used in conjunction with lean manufacturing. These days, there are not very many companies that utilize six sigma without also using lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a type of manufacturing process which focuses on helping to reduce and eliminate waste in the workplace. It is easy to see how six sigma's focus on reducing process variation is so compatible with the focus of lean manufacturing! If you are considering to use six sigma in your workplace, now might be a good time to also look at lean manufacturing. This way, you will be able to make a transition to two important systems/programs at the same time, and it will be easy because they are so compatible!

What you need to know about lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing is becoming one of the hottest management systems which is used in the manufacturing world today. If you are interested in using lean manufacturing, there are a couple things that you need to know. This article will discuss a little about the history of lean manufacturing, to help you develop a good background knowledge of the system, and will discuss some of the programs, tools, and approaches which are used in conjunction with lean manufacturing.
One of the things you should know about lean manufacturing is that it mostly comes from the Toyota Production System, which is also known as TPS. This system is well known for its emphasis on reducing Toyota's original "seven wastes" in order to not only become more efficient, but also to improve the customer value of products. Lean manufacturing, therefore, is a means to help people identify and progressively eliminate waste. Through this elimination of waste, the quality of products and work is improved, as well as production time. Furthermore, as a consequence of efficiency, the costs of production also decrease with lean management as well!

How to train your staff with six sigma

Are you interested in training your staff, or even yourself, with six sigma? Six sigma is a great way to help improve the efficiency of your company's production and work! There are a couple of things that you can do to train your staff with six sigma, and you will need to decide which method of training will work best for you and your company. Here are a couple of different ways that you can train yourself and your staff with six sigma:

1) Hire a training company to help: There are many training companies which specialize in training and certifying employees with six sigma. This is a great option to do if you are not sure on how to train your employees yourself with six sigma - this way, you can have someone else do the training! For example, an online company called 6 Sigma.us specializes in helping to train and certify people in six sigma. They have different levels of six sigma certification that range from Green Belt to Lean Six Sigma Certification. Live and online training courses are available for people to effectively use six sigma. 6 Sigma.us is found live in many major cities, such as New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Orlando, Austin, Dallas, Boston, Cincinnati, and San Francisco. They are even located internationally, in Canada (Toronto) and Denmark. For a complete listing of the places that they are located, and also to get more information on their course, you can visit their website. You can also look at another online company, called iSixSigma, which also has similar training programs.
You should also be aware that in training programs, the corporate and manufacturing managers will generally not receive the same type of training as other employees. For example, with the company iSixSigma, there is a specific training called Senior Management, which is for individuals who are the drivers and motivators for the overall business plan. It is often a good idea to have the Senior Management positions receive training before other employees, so that they will know what is going on when the other employees get trained. This way, you'll be able to oversee and answer employee questions in a productive manner, especially because the trainer won't be around all of the time!

How to convert to lean manufacturing for a low cost

Are you interested in converting your manufacturing company towards a lean manufacturing? This may seem like an expensive endeavor for you to make this switch to lean manufacturing, but it doesn't necessarily need to be! Remember, a switch to lean manufacturing will help your company to work more efficiently, which will help you to save money in the long run. Even in the actual conversion process it is also possible to convert to lean manufacturing at a low cost! Here are a couple things that you can to so that you convert to lean manufacturing for a relatively inexpensive price:

1) Set priorities: When people go about starting to make a conversion to lean manufacturing, they often try to tackle everything at once to make improvements. This can sometimes lead to hasty behavior and your might have to go back afterwards and fix some problems that you created in your haste. Not only is this a waste of time, but it also can be a more expensive way to convert to lean manufacturing. Instead, you will be able to convert to lean manufacturing at a low cost if you set priorities first. Look at the things that need to be changed, and set a time table and list of goals for the conversion. Know what you are doing to make the conversion. Then you will automatically be able to fulfill one of the missions of lean manufacturing, which is to eliminate waste, and in this case it's referring to wasted money and time!

When to hire a lean manufacturing consultant

There are so many different things that you can do when trying to make your company a lean manufacturing company. You have to make sure that you are cutting back where needed while at the same time making sure that you are still making a quality product. Here are a few things that might help you to know when to hire a lean manufacturing consultant.

The first thing that might help you know when to hire a lean manufacturing consultant is if you can't find anything that you think you can do to make your manufacturing lean. A lean manufacturing consultant knows what to look for in companies of all different industries that will help them to be leaner.

What causes lean manufacturing failure, and how to avoid it

There are so many different ways that you can help your company succeed. One way to help your company succeed is by using lean manufacturing. You have to make sure that you use lean manufacturing the correct way or it will fail. Here is what causes lean manufacturing failure, and how to avoid it

The first way that can cause lean manufacturing failure is not enough preparation. You have to prepare to become a lean manufacture. You can just decide one day to become a lean manufacture and think it will happen over night. It takes a lot of time and effort. You have to figure out what things cost to buy and how you can save while buying them for instance cutting out the middle man. The next thing you need to do is decide what areas you can afford to cut costs in and what areas you can't cut any more from.

What causes lean manufacturing failure, and how to avoid it

There are so many different ways that you can help your company succeed. One way to help your company succeed is by using lean manufacturing. You have to make sure that you use lean manufacturing the correct way or it will fail. Here is what causes lean manufacturing failure, and how to avoid it

The first way that can cause lean manufacturing failure is not enough preparation. You have to prepare to become a lean manufacture. You can just decide one day to become a lean manufacture and think it will happen over night. It takes a lot of time and effort. You have to figure out what things cost to buy and how you can save while buying them for instance cutting out the middle man. The next thing you need to do is decide what areas you can afford to cut costs in and what areas you can't cut any more from.

What are the principles of lean manufacturing, and how is it used?

There are so many different things involved when it comes to lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing can be very helpful to a company. It can be what makes a company succeed. There are many different things that go into lean manufacturing depending on the product that you are producing. Some people just need to know what are the principles of lean manufacturing, and how is it used?

First what is lean manufacturing? How can you know what the principles of lean manufacturing are and how it is used when you don't even know what lean manufacturing is? Lean manufacturing is something that some of the Manufacturers in America have learned and adopted from Japan. Japan has been using Lean manufacturing for about 50 years. Lean manufacturing is a way to improve productivity and keep cost down. This is a way to earn a company more money and reduce having to hire more employees. Lean manufacturing is a way to identify where your company is loosing the most money and where there is a lot of waster and eliminating it. You don't want to cut costs so much that you have poor costumer satisfactory. But you want to cut it enough that your company is seeing a hire profit.

