Lean Manufacturing. Created in the 1950s by the Toyota Motor Company of Japan, lean manufacturing introduced the concept of refining your processes to eliminate waste and improve efficiency through the production cycle. It became -and still is- the default manufacturing system for industries all over the world.
However, the face of manufacturing has changed considerably over the last few decades and in no small part thanks to modern technology. Coupled with new global competition, government regulations, and the internet-era, and suddenly you’ve got many manufacturers asking the same question; where does lean manufacturing fit into this new world order?
LEAN MANUFACTURING: THE NEXT GENERATION
As the times change, so too must lean manufacturing methodologies. Some would argue that modern technologies such as ERP systems go against the minimalist approach that lean promotes by adding more steps to your processes and providing too much information to sift through. Others claim that these new interconnected and real-time data technologies are more of a boon to the lean manufacturing mindset, providing critical information and analytics that will bolster your processes and drive better decisions down the road.
The key take-away from these discussions is that we need to re-evaluate our manufacturing processes, both in light of newer technology but also in keeping with lean principles. Whereas efficiency is always a bonus that is provided by modern ERP systems, waste is still a factor that needs to be addressed. Are there processes that could be made redundant? Is there data that is being ignored? We need to analyze what’s different in todays manufacturing field and determine how, if at all, can lean methods be applied to a 21st century landscape.
Here are the biggest changes to the manufacturing industry that need to be understood when considering your lean approach:
- Technology is your friend, not your enemy – originally, early adopters of lean methodologies abhorred the overly technical and clunky technological additions to the manufacturing process prevalent in the 60s and 70s. Eliminating this “waste” made sense back then, but today technology is integral to the smooth and efficient running of any business by eliminating the waste caused by manual processes. Todays lean practices need to take into account the technologies that can help and the ones that will hinder the manufacturing process.
- Identifying the right technology – ERP, Business Intelligence, and other modern business software solutions have become integral in adding efficiency to scheduling production, tracking inventory, synchronizing material flows and increasing visibility across the supply chain. The “Just-in-Time” inventory mentality so prevalent for much of lean manufacturing’s history is now being replaced by a need to be more predictive and insightful. Manufacturers need to know what their customers want—to do so, they are turning to “Big Data” and predictive analytics.
- Government regulations – New regulations emerge in specific industries all the time, forcing companies to reexamine and reconfigure processes. The Food Safety Act is an example of a new law that is causing many companies to completely rework how they manufacture their products. This is where digital technology can be a huge boon to manufacturers, automating certain elements to take into account the newest changes to their processes.
- The Internet Era – Customer service has seen a huge change with the advent of Social Media. The information provided by these new services and the rest of the internet needs to be captured; it may seem wasteful to an old-school lean manufacturer, but this information can be critical in gaining new customers and retaining old ones. Trends can be identified and incorporated into the manufacturing process, which can in turn actually improve a lean-based system.
Lean manufacturing is still the most relevant business practice. However, just like everything else in manufacturing, the process must be regularly evaluated to keep up with the organizational and technological changes happening all around it. Whether it occurs via more conversations between C-level executives and their shop floor managers, or completely revamping well used manufacturing methods, lean is not going away anytime soon. We’re just in a new phase of innovation and transformation, and we can bring lean manufacturing ideals with us if we just take the time to analyze where it fits.