taktik(z)» Lean Production Category Archive | 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 a Target for Elimination — taktik(z): Serving the Industrial Manufacturing Markets | Government, Defense and Infrastructure http://taktikz.com/blog Optimizing Industrial Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:27:59 +0000 en hourly 1 What is Kaizen?http://taktikz.com/blog/2009/10/10/what-is-kaizen/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2009/10/10/what-is-kaizen/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:18:02 +0000 taktik(z) http://taktikz.com/blog/?p=13434 Kaizen was created in Japan following World War II. The word Kaizen means “continuous improvement”. It comes from the Japanese words 改 (“kai”) which means “change” or “to correct” and å–„ (“zen”) which means “good”.

Kaizen is a system that involves every employee – from upper management to the cleaning crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis. This is not a once a month or once a year activity. It is continuous. Japanese companies, such as Toyota and Canon, a total of 60 to 70 suggestions per employee per year are written down, shared and implemented.

In most cases these are not ideas for major changes. Kaizen is based on making little changes on a regular basis: always improving productivity, safety and effectiveness while reducing waste.

Suggestions are not limited to a specific area such as production or marketing. Kaizen is based on making changes anywhere that improvements can be made. Western philosophy may be summarized as, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The Kaizen philosophy is to “do it better, make it better, improve it even if it isn’t broken, because if we don’t, we can’t compete with those who do.”

Kaizen in Japan is a system of improvement that includes both home and business life. Kaizen even includes social activities. It is a concept that is applied in every aspect of a person’s life.

In business Kaizen encompasses many of the components of Japanese businesses that have been seen as a part of their success. Quality circles, automation, suggestion systems, just-in-time delivery, Kanban and 5S are all included within the Kaizen system of running a business.

Kaizen involves setting standards and then continually improving those standards. To support the higher standards Kaizen also involves providing the training, materials and supervision that is needed for employees to achieve the higher standards and maintain their ability to meet those standards on an on-going basis.

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]]> http://taktikz.com/blog/2009/10/10/what-is-kaizen/feed/ 0 What is Five S?http://taktikz.com/blog/2009/10/10/what-is-five-s/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2009/10/10/what-is-five-s/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:17:49 +0000 taktik(z) http://taktikz.com/blog/?p=13435 5S is a basic, fundamental, systematic approach for productivity, quality and safety improvement in all types of business.

A Five S program is usually a part of, and the key component of establishing a Visual Workplace. and are both a part of Kaizen — a system of continual improvement — which is a component of lean manufacturing.

The Five S program focuses on having visual order, organization, cleanliness and standardization. The results you can expect from a Five S program are: improved profitability, efficiency, service and safety.

The principles underlying a Five S program at first appear to be simple, obvious common sense. And they are. But until the advent of Five S programs many businesses ignored these basic principles.

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]]> http://taktikz.com/blog/2009/10/10/what-is-five-s/feed/ 0 Lean Distribution: Shaping Up to Ship Outhttp://taktikz.com/blog/2008/06/10/lean-distribution-shaping-up-to-ship-out/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/06/10/lean-distribution-shaping-up-to-ship-out/#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:28:19 +0000 knowlimit In the quest for the lean value chain, the objective in the warehouse is no different than it is in the factory:

Keep material flowing with the fewest possible touches and wasted movement from order picking through packing and shipping.

Read more: Lean Distribution: Shaping Up to Ship Out

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]]> http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/06/10/lean-distribution-shaping-up-to-ship-out/feed/ 0 Kaizen Boosts Manufacturing Efficiency by 58%http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/06/09/kaizen-boosts-manufacturing-efficiency-by-58/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/06/09/kaizen-boosts-manufacturing-efficiency-by-58/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:26:54 +0000 knowlimit LAI International conducts Kaizen event on production of gas turbine component.

Read more: Kaizen Event Boosts Manufacturing Efficiency in Key Process by 58%

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]]> http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/06/08/taktikz-links-2008-159-11/feed/ 0 5 Barriers to Kaizenhttp://taktikz.com/blog/2008/05/04/5-barriers-to-kaizen/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/05/04/5-barriers-to-kaizen/#comments Sun, 04 May 2008 21:58:13 +0000 taktik(z) http://taktikz.com/blog/?p=2165 Thoughts based on organizational culture, leadership and constant improvement.

5 Barriers to Kaizen

  • 1. Insecure Leadership
  • 2. My Way or the Highway
  • 3. Fat on Resources
  • 4. Unmotivated or Ill-equipped employees
  • 5. Promotion by Numbers

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]]> http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/05/04/5-barriers-to-kaizen/feed/ 0 Trivia: Downtime Costs $22k per Minutehttp://taktikz.com/blog/2008/04/29/taktikz-trivia-downtime-costs-22k-per-minute/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/04/29/taktikz-trivia-downtime-costs-22k-per-minute/#comments Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:15:36 +0000 taktik(z) http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/04/29/taktikz-trivia-downtime-costs-22k-per-minute/ It costs manufacturers on average $22,000 per minute when production stops.
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]]> http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/04/29/taktikz-trivia-downtime-costs-22k-per-minute/feed/ 0 Lean Manufacturing and Consistencyhttp://taktikz.com/blog/2008/04/21/lean-manufacturing-and-consistency-heijunka/ http://taktikz.com/blog/2008/04/21/lean-manufacturing-and-consistency-heijunka/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:29:50 +0000 knowlimit Consistency is a key work in lean manufacturing.

Consistency in effort, consistency in innovation and improvement and consistency in vision throughout the organization is the key to successful lean implementation. Consistency in manufacturing is also known as heijunka in lean context.

In very simple terms this is about leveling the activities to manage the processes easily with little variation. Higher variation in product volumes and mix creates peaks and valleys in the process. Handling peaks requires additional resources while idling is a direct result of valleys.

Peaks needs additional resources like human, machine and time. This puts extra stress on machinery, people and systems. On the other hand when the volumes are low the resources would be idling. This obviously is a loss to the organization. In lean it is very important to measure the effects on the total organization. There is no point in rushing to finish an order which will reach the customer in two weeks time.

The backbone of lean is JIT (Just In Time) technique. In simple JIT is about fulfilling the customer demand in correct quantities, when they want it. Although the pull system is a main concept of lean, it should be optimized in the bigger picture to obtain the best output. This is why the concept of heijunka is very important in lean.

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