How to start your lean manufacturing training

So many different manufacturing companies have so many different trainings. Each manufacturing company has different trainings because they all manufacture something different. Each manufacture will have different formations for everything that their production involves. Here are some tips on how to start your lean manufacturing training no matter what you are manufacturing.

The first tip on how to start your lean manufacturing training is to first figure out what you want your target numbers to be when you are producing your product. This will help determine what type of training programs you will need specifically for your business and its needs. Lean training will not be something that you do one time and forget about it. Lean training is something that you want to stick to help with your yearly training, and operations and even your goal setting.

How to use tools such as kaizen to eliminate waste

Now, how can something like kaizen help a company (or anyone) to eliminate waste. Kaizen is a Japanese term for the slow elimination of waste through tiny daily improvements. It's really quite a brilliant idea. The idea is that it's pretty intimidating to try to do a big job all at once. You think, boy we're wasting a lot of paper here and so you call everyone together and say: From now on I want you wall to wear white t-shirts everyday. You'll write all your notes and things on your t-shirts, then wash them at the end of the day and start over. That way we won't waste so much paper.
Of course, it's hard to imagine any manager making so drastic and stupid a decision, but you get the picture. It's impossible for a confirmed coffee drinker to quite overnight. A smoker can't just stop - it would kill him. And a company can't expect to dramatically alter a wasteful practice immediately without suffering a lot of consequences. In the long run, stopping bad or wasteful behavior immediately may end up doing more harm than good.

How to implement six stigma principles at low cost

Low cost is the key these days, and when it comes to something as important as implementing six stigma principles into your business, you've got to figure out a way to do it, and what's more to do it immediately. Here are some tips on how to implement six stigma principles at low cost.
1. First of all, identify exactly which principles your company's in need of. Now, this may be easier said than done. Sure, you can sort of skim over things and say we need this and that, we need more motivation, employee accountability, record keeping, and so on. But these are typical to every company. Not to say that your company doesn't particularly need them, but you should know your company as well as you know your own family (or almost as well, at least). That way, you won't be spending your hard-earned dollars on something that can wait, or something that you could address yourself without the hassle of brining in outside sources.

What is the difference between TQM and six sigma?

This article will discuss the differences between TQM and Six Sigma. Knowing the difference between TQM and Six Sigma can be incredibly helpful for managers or business owners who are looking for a quality control and management approach that is right for their organization.
It's important to remember that while TQM, or Total Quality Management, was around for quite a while before Six Sigma came along, Six Sigma and TQM do not have to be mutually exclusive in terms of business use. They are actually quite compatible in a number of different business situations and industries. It's best to think of the relationship between TQM and Six Sigma as TQM being able to help you improve the quality of your processes, your products, and your services, Six Sigma has the ability to help you make those improvements even sharper and more focused.

Where can I find six sigma online training?

Six Sigma is a quality control and management approach that was developed by Motorola in the 1980s. Since Motorola and then GE implemented Six Sigma as a company-wide approach to improving customer satisfaction by decreasing process variation and defects, all the while increasing profitability, Six Sigma has become one of the most widely known, popular, and widely publicized quality management methodologies. One of the major differences between Six Sigma and other quality control techniques and programs, like TQM (Total Quality Management) is that Six Sigma requires intensive and comprehensive training of employees. Six Sigma makes use of complicated statistical analysis of data gathered from every aspect of a process. This data is then analyzed and corrective ideas and approaches are designed through the use of Six Sigma statistical analysis tools. The entire operation takes place in the framework of DMAIC, the six step process that is the guiding light of six sigma. Because six sigma is an entire way of doing business-a complete transformation of the culture of your corporation or business-it requires that everybody involved in a process be trained in different aspects of six sigma. So, for example, the senior management will have to receive six sigma training so that they can understand and help make decisions about quality control. There are different levels of six sigma training-the most common ones are green belt, black belt, and master black belt. Each level represents a different intensity of six sigma training.

Where can I find six sigma training material?

This article will discuss where you can find six sigma training material to help your business and your six sigma employees, whether you are already converted to a six sigma quality management approach or if you are just now starting your company wide six sigma training. Six sigma training materials are also great for anyone who is going through the six sigma certification process and wants to hone their six sigma skills and expertise. Also, if you are a six sigma instructor, then you will want to look at a number of different options for six sigma training materials so that you can decide which one will work the best for whichever company you are training, or which class you are teaching.

There are a number of places where you can find six sigma training materials. Try looking at Motorola University at www.motorola.com/motorolauniversity. You can even just Google "six sigma training materials" and you'll come up with a number of hits. But when you are choosing your six sigma training material, you will want to first carefully assess your own needs. If you are an instructor, who are you teaching? What is your teaching style? If you are a student, then think about what your job will be within a six sigma organization and hierarchy.

Where do I find a six sigma black belt to hire?

This article will discuss where you can find six sigma black belts to hire, and also what you will want to look for when you are hiring a six sigma black belt.
To be honest, it isn't too terribly difficult to find a six sigma black belt to hire. Your best option to find one is to advertise that you are looking specifically for a six sigma black belt when you post your job listing. However, there are a few other options that you can do. First, you can post your job listing in specific sites that will probably be visited by six sigma black belts. Try www.isixsigma.com. Another way to find a six sigma black belt to hire is to contact local universities, and ask about black belts who have recently been trained. Universities are eager to help their students and their graduates find job placements, so they will most likely be willing to give you a list of recent trainees. You can also use this tactic when you are looking to hire a six sigma black belt with local community colleges, or you can contact any online training course, like Kaplan, and ask them to list your job or give you contact information for any of their recent trainees.
When people start answering your job listing, how do you choose from all of the six sigma black belts who apply for the job? Well, first of all, ask about their training program. There are certification programs, and then there are certification programs. Some training programs just let people out with a black belt certificate after they sit in class for four weeks. You want a black belt who has had intensive training, and who has also applied six sigma tools and techniques to real life situations and projects. Here are some other qualities that you will want to look for when you are hiring a six sigma black belt, in no particular order of importance.

What is the difference between TQM and six sigma?

This article will discuss the differences between TQM and Six Sigma. Knowing the difference between TQM and Six Sigma can be incredibly helpful for managers or business owners who are looking for a quality control and management approach that is right for their organization.
It's important to remember that while TQM, or Total Quality Management, was around for quite a while before Six Sigma came along, Six Sigma and TQM do not have to be mutually exclusive in terms of business use. They are actually quite compatible in a number of different business situations and industries. It's best to think of the relationship between TQM and Six Sigma as TQM being able to help you improve the quality of your processes, your products, and your services, Six Sigma has the ability to help you make those improvements even sharper and more focused.

What is dmaic and what does it have to do with lean six sigma?

