They are seven categories of muda (waste)
1. Over production ahead of demand
2. Waiting for the next process step of
information
3. Transporting materials unnecessarily
4. Over and non-value added processing
5. Inventory that is more than bare minimum
6. Motion by employees that is unnecessarily
7. Producing non-conforming parts
The amazing fact is that at
least 95% of cycle time in a
non-lean factory or office is consisted of non-value added activities!
Lean thinking or
principle can be applied in service industry as well as in
manufacturing industry to reduce lead time, improve quality
and productivity by eliminating wastes in the system. Below is
example
of wastes in the call center.
| 1.
Overproduction |
→ |
Send all information to everyone |
| 2. Waiting |
→ |
People waiting for
information |
| 3. Transportation |
→ |
Call transfers to many
operators |
| 4. Processing |
→ |
Excessive approvals for
information release |
| 5. Inventory |
→ |
Caller awaiting to be
answered |
| 6. Motion |
→ |
Retrieve printed
instruction manual |
| 7. Defect |
→ |
Errors in information
provided to callers |
Lean Principle
Perfection is the ultimate goal
of lean journey, starting from
Customer Value >> The
Value Stream >> Flow >> Pull >> Perfection
The DNA of
Toyota Production System (TPS)
Many companies try to imitate
Toyota Production System, but most of them fail to achieve the
performance of Toyota. The tools and practices such as Kanban
pull system, U-shaped cell, leveled production, standard work, Jidoka,
etc. that have received attention are not fundamental to TPS,
they are responses to site-specific challenges.
The Rules-In-Use or DNA
differentiates TPS from other production systems. In short,
there are three rules for Design and Operation, and for two
rules for improvement.
Rule 1: Design
and perform each activity so that it is structured and
self-diagnostic.
IE
Time and Motion Study; Standard work; Visual Aids; Value
Stream Map
Rule 2: Design
and operate each customer-supplier connection so that it is
direct, binary and self-diagnostic.
Kanban; Leveled Scheduling
Rule 3: Design
and operate the flow-path for every goods, service and
information so that it is simple, pre-specified, and
self-diagnostic.
U-shaped Cell, 5S Visual Aids;
Andon Signal
Rule 4:
Improve and solve
problems regarding activities using scientific method, under the guidance of a
teacher (Sensei), as the lowest possible level in the
organization.
QCC,
Kaizen Event; TPM
Rule 5: Improve
and solve problems regarding connections and flow-path using
the scientific method, under the guidance of a teacher
(Sensei), as the lowest possible level in the organization.
5W;
Ishikawa Diagram; Jidoka; Taguchi DOE
The key is line workers
are doing improvement works under the expert guidance of a
Lean Sensei and being fully supported by top management.
Besides that, scientific method such as to hypothesis, test and
verify the problems/results/improvement plans are an intrinsic
part of TPS.
