What is exactly is lean manufacturing? How mathematical does one have to be to pursue a career in it as an Analyst after college?
Lean Manufacturing is an operational strategy oriented toward achieving the shortest possible cycle time by eliminating waste. It is derived from the Toyota Production System and its key thrust is to increase the value-added work by eliminating waste and reducing incidental work. The technique often decreases the time between a customer order and shipment, and it is designed to radically improve profitability, customer satisfaction, throughput time, and employee morale. The benefits generally are lower costs, higher quality, and shorter lead times. The term "lean manufacturing" is coined to represent half the human effort in the company, half the manufacturing space, half the investment in tools, and half the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time. The characteristics of lean processes are: · Make to order · Single-piece production · Just-In-Time materials/pull scheduling · Short cycle times · Highly flexible and responsive processes · Highly flexible machines and equipment · Quick changeover · Continuous flow work cells · Collocated machines, equipment, tools and people · Compressed space · Multi-skilled employees · Empowered employees · High first-pass yields with major reductions in defects Lean Manufacturing incorporates the use of Heijunka, level sequential flow, Takt time, the heartbeat or pace of the production system, continuous flow manufacturing, cellular manufacturing, and pull production scheduling techniques such as Kanban. Sort of mix JIP, DFT, TQM, and Supply Chain Management, and Walla - Lean Manufacturing. It is the best way to manufacture? For the person doing the manufacturing, yes. For supplies -- not really (the bottom line that someone has to hold a stock of the materials, and it is usually the one at the bottom of the food chain) http://rockfordconsulting.com/lean.htm
Mr. Engineer did an excellent job defining lean manufacturing. One does not have to have a PhD in Mathematics or Statistics to be a lean manufacturing analyst. For instance, Mr. Engineer mentioned DFT which stands for Demand Flow Technology. It is a math-based system, but the math level does not exceed high school Algebra. Honestly. (For more info on DFT, visit www.jcit.com. They have the best program in the world IMO.) If you want to be an analyst, you should first pursue a career in the real manufacturing setting, perhaps as a manufacturing engineer. Nothing beats hands-on experience. You wouldn't want to be an analyst without having experienced setting up assembly lines, running Kaizen events, conducting time studies, etc... Good luck.
Does this have any future in the Western post industrial societies? Only SME seem to keep up, but, having less funds for research, which was the differentiating element, for how long can they keep with the brutal competition overseas? I am not so sure a manufacturing careeer is the best idea right now. Perhaps it is.
Lean Production (manufacturing), as defined by IIE, - manufacturing activities performed with a specific objective of minimizing inventory related costs and activities. As an analyst, one of your main considerations is on identifying non-value-added activities such as the seven major forms of waste identified by the “Toyota Production System”: 1. waste from overproduction 2. waste from waiting 3. transportation waste 4. processing waste 5. inventory waste 6. waste of motion, and 7. waste from product defects. The ABCs of waste constitute activities, behaviors, and conditions. Ask questions as you map the value streams using ABC as checklist: 1. what Activities are happening here? Do the activities add value or waste time? 2. what Behaviors are demonstrated , lean or wasteful? 3. do Conditions foster an environment of urgency or they permit waste? This list of activities, behaviors, and conditions can help the analyst identify waste: 1. facility layout 2. excessive setup times 3. incapable process 4. poor preventive maintenance 5. uncontrolled work method 6. lack of training 7. lack of workplace organization 8. lack of supplier quality and reliability 9. lack of concern (accountability) 10. passing on defective parts 11. not communicating improvements 12. redundant counting or ticketing Although math might be of great importance here for some statistical computation, but IMO, one doesn’t really have to. What matters most for an analyst to be effective in the Lean Approach is to: 1. be a part of the solution 2. be an agent for change 3. be a flag waver for continuous improvement 4. be a manager of time 5. be the best you can be 6. allow others to be the best they can be 7. be a horn blower when you see waste 8. be an advocate for perfection 9. be a disciple of “Lean” within the organization 10. and when you are done… pass it on (for others to learn and practice) The Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and many other societies have more to guide you on this subject. I hope this helps.