If you are looking into six sigma and what it can do for your company, you have run across a lot of rather confusing and bizarre terms and acronyms, like DMAIC. This article will answer the following question: what is DMAIC and what does it have to do with lean six sigma?

DMAIC (pronounced duh-may-ick) is one of the tools used in lean six sigma. It stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. DMAIC is a quality control strategy that is driven by data gathered from analysis of products and processes. It is a central part of Six Sigma quality processes. Each stage of DMAIC is interconnected, each leads to the other, and they are all dependent upon each other.

What is required to become a six sigma green belt?

This article will address the following question: what is required to become a six sigma green belt? This is an important question for anyone to ask who is interested in becoming qualified to make use of six sigma techniques and approaches to quality management and quality improvement.

Within the six sigma program, there are different levels of certification and training. Yellow belt, green belt, black belt, and master black belt. Generally speaking, green belt certification is for employees who make use of six sigma, but are not quality process managers. Six sigma is an important skill for any employee to have when they are working in a corporation that uses six sigma so that they will be able to understand the way that the company is working and the company's mindset when it comes to quality control and management

What is lean six sigma?

There are a lot of different management tools and programs that have been developed over the last few decades in order to provide ways to improve processes and products. One of the most popular processes is called six sigma, developed by Motorola. Another approach to process and product improvement is called lean manufacturing. Some people have taken these two approaches and combined them into a management and quality improvement technique called lean six sigma. This article will discuss lean six sigma, what it is, and what it can do for your company.
Six sigma is a data controlled and driven process that is designed to use statistical analysis in order to improve the value and quality of your products and processes based on customer perception. Lean manufacturing is an approach that involves cutting down waste in your manufacturing processes so that you can save money and cut costs, improving the quality of your products and customer satisfaction.

The basics of six sigma.

This article will cover the basics of six sigma so that you, the manager or business owner, can better understand six sigma, what it entails, and how it might be able to work for you.
In essence, six sigma is a management plan geared towards producing better results, better products, and better service. Developed by Joseph M. Juran and Peter Senge in conjunction with Motorola, six sigma is technically an objective of quality. This objective very specifically defines how variable a process needs to be in terms of product specifications in order to meet and exceed customer demands in terms of product quality and product reliability.
Confused? Well, that's the technical definition. Ultimately, six sigma is an overall quality management program that uses leadership approaches, makes use of business infrastructure, and different management tools. General Electric was one of the very first users of six sigma, after Motorola, and defines it as "a disciplined methodology of defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling the quality in every one of the company's products, processes and transactions-with the ultimate goal of virtually eliminating all defects."
Six sigma is tailored to meet each company or business' specific needs. However, there are overall basics and tools that are used in order to achieve the ultimate level of organizational performance. The cycle of methods used is called DMAIC, which stands for define, measure, analyze, improve and control. The entire approach is oriented towards product-the quality, reliability, and production of quality products. Six sigma is different from other quality control approaches, because it combines statistical programs and tools with observation and experimentation. This means that experiments should take place on two levels, and then are analyzed using graphical methods. This is a combination of the analysis of product variance and also observation so as to aid instead of blocking the work of both statisticians and engineers. Another way to understand the basics of six sigma is to look at the term itself. Sigma, which is a Greek letter, is also a symbol used in statistics that measures how far a process (or product) moves from what is considered to be perfection. So basically, in six sigma, the idea is that if you can measure how many problems or defects exist in a process, then scientifically you can decide how to get rid of those defects and then move as close as possible to no problems or defects in a process or a system.
There are several basic and central concepts that form the basis of six sigma. First is critical to quality. These are the attributes of a product that the customer considers to be most important. Defect is the failure to provide what the customer ants. Process capability is what the process or the product is capable of delivering. Variation is based on what the customer feels about a process/product and sees in that product. Stable operations are the attempts to make sure that processes are always the same and predictable in an effort to ensure that the customer always feels the same way-good-about a process or product. DFSS stands for design for six sigma. This is the methodology that uses tools, measurements, and specific training geared towards helping you design the processes and products that meet the needs and expectations of your customers.
Six sigma is a highly technical and mathematical approach to product control and organizational efficiency. Individuals take courses in six sigma, and are then certified to be at different levels of understanding and proficiency. The terms for the different levels of certification are taken from martial arts practices that we're all generally familiar with-green belt, black belt, and master black belt.

What is a scatter plot and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A scatter plot is also known as a scatter diagram or scatter graph. It is a graph used to visually display and compare a possible relationship between two or more sets of related data by displaying points, each having a coordinate on a horizontal and a vertical axis. A dot in the body of the chart represents the intersection of the data on the x and y axis.
One advantage of a scatter plot is that it does not require you to specify dependent or independent variables. Either type of variable can be plotted on either axis. Scatter plots do not imply any causation, but rather an association between two variables. Your scatter plot may show that a relationship exists, but it does not and cannot prove that one variable is causing the other. If there is an apparent relationship, there could be a third factor involved which is causing both. It could also be a result from some other systemic cause or could just be a fluke. Nevertheless, the scatter plot can give you a clue that two things might be related, and if so, how they move together. The two axis can generally be displayed as:

Process optimization and operating procedures

In today's business world, competition is everything. Companies need every advantage they can get. Each day costumers are demanding better products, in order to get the best value for what they paid for. The way to get ahead in the business world is to manufacture products at the lowest cost possible, or in other words by using process optimization. A way to measure how well the company is using process optimization is by using operating procedures. This allows for the company to measure how well the process is being automized, if the process is constantly evaluating and eliminating waste, and how well the company is controlling the process.

For a business to optimize its operating procedures, it will help to automize the process. This automation will make the operating procedures go faster. In addition, it will help to minimize the error that human's typically make, and will help produce at lower costs. For example, consider 2 round disks that need to be connected. At first, the employee makes one small hole so that a small screw can be put inside each hole to connect the 2 disks. A way to optimize the procedure and make it more cost effective would be to add tabs to the disks so the 2 disks will lock in place easily, making it easier to line up the disks together. This simple way of making a tab saves a lot of time and money for the company.

The basics of lean manufacturing

This article will describe the basics of lean manufacturing and the possible implications for your company or business.
Lean manufacturing entails coming up with a management program in order to cut waste as a measure to reduce costs in your business. So, for example, if you are involved in the manufacturing industry, one place where you could cut costs by cutting waste is by reducing the amount of time between when a customer places and order and when that order is shipped by eliminating any waste in the process of production

Six Sigma Training

This article will give an overview of the basics of six sigma training, where you can find six sigma training, and what six sigma training can do for your company.
Six sigma is a management and quality control approach that utilizes specific statistical and observational tools in order to improve and increase the value of your company's processes and products, particular from a customer's point of view.

