DIKW – Lean Manufacturing

Lean was originally created by Toyota to eliminate waste and inefficiency in its manufacturing
operations. The process became so successful that it has been embraced in manufacturing sectors
around the world. For an American company, being lean is critical for competing against lower-cost
countries.

Five Key Principles

The Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), founded by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones in 1997, is
considered the go-to resource for lean wisdom, training, and seminars. According to Womack and Jones,
there are five key lean principles: value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection.

Also for you: Experiential Learning and Cooperative Education Pay Off

1. Value. Value is always defined by the customer’s needs for a specific product. For example, what is
the timeline for manufacturing and delivery? What is the price point? What are other important
requirements or expectations that must be met? This information is vital for defining value.

2. Value stream. Once the value (end goal) has been determined, the next step is mapping the “value
stream,” or all the steps and processes involved in taking a specific product from raw materials and
delivering the final product to the customer. Value-stream mapping is a simple but eye-opening
experience that identifies all the actions that take a product or service through any process. That
process can be in design, production, procurement, HR, administration, delivery, or customer service.
The idea is to draw, on one page, a "map" of the flow of material/product through the process. The goal
is to identify every step that does not create value and then find ways to eliminate those wasteful steps.
Value-stream mapping is sometimes referred to as process re-engineering. Ultimately this exercise also
results in a better understanding of the entire business operation.

3. Flow. After the waste has been removed from the value stream, the next step is to be sure the
remaining steps flow smoothly with no interruptions, delays, or bottlenecks. “Make the value-creating
steps occur in tight sequence so that the product or service will flow smoothly toward the customer,”
advises LEI. This may require breaking down silo thinking and making the effort to become cross-
functional across all departments, which can be one of the greatest challenges for lean programs to
overcome. However, studies show that this will also lead to huge gains in productivity and efficiency,
sometimes as high as 50-percent improvement or more.

4. Pull. With improved flow, time to market (or time to customer) can be dramatically improved. This
makes it much easier to deliver products as needed, as in “just in time” manufacturing or delivery. This
means the customer can “pull” the product from you as needed (often in weeks, instead of months). As
a result, products don’t need to be built in advance or materials stockpiled, creating expensive inventory
that needs to be managed, saving money for both the manufacturer/provider and the customer.

5. Perfection. Accomplishing Steps 1-4 is a great start, but the fifth step is perhaps the most important:
making lean thinking and process improvement part of your corporate culture. As gains continue to pile
DIKW – Lean Manufacturing

up, it is important to remember lean is not a static system and requires constant effort and vigilance to
perfect. Every employee should be involved in implementing lean. Lean experts often say that a process
is not truly lean until it has been through value-stream mapping at least half a dozen times.

5S

5S is often the launching point for businesses just starting with lean manufacturing. Much of 5S seems
intuitive, but implementing each step can result in significant improvements in efficiency and quality.

 Sort - Organize every workspace by separating the necessary (materials, tools) from the
unnecessary (waste, scrap, redundancies) and remove anything unnecessary from the
production area. The first S—sort—requires assemblers to remove all items not needed for
current production operations. Only the bare essentials should be left. When in doubt, throw it
out.

 Set In Order - lay out the necessary inputs of production (tools and materials) in an easy,
intuitive manner

 Shine - Clean the workspace and remove any clutter

 Standardize - Make a list of instructions for repeating the first three steps, so that any employee
who arrives in the workspace knows exactly how to proceed

 Sustain - Rinse and repeat. Sort, Set In Order and Shine on a regular basis, so that the workspace
stays clean and clutter-free at all times.

5 S processes as understood:

1. Sort – Identify the mandatory and not so mandatory and remove anything from the unnecessary
from the production area. Only the bare essentials should be left and rest removed. To remove
everything that is not required from the production area. An assembly station that’s crowded
DIKW – Lean Manufacturing

with unnecessary stuff is hard to work in. Assemblers waste time searching for parts and tools.
Unneeded inventory and machinery are costly to maintain and hide production problems
2. Set in order: Means arranging items so that they are easy to use. Items should be labeled so
anyone can easily find them or put them away. This saves time and energy spent looking for
things
3. Shine: Keeping neat and clean every day. The workplace should be turned into a clean, bright
place where everyone will enjoy working. Tools and equipment should be kept in working order
so they’re ready to be used when needed.
4. Standardize
5. Sustain

Time wasted searching for things is a prime target for improvement. It’s not unusual for a three-hour
changeover routine to include 30 minutes of searching. To radically reduce changeover time, there is
clearly no room for 30 minutes of searching waste.

Value-stream mapping can be used in the 5S process to analyze material, process and information flows.
This map is critical for identifying opportunities for workplace organization and housekeeping
improvements. The goal is to eliminate processes that don’t add value and support processes that do.