What is a control chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?

Control charting is a tool used to monitor processes and to assure that they remain stable. The control chart is also known as the 'Shewhart chart' or the 'process-behavior chart'. It is a statistical tool often used in Six Sigma and is intended to assess the nature of variation in a process and to facilitate forecasting and management. The control chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality control, which also include the histogram, Pareto chart, check sheet, cause-and-effect diagram, flowchart, and scatter diagram.
Control charts were proposed by Walter A. Shewhart in 1924 while working for Bell Labs. They recognized the need to reduce the frequency of failures and repairs because their telephony transmission systems’ amplifiers and other equipment had to be buried underground. Shewhart stressed that bringing a production process into a state of statistical control, where there is only common-cause variation and keeping it in control, is necessary to predict future output and to manage a process economically. Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times.

What is a cause-and-effect diagram and how is it used in Six Sigma?

The Cause and Effect Diagram is also commonly known as a fishbone because of its fishbone appearance. The box and lines can be thought of as the head and spine of the fish. The box represents the effect and the lines are the causes.
One of the most difficult problems when it comes to implementing Six Sigma is that it is difficult to determine which processes are the most problematic. This is especially true when you have a team of problem solvers all trying to decide where the focus should be. Using a Cause and Effect diagram is one great way to encourage brainstorming among team members. Cause and Effect analysis helps you to think through causes of a problem thoroughly. Their major benefit is that they push you to consider all possible causes of the problem and not just the ones that are most obvious.

What are the criteria for choosing projects in Six Sigma?

Six Sigma projects fail or are abandoned for several different reasons. One reason is that participants don’t value the project and can’t see the importance it holds. Along the same lines, if a sponsor doesn’t push for project completion, there is no real connection to the project and no desire to make it successful. Another reason is that the process is performing inadequately. In other words, the project problem is not what it was initially thought to be. Also, projects are often abandoned when it is discovered that the process being worked on is also being addressed by another team. Another factor contributing to abandonment is that the team finds it too difficult to measure the process.
Lack of pre-work and adequate prioritizing are huge factors in leading to project abandonment. It is difficult to identify projects, but by following certain criteria, you can bypass some of these difficulties. Properly defined Six Sigma projects meet these criteria:

What is value-added work? Non-value added work?

The concept of value-added work and non-value added work is important for anyone in the world of manufacturing to understand. The success of your business, as well as the satisfaction of your customers, is dependant upon the amount of value-added work versus the non-value added work.

Value-Added Work
Value-added work is the work that is actually valuable and results in a finished product. Keep in mind that a customer is only going to want to pay for value; if they feel that their money is being wasted as a result of insufficient processes, the customer will take his business elsewhere.

Tracking process flow to improve production speed

Whether you are a business manager, owner, or just a worker, you have most likely been concerned with your production speed at some point in your career. All businesses are always striving to improve their production speed, because a higher production speed yields a higher profit. And every business man and woman knows that a higher profit is good for everyone. So perhaps you’re looking for new ways to improve your production speed, but you’re not sure where to begin. Well this article is here to tell you that in tracking your process flow you can improve your production speed. And here is how to do just that.

Let’s start with an explanation of process flow. Process flow is the steps of a procedure used in making, delivering, or accomplishing a product or service, and how it impacts the layout of your facility and your decisions about technology, as well as how your company works together. Process flow is an important aspect to building a strong company with a competitive edge. A given procedure can be classified as job shop or flow shop when applying the concept of “process flow.” Flow shop is not a flexible procedure and uses specialized resources. Job shop is very flexible and uses general resources.

Process optimization and operating procedures

In today's business world, competition is everything. Companies need every advantage they can get. Each day costumers are demanding better products, in order to get the best value for what they paid for. The way to get ahead in the business world is to manufacture products at the lowest cost possible, or in other words by using process optimization. A way to measure how well the company is using process optimization is by using operating procedures. This allows for the company to measure how well the process is being automized, if the process is constantly evaluating and eliminating waste, and how well the company is controlling the process.

For a business to optimize its operating procedures, it will help to automize the process. This automation will make the operating procedures go faster. In addition, it will help to minimize the error that human's typically make, and will help produce at lower costs. For example, consider 2 round disks that need to be connected. At first, the employee makes one small hole so that a small screw can be put inside each hole to connect the 2 disks. A way to optimize the procedure and make it more cost effective would be to add tabs to the disks so the 2 disks will lock in place easily, making it easier to line up the disks together. This simple way of making a tab saves a lot of time and money for the company.

Six Sigma Laws – The Law of Velocity

Lean Six Sigma works to increase speed while at the same time reducing waste, and this is accomplished by combining two very effective means – six sigma and lean manufacturing.

Six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

Six Sigma Laws – The Law of the Market

While the overall goal of six sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction, there are different ways to come to this goal. Lean Six Sigma focuses more on improving process flow and speed than on improving quality by combining the laws of six sigma with that of lean manufacturing. The concept of lean Six Sigma utilizes five different “laws” in order to make the process successful.

In order to fully understand the laws of lean six sigma, it’s important to become familiar with the concept of six sigma as well as lean manufacturing. In a nutshell, six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

Six Sigma Laws – the Law of Focus

What is Six Sigma?
Six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

What is Lean Manufacturing ?
Where six sigma works to improve quality via customer satisfaction and processes, lean manufacturing works to eliminate waste. The first step to eliminating waste, according to lean manufacturing, is to identify what causes the waste. As a general rule, waste is categorized in the following ways:

How to get six sigma training material

Every company strives for excellence. And many use different methods of training to achieve this excellence. Six_Sigma is one option that is growing in popularity: So where to start in implementing the Six Sigma approach? The program is not sold by any one company. There are several options to consider when approaching setting up Six Sigma program. There are numerous ways to gain the needed materials. A quick search on the web will list many consulting firms that can be used in setting up a Six Sigma training program. In addition, many of these firms offer in-person seminars that allow hands on training to fully establish the program. There is also researching that can be done on the Web that allows for on-line tutorials in both helping to establish the program and in growing the program for a specific company or organization. A trusted business consultant can be used to help clarify the many choices available when establishing and growing a Six Sigma program.

Six-Sigma has proven time and again that the results can produce excellence in companies. This excellence can be manifest in many ways through its service, its products and its reputation. But perhaps the most important type of excellence any company can strive for is from its employees. These companies who manage to motivate their employee's excellence are the ones that stand out first and foremost in the mind of the consumer. And even more importantly when these companies do achieve excellence they set themselves apart from the competition in many ways. Some of these ways can include having outstanding products, customer service and an increased overall competitiveness. Even in today's shaky market, companies like the aforementioned are ahead of the pack in sales and in business savvy. So what can make these companies different from the rest of the pack? By taking a slightly different approach.

Six Sigma Laws – The Law of Flexibility

Flexibility is an important trait in any business or organization. Employers like people who are flexible and willing to learn and implement various tasks. This results in increased productivity and the ability to eliminate waste.

This is where Lean Six Sigma comes into play. Lean Six Sigma focuses more on improving process flow and speed than on improving quality by combining the laws of six sigma with that of lean manufacturing. The concept of lean Six Sigma utilizes five different “laws” in order to make the process successful. The Law of Flexibility is the second law of lean six sigma. It states that the speed of a process is dependant upon the workers’ ability to switch back and forth among tasks. This is important because the overall goal of six sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

Becoming more cost effective through process optimization

In a competitive business world, businesses use process optimization in order to be more cost effective. It is important for each employee to analyze each part of the development cycle, to make sure each part is essential. In addition, eliminating waste in each employee's work helps with cost efficiency. Finally, it is necessary for the company to find control over the process, to optimize the equipment and procedures in order to become more cost effective.

Why is process optimization so important to make products cost effective?

Six Sigma Laws – The Law of Complexity and Cost

The Law of Complexity and Cost is the last of the five laws of lean six sigma. In order to properly explain this law, however, it’s useful to know what exactly lean six sigma is.

Lean Six Sigma, which combines six sigma with lean manufacturing in order to increase overall speed and customer satisfaction. It does so by focusing more on improving process flow and speed than on improving quality by combining the laws of six sigma with that of lean manufacturing. The concept of lean Six Sigma utilizes five different “laws” in order to make the process successful. The Law of Flexibility is the second law of lean six sigma. It states that the speed of a process is dependant upon the workers’ ability to switch back and forth among tasks. This is important because the overall goal of six sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

3 reasons to use quantitative tools for process optimization

The 3 reasons to use quantitative tools for process optimization are to be able to measure how the equipment optimization is, to measure the procedure optimization and to measure how well the company is controlling the production process. All 3 of these quantitative tools help minimize waste and help with optimizing the product.

In a competitive business world, businesses use process optimization in order to be more cost effective. It is necessary for the company to find control over the process, to optimize the equipment and procedures in order to become more cost effective. The best way to do this is to use quantitative tools.

What is a control chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?

Control charting is a tool used to monitor processes and to assure that they remain stable. The control chart is also known as the 'Shewhart chart' or the 'process-behavior chart'. It is a statistical tool often used in Six Sigma and is intended to assess the nature of variation in a process and to facilitate forecasting and management. The control chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality control, which also include the histogram, Pareto chart, check sheet, cause-and-effect diagram, flowchart, and scatter diagram.
Control charts were proposed by Walter A. Shewhart in 1924 while working for Bell Labs. They recognized the need to reduce the frequency of failures and repairs because their telephony transmission systems’ amplifiers and other equipment had to be buried underground. Shewhart stressed that bringing a production process into a state of statistical control, where there is only common-cause variation and keeping it in control, is necessary to predict future output and to manage a process economically. Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times.

Data analysis training - key to effective quality programs

Any business owner naturally wants to find any way possible to improve his/her company. Whether you are a corporate executive or a manufacturer, it is the same: you’re both looking for ways to become more efficient, save money, increase productivity and profit. One way to do this is to train yourself and your employees in data analysis. This is the key to having effective quality programs. If you continue reading this article you will learn a bit more about data analysis training and how to use it to your benefit to improve quality programs.

Data analysis is the act of transforming information with the aim of retrieving useful knowledge about a topic and forming conclusions based on that knowledge. Depending on the type of data and the question this could include application of statistical methods, curve fitting, selecting or discarding certain subsets based on certain criteria or other techniques. Data analysis is intended not to discover unseen patterns hidden in the data, but to verify or disprove an existing model.

What is a control chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?

Control charting is a tool used to monitor processes and to assure that they remain stable. The control chart is also known as the 'Shewhart chart' or the 'process-behavior chart'. It is a statistical tool often used in Six Sigma and is intended to assess the nature of variation in a process and to facilitate forecasting and management. The control chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality control, which also include the histogram, Pareto chart, check sheet, cause-and-effect diagram, flowchart, and scatter diagram.
Control charts were proposed by Walter A. Shewhart in 1924 while working for Bell Labs. They recognized the need to reduce the frequency of failures and repairs because their telephony transmission systems’ amplifiers and other equipment had to be buried underground. Shewhart stressed that bringing a production process into a state of statistical control, where there is only common-cause variation and keeping it in control, is necessary to predict future output and to manage a process economically. Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times.

Using Lean in Build to Order

Using lean in build to order is a great way to make the system efficient. Even though the products you are manufacturing have to be built to certain specifications, it does not mean that you can't have a smooth system to do so. What you must understand is the relationship between lean production and built to order. To understand this, we must first define the terms:

Lean Production: Lean production is basically a system that uses minimal amounts of resources to produce a high volume of high-quality goods with some variety. Or in other words, a system that takes the concept of assembly line production, but utilizes it for systems that need variety.

What is a customer in context of six sigma?

Whether you are a business owner or just a customer there are certain things you should be aware of about the business world. If you are a business owner you are most likely in a constant battle to improve your business and customer relations. You may be trying to eliminate all defects in your product and services so that your customers remain content. If you are a customer, you’re probably trying to make your desires known so that you are able to get the products and services you need most. Well one thing that can help both business owner and customer is called “six sigma.” This article will discuss what six sigma is and how it relates to a customer.

What is six sigma? Six sigma is a method of practices created by Motorola in order to eliminate defects in a company (the term “defect” will be discussed in greater length further in this article). To many companies, six sigma symbolizes a constant striving for perfection in all aspects of their businesses. It is a disciplined approach towards driving six standard deviations between the mean and nearest specification limit in any process-from manufacturing or products to service. Six sigma is a method of describing how a process in a company is performing.

What is a Pareto chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A Pareto chart is a type of bar chart where the values being plotted are arranged in descending order. It is one of the key tools used in total quality control and Six Sigma. The purpose of a Pareto chart is to graphically summarize and display the importance of the differences between different groups of data.
The Pareto chart was named after Vilfredo Pareto and is based on the Pareto principle. Pareto was an Italian economist who is credited for discovering what we know as the Pareto principle or 80/20 rule. It also is known as the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity. What he observed was that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by only 20% of the population. He soon discovered that this phenomenon was evident in other aspects of his life as well. For example, 80% of the peas in his garden were produced by 20% of the peapods. This expanded to become the 80/20 rule: that 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. The assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes. Some examples of 80/20 rule applications are:

What is a Pick chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A Pick chart is a tool used that can be used in any process evaluations when trying to pre-process raw data. It is a method used to narrow down a large quantity of raw data to get to the root problems. It is often used in the pre-processing stages of Six Sigma after data collection.
There are many useful ways for processing data. One of these is to focus on a sample and distilling the data for particular purposes. This is very valuable in the early stages of processing when the volume of raw material is great and you need to glean out the most useful information.

What is a scatter plot and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A scatter plot is also known as a scatter diagram or scatter graph. It is a graph used to visually display and compare a possible relationship between two or more sets of related data by displaying points, each having a coordinate on a horizontal and a vertical axis. A dot in the body of the chart represents the intersection of the data on the x and y axis.
One advantage of a scatter plot is that it does not require a user to specify dependent or independent variables. Either type of variable can be plotted on either axis. Scatter plots do not imply any causation, but rather an association between two variables. Your scatter plot may show that a relationship exists, but it does not and cannot prove that one variable is causing the other. There could be a third factor involved which is causing both, some other systemic cause, or the apparent relationship could just be a fluke. Nevertheless, the scatter plot can give you a clue that two things might be related, and if so, how they move together. The two axis can generally be displayed as:

What is a SIPOC diagram (high level process map) and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A SIPOC diagram, also known as a high level process map is a tool used in the Six Sigma methodology. In order for your company to receive a Six Sigma certification, you must first complete a project that demonstrates your ability to follow the Six Sigma process and show that you understand how to use the tools.

The reason you would want to map your company's current process is so that you can put yourself in a position to be able to quickly define, document, analyze, prioritize and recommend solutions and follow-up plans to move the company toward its financial and customer-focused goals.

What is a six sigma master black belt?

If you’re looking to get ahead in the world of manufacturing, one way to do so is to become a six sigma master black belt. While it may sound like this has something to do with karate, it’s actually a term coined by Motorola and used to identify someone who has received the highest level of technical and organizational proficiency – and it doesn’t involve and kicking or punching!

What is Six Sigma?
In order to fully understand what a six sigma master black belt is, it’s important to become familiar with the concept of six sigma. In a nutshell, six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company’s profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

What is a time value map and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A Time Value Map is a tool used in Lean and Six Sigma methodology. It tracks a work item through its process and tracks where it spends its time. It follows the product from raw material to output into the customer's hands to determine where it spends valuable time and where waste time can be eliminated. To better understand what this means, we must first explore both Lean and Six Sigma a little.

Six Sigma methodology is a process improvement methodology using data and statistical analysis to identify and fix problem/opportunity areas for any particular company. A problem or process is identified, and defined objectively. The process's output performance is measured. The problem is analyzed in all phases of the process in order to identify causes of variation. By doing so, output processes can be improved by reducing that variation. This improvement program can affect everyone involved in all processes from production/manufacturing processes to service processes to business processes.

What is a value stream map and how is it used in Six Sigma?

Value stream mapping (VSM) is a tool that helps you to see and understand the flow of material and information as a product or service moves through the value stream. This is defined as all of the activities, both value adding and non-value adding (wastes) that are required to bring a product from raw materials into the hands of the customer. A future state map is then created which leads to the creation of an implementation plan.
VSM is sometimes referred to as an end-to-end system map because it takes into account the activity of the product in all phases of production, including the management and information systems that support the basic process. It covers all aspects of production from receiving of raw material to delivery of finished goods. You are able to gain insight into the decision making flow as well as the process flow.

What is process observation and what is the best way to implement it?

Process observation is essentially just that. It is data collection method used in Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. It is a way of confirming exactly what is happening during any particular process. One of the biggest time consumers in studying any type of process is data collection. An invaluable way of collecting data is through impartial process observation.
Although every improvement project has its own unique data, it is useful to know of some metrics that can be utilized in your observations to quantify results. You will want to measure these things early in a project and then again once improvements have been made to determine the impact. If the process being measured requires a lot of time and work, try measuring a sample first. Some of those things you will want to take note of in your observations are:

Choosing activity based costing software

Activity based costing assigns costs to resources and products to produce units of cost. A unit cost is the "average total cost" of producing one unit of output. You calculate the unit cost by dividing the total cost of production by the total number of units of output produced.

The software you choose needs to be able to fit the changing needs of your company. You have chosen to purchase activity based costing software to help you make decisions to allocate your resources. These decisions represent change and hopefully growth in the company. The software package needs to be able to grow with the company.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean Manufacturing is a business management technique of waste reduction that used to improve overall efficiency and value. The elimination of waste will naturally save a business money. But the use of Lean Manufacturing is designed to also improve quality and production time along the way.

Although all authorities on Lean Manufacturing do not agree on a set list of Lean Manufacturing techniques, their ideas are generally consistent and include:

Is Lean (Manufacturing) Right for My Company?

Are you looking to increase the efficiency of your business operation?
Do you like making money rather than wasting it?
Are you looking for methods that can help you create wealth?
Is Lean Manufacturing right for your company?
Do you even know what Lean Manufacturing is?

Although cutting waste in your company dramatically and seeing an increase in available money because of it sounds elementary, there are business owners who do not implement an effective lean manufacturing plan. In fact, some are unsure that methods of lean manufacturing are even right for their company.

Bringing lean into your total organization

All businesses should strive to bring lean into their total organization. A lean business will enjoy greater success, happier customers, a reduced amount of wasted resources, and a commitment to continually improve.

So what exactly is lean? A lean organization is one that reduces waste throughout the entire process of delivering a product or a service to a customer. By focusing on each step of the process as a whole, it is easier for a business to identify wasteful activities and processes between each step, allowing them to eliminate them and save time and money. This in turn makes the process more productive, resulting in more satisfied customers.

Extend Equipment Life & Productivity with TPM

It�s a manufacturer�s nightmare: You have a short shipping window for delivering a huge order to an important customer, and that one machine that always gives you trouble�the older one that makes the parts used in almost every product you manufacture�decides to break down. All of a sudden you can�t ship product.

That�s where Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) can help. TPM is a process that maximizes the productivity of your equipment for its entire life. It�s a proactive method for predicting and preventing unplanned downtime.

One of the critical building blocks in the lean continuous improvement process, TPM can increase a machine�s capacity by 25%-60%, reduce maintenance costs by 10%-50%, virtually eliminate overtime shifts, and increase productivity and profits. In addition, TPM allows you to carry lower inventory levels because you don�t need to cover unplanned downtime.

Productivity Jump Helps Firm Win Lambeau Contract

You don�t have to be a huge operation with hundreds of employees to reap the benefits of lean manufacturing. Even the smallest of companies see lean as a powerful tool to improve productivity and attract new customers.

Milwaukee-based House of Stone witnessed this firsthand after landing a major contract for the Lambeau Field Renovation Project. The contract represents nearly a 20 percent increase in sales this year for the company, which employs 11 and is located in the heart of Milwaukee�s old industrial district.

House of Stone manufactures granite and marble counter tops used in commercial and residential construction. For the Lambeau project, it will fabricate the DuPont Zodiaq� quartz-surface counter tops used in luxury skyboxes, public restrooms and concession stands.

Lean Reaps Rewards for Build-to-order Manufacturer

CEO Peter Mancuso toured manufacturing companies in Japan and knew that lean manufacturing would improve productivity and cycle times at his company, Lindquist Machine Corporation. He just wasn�t sure how to teach his staff to implement lean principles. A custom machine manufacturer whose core competencies include machining, assembly and project management, Lindquist Machine Corporation employs 200 people in Green Bay.

Mancuso called WMEP for help, and manufacturing specialist David Lange scheduled a series of on-site lean workshops. Each workshop included both Lindquist managers and associates. The company estimates that it�s one of the only manufacturers to formally train all its employees in lean manufacturing. Before long, all Lindquist associates had a solid foundation in lean manufacturing. What once was Mancuso.s vision is Lindquist�s reality. Associates fully understand lean manufacturing and work every day to implement its concepts.

Spacesaver: A TPM Success Story

Line 5, a highly automated coil feed fabrication line and one of the core processes on the shop floor, made every day a challenge at Spacesaver.

"We basically all came in every day and kind of crossed our fingers and asked, �How�s it running today?� It really would determine what your day was like," recalls Jim Muth, vice president of operations at Spacesaver. "The machine was older, it wasn�t consistent or capable of responding quickly enough, and we thought, �We need to replace it, it�s past its time.�"

But a full replacement, with retooling and automation, would have required a capital expenditure of $750,000 to $1 million. "We were willing to try something else first," Muth says.

Spacesaver Corporation, with 475 employees based in Fort Atkinson, manufactures high-density storage solutions, which include mobile and stationary shelving storage systems for the justice, healthcare, library, museum, business, and governmental sectors.

Strategies to Survive and Thrive During the Slowdown

Despite the challenges of the current economic slowdown, there are some things manufacturers can do right now to boost the bottom line � and build a stronger future once the recovery begins.

We�ve talked to some of the experts at WMEP, our customers, and tapped a few of our alliance partners to get their ideas. Some of these strategies offer an almost immediate payback, others require more time. Whatever the case, these strategies can help you reduce costs, rev up your performance, attract new customers and most importantly � strengthen your bottom line.

1. Attack waste �gold mines�
Often the first step in lean manufacturing, value stream mapping identifies waste �gold mines� in your manufacturing processes. A value stream map is a visual representation of all the activities required to bring a product line from raw materials into the hands of the customer. By mapping the flow of material and information, a company can quickly see where costs can be reduced and improvements can be made.

Companies Use Down Time to Invest in Future

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That�s true of many Wisconsin manufacturers who are busy retooling their operations during the current economic slowdown. These manufacturers believe that lean and other improvement strategies will make them stronger and more competitive once the recovery begins.

�When the economy is red hot and companies are swamped with orders, the quest for greater efficiency often takes a back seat to getting product out the door,� says Wayne Raisleger, a Milwaukee based WMEP manufacturing specialist. �It�s a Catch 22: companies need to be more efficient but cannot find the time to do so.� But now that the economy has slowed, those pressures have eased.

�For many companies, this is an ideal time to invest in the future,� says Raisleger. A key reason: employees have more time to participate in training and productivity-enhancing projects.

Setup Reduction Delivers Savings Now and in the Future

In today�s hyper-speed economy, time is money. On the shop floor, that means the amount of time employees spend setting up a machine to run a new batch or order is more important than ever. Wasted minutes and hours - over the course of weeks and months -can take a big bite out of corporate profits.

That�s why a growing number of Wisconsin manufacturers are adopting setup reduction and quick changeover techniques. The money-saving techniques are a tool of lean manufacturing, which focuses on eliminating waste in manufacturing operations. "By shaving minutes and hours off setup times, manufacturers can see dollars drop to the bottom line," says WMEP.s Keith Lodahl, a manufacturing specialist and setup reduction expert. "It�s not uncommon to reduce setup time 50 percent on the first pass."

Once employees learn the techniques, they can apply them again to achieve even greater savings, he adds.

InPro Cuts Lead Time Applying Lean to the Front Office

At InPro Corporation, some customer orders rushed through the system, but moving other orders through was a torturous process�and the company wanted to know why.

InPro, based in Muskego, Wisconsin, has been progressively introducing lean principles into its operations on the shop floor for several years. But more than half of InPro�s 250 employees are in the front office. So the front office became the next logical target.

"We wanted to become more efficient in our office processes and administrative flow," says John Marek, vice president of finance at InPro.

He and several InPro operations managers attended a lean manufacturing workshop. InPro employees also received training in value stream mapping (VSM) and value-added flow analysis (VAFA), both valuable tools for front office process improvement.

Lean Manufacturing Definitions

Lean: Lean manufacturing is the process of analyzing the flow of information and materials in a manufacturing environment and continuously improving the process to achieve enhanced value for the customer.

Waste: Anything that uses resources, but does not add real value to the product or service.

Value Stream Mapping: A tool used to identify the current flow of material and information for a product or process, highlighting the opportunities for improvement that will most significantly improve the production system.

Cellular/Flow Manufacturing: Organizing people and machines into the most efficient combinations to maximize value while minimizing waste.

Arimon Wins Supplier Award, Credits Cell Kaizen

Arimon Technologies, Inc. recently received the Outstanding Supplier Award from a major customer for a manufacturing cell it created during a kaizen blitz event.

�We�ve had 100 percent on-time delivery for more than a year,� says Randy Detjen, Arimon�s lean manufacturing coordinator. Arimon, a wire harness manufacturer, employs about 140 and has plants in Montello and Manitowoc.

The company received the award from Scotsman Ice Systems, a global ice machine manufacturer. Arimon started on the lean journey two years ago. Quality has improved, inventory costs are down and the cell is a �selling� advantage. �We had a prospective customer come in, meet with the team leader and say, �these are the people I want working on my product.� � Detjen said.

Getting Lean Beyond the Shop Floor

Order entry, quoting, scheduling, design and engineering, purchasing, accounting�these and other front office functions can provide an eye-opening opportunity to create improvement, eliminate waste, and increase profits in your business.

Often, however, businesses implementing lean manufacturing bypass the front office and target their manufacturing processes. After all, front offices have paperwork, not inventory, right?

"The greatest opportunities for improvement are often in the non-manufacturing, front office areas. Ineffective front office processes also make it more difficult for manufacturing operations to do the best, most cost-effective work," WMEP manufacturing specialist Brenda Kujawski states. "A lean enterprise must be lean in every area, including the office areas."

Office wastes can be defined in the same lean terms as we apply on the shop floor. These wastes can include:

Kaizen Blitz Events Deliver Quick Savings

Small manufacturers in Wisconsin and across the nation are using kaizen blitz events to get a quick payback on targeted improvements.

A kaizen blitz is a high-impact, intensely focused core component of lean manufacturing. It produces quick results - in five days or less - and often is focused on cellular manufacturing and setup reduction initiatives. In a fully transformed lean company, kaizen blitzes are routine because the focus on improvement and greater efficiency never ends. But the benefits of a blitz can be realized by any manufacturer.

�I�ve seen companies save anywhere from thousands to $100,000,� says Dick Welsch of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP). Welsch, who specializes in facilitating kaizen blitz events, says he has seen instances where a successful blitz �has stopped a huge customer and millions of dollars of business from walking out the door.�

5S/Visual Workplace: Read the Signs and Improve Your Bottom Line

When you enter a roadway, the space is divided into lanes and the shape and color of the lanes� stripes communicate a particular function or rule. Traffic flow is regulated with color-coded signs or signals. Other signs tell you how to get to a particular destination or what food, fuel, and fun can be found at the next exit of the highway. Rumble strips warn you of an upcoming intersection. Parked cars are �shelved� into particular spaces along a street or off the road to allow the flow of other cars. Snow is removed on demand and potholes are filled on a schedule. The roadway operates as an integrated system of people, space, and machines.

Similarly, a manufacturing operation is also an integrated system of people, space, and machines. Recognizing this, we can make significant improvements simply by applying organizing signals, methods, and rules onto the system.

Value Stream Mapping Brings Quick Rewards

In these days of economic uncertainty and increased competition, boosting the bottom line is critical to long-term success. One way to do this is through value stream mapping.

Value stream mapping is a key method of implementing "lean manufacturing" to reduce waste and streamline both material and information flow.

A value stream map identifies all the actions that take a product through the manufacturing process, from obtaining raw materials to delivering the final product. The idea is to draw, on one page, a "map" of the flow of material through production and the flow of information from the customer back to each production process and key supplier.

Pointe Precision LLC in Stevens Point undertook value stream mapping in February 2001. "I learned about it when I attended one of WMEP's 'lean' workshops," says president Joe Kinsella. "Many of our customers come back year after year for price concessions, and we realized we had to reduce waste and become more efficient in order to do this. Value stream mapping was a great place for us to start."

Pull Profits Back into Your System with Pull/Kanban

Producing excess inventory can cause a major drain on margins. The loss incurred by inventory stored for a year can reach as high as 25 percent of the value of the product. In today�s economy, that creates an unacceptable pressure on already tight margins. A major shortcoming of traditional manufacturing, with its emphasis on batch processing, is the cost of production and storage of excess inventory. Not only is overproduction costly, but it is sometimes used to cope with defects within a process rather than tackling quality issues upfront. The characteristic slow turnaround in traditional batch manufacturing also stifles responsiveness to custom orders, thus further limiting customer satisfaction.

Some of the fundamental goals of lean manufacturing include the reduction of waste, increases in productivity and improved quality. Through the use of �pull systems,� companies accomplish these goals, providing the worker with everything required � all the necessary parts, tools, materials, training, guidance, and opportunity � at the right place and at the right time.

Lean Culture Boosts Morale, Retention, Productivity

People have trouble saluting the flag if they can�t see it," said Sam Miller, WMEP manufacturing specialist. In other words, if you expect to get the promised benefits of lean manufacturing, employees need to understand the vision and behaviors necessary to get there. Without that, your improvement efforts will fall short. With an empowering lean culture, employees can be proactive, energized, and drive rapid continuous improvements, bringing in dramatic bottom-line results.

Companies that have successfully instilled a lean culture consistently realize:

More innovative, team-directed solutions
Lower employee turnover
Better success at sustaining improvements
Greater numbers of improvement actions

Get the most from Your Value Stream Mapping

You�ve done value stream mapping and made improvements to your manufacturing process. Productivity is up. You�re getting lean. So what�s next?

According to one of the pioneers of Lean Manufacturing, the answer is, �Do another value stream map.� Toyota says companies don�t get proficient at value stream mapping until they�ve done it at least seven times on the same process.

�As companies do more value stream maps they gain increased benefits,� says WMEP manufacturing specialist Brenda Kujawski. �They learn how to more effectively use Lean tools and find more opportunities for improvement.�

Value stream basics
Value stream mapping is a four-step process that uncovers waste and reveals how to streamline your manufacturing process. First, identify the value stream or process to map. Second, you make a current state map showing the current flow of materials and information needed to make a product. Next, you diagnose problems, suggest changes, and make a future state map representing the improved manufacturing process. Finally, you implement the changes.

To Succeed with Lean Efforts, Manufacturers Must Adopt Lean Accounting Procedures

We all know that "two plus two equals four." But when was the last time you heard someone say, "three plus one equals four"? The total is the same � it�s just a different way of adding figures.

The accounting system within most manufacturing companies isn�t much different. Accountants tend to use the same method of adding up the numbers as they have for years. In essence, as long as a system is turning out parts, the people who keep track of income and expenses interpret it as machining efficiency, which is easily quantifiable. Unfortunately, such accounting mentality is only encouraging and rewarding unnecessary overproduction.

According to lean experts, traditional methods of accounting and measurement can become a hindrance to any manufacturing business today, and can be particularly damaging to a company trying to implement a Lean Program.

Creating the Lean Enterprise: System-Wide Approach Provides

Today�s competitive marketplace requires faster response, better service, added value, and lower prices. How can you address eroding profit margins, challenges to market share, and increasing costs? How can you create an operation that is not only successful today but is also sustainable despite these ongoing challenges?

The solution may lie in creating a strategic shift within your company. Many companies now have set their sights on becoming a �Lean Enterprise.� This bigger- picture, long-term approach to lean manufacturing provides sustainable, enterprise-wide improvement that far outweighs the benefits of more intermittent lean implementation efforts.

One Wisconsin firm that embarked on a lean enter-prise journey three years ago reported over $4 million in new sales and $6 million in retained sales this year alone. As a result of the company-wide approach to lean improvements, the firm met customer demands for a 6 percent price reduction and beat its competitors� pricing, while maintaining a healthy profit margin.