MODULE 2

LEAN ELEMENTS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

LEARNING OUTCOMES

TLO 2: Understand and apply appropriate approaches to project using lean tools and
techniques.

Open Forum: Watch the link below and share your insights about the video.
Answer not more than 20 sentences and not less than 10 sentences. Submit
your answer to Open Forum M2 in the Google Classroom under classwork.

[Link]
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Evolution of Lean

Lean Manufacturing is not especially new. It derives from the Toyota Production System or Just In
Time Production, Henry Ford and other predecessors.
The lineage of Lean manufacturing and Just In Time (JIT) Production goes back to Eli Whitney and
the concept of interchangeable parts. This article traces the high points of that long history.
Early Developments
Eli Whitney is most famous as the inventor of the cotton gin. However, the gin was a minor
accomplishment compared to his perfection of interchangeable parts. Whitney developed this
about 1799 when he took a contract from the U.S. Army for the manufacture of 10,000 muskets at
the unbelievably low price of $13.40 each.
.
For the next 100 years manufacturers primarily concerned themselves with individual technologies.
During this time our system of engineering drawings developed, modern machine tools were
perfected and large scale processes such as the Bessemer process for making steel held the center
of attention.
As products moved from one discrete process to the next through the logistics system and within
factories, few people concerned themselves with:
 What happened between processes
 How multiple processes were arranged within the factory
 How the chain of processes functioned as a system.
 How each worker went about a task

Eli Whitney
Originator of interchangeable parts.

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This changed in the late 1890's with the work of early Industrial Engineers.
Frederick W. Taylor began to look at individual workers and work methods. The result was Time Study
and standardized work. He called his ideas Scientific Management. Taylor was a controversial
figure. The concept of applying science to management was sound but Taylor simply ignored the
behavioral sciences. In addition, he had a peculiar attitude towards factory workers.

Frederick W. Taylor
Originator of Scientific Management

Frank Gilbreth (Cheaper By The Dozen) added Motion Study and invented Process Charting. Process
charts focused attention on all work elements including those non-value added elements which
normally occur between the "official" elements.
Lillian Gilbreth brought psychology into the mix by studying the motivations of workers and how
attitudes affected the outcome of a process. There were, of course, many other contributors. These
were the people who originated the idea of "eliminating waste", a key tenet of JIT and Lean
Manufacturing.

Frank & Lillian Gilbreth

Industrial engineers and inventors of Process Charting.

The Ford System

Starting about 1910, Ford and his right-hand-man, Charles E. Sorensen, fashioned the first
comprehensive Manufacturing Strategy. They took all the elements of a manufacturing system--
people, machines, tooling, and products-- and arranged them in a continuous system for
manufacturing the Model T automobile. Ford was so incredibly successful he quickly became one
of the world's richest men and put the world on wheels. Ford is considered by many to be the first
practitioner of Just In Time and Lean Manufacturing.

Henry Ford

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Ford's success inspired many others to copy his methods. But most of those who copied did not
understand the fundamentals. Ford assembly lines were often employed for products and processes
that were unsuitable for them.
It is even doubtful that Henry Ford himself fully understood what he had done and why it was so
successful. When the world began to change, the Ford system began to break down and Henry
Ford refused to change the system.
For example, Ford production depended on a labor force that was so desperate for money and
jobs that workers would sacrifice their dignity and self esteem. (See Maslow & Motivation) The
prosperity of the 1920's and the advent of labor unions produced conflict with the Ford
system. Product proliferation also put strains on the Ford system. Annual model changes, multiple
colors, and options did not fit well in Ford factories.
At General Motors, Alfred P. Sloan took a more pragmatic approach. He developed business and
manufacturing strategies for managing very large enterprises and dealing with variety. By the mid
1930's General Motors had passed Ford in domination of the automotive market. Yet, many
elements of Ford production were sound, even in the new age. Ford methods were a deciding
factor in the Allied victory of World War II.
Ironically, Henry Ford hated war and refused to build armaments long after war was inevitable.
However, when Ford plants finally retooled for war production, they did so on a fantastic scale as
epitomized by the Willow Run Bomber plant that built "A bomber An Hour."

Toyota Production System

The Allied victory and the massive quantities of material behind it (see "A Bomber An Hour") caught
the attention of Japanese industrialists. They studied American production methods with particular
attention to Ford practices and the Statistical Quality Control practices of Ishikawa, Edwards
Deming, and Joseph Juran.

One of the originators of the Toyota Production System.

At Toyota Motor Company, Taichii Ohno and Shigeo Shingo, began to incorporate Ford
production and other techniques into an approach called Toyota Production System or Just In
Time . They recognized the central role of inventory.

Taiichi Ohno

The Toyota people also recognized that the Ford system had contradictions and shortcomings,
particularly with respect to employees. With General Douglas MacAurthur actively promoting
labor unions in the occupation years, Ford's harsh attitudes and demeaning job structures were
unworkable in post-war Japan. They were also unworkable in the American context, but that
would not be evident for some years. America's "Greatest Generation" carried over attitudes from
the Great Depression that made the system work in spite of its defects.

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Toyota soon discovered that factory workers had far more to contribute than just muscle power.
This discovery probably originated in the Quality Circle movement. Ishikawa, Deming, and Juran
all made major contributions to the quality movement. It culminated in team
development and cellular manufacturing.

Shigeo Shingo
Pioneer of TPS & Industrial Engineer extraordinaire.

Another key discovery involved product variety. The Ford system was built around a single, never
changing product. It did not cope well with multiple or new products.
Shingo, at Ohno's suggestion, went to work on the setup and changeover problem. Reducing
setups to minutes and seconds allowed small batches and an almost continuous flow like the
original Ford concept. It introduced a flexibility that Henry Ford thought he did not need.
All of this took place between about 1949 and 1975. To some extent it spread to other Japanese
companies. When the productivity and quality gains became evident to the outside world,
American executives traveled to Japan to study it.
They brought back, mostly, the superficial aspects like kanban cards and quality circles. Most early
attempts to emulate Toyota failed because they were not integrated into a complete system and
because few understood the underlying principles.
Norman Bodek first published the works of Shingo and Ohno in English. He did much to transfer this
knowledge and build awareness in the Western world. Robert Hall and Richard Schonberger also
wrote popular books.
World Class Manufacturing
By the 1980's some American manufacturers, such as Omark Industries, General Electric and
Kawasaki (Lincoln, Nebraska) were achieving success.
Former collaborator of James Womack and reputed originator of the term "Lean Manufacturing."
Consultants took up the campaign and acronyms sprouted like weeds: World Class Manufacturing
(WCM), Stockless Production, Continuous Flow Manufacturing (CFM), and many other names all
referred to systems that were, essentially, Toyota Production. Gradually, a knowledge and
experience base developed and success stories became more frequent.
Lean Manufacturing
The Machine That Changed The World. Womack's book was a straightforward account of the
history of automobile manufacturing combined with a comparative study of Japanese, American,
and European automotive assembly plants. What was new was a phrase-- "Lean Manufacturing."
Lean Manufacturing caught the imagination of manufacturing people in many countries. Lean
implementations are now commonplace. The knowledge and experience base is expanding
rapidly.

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Lean Manufacturing Timeline
There is no cookbook for manufacturing. Each firm has its own unique set of products, processes,
people, and history. While certain principles may be immutable, their application is
not. Manufacturing Strategy will always be a difficult, uncertain, and individual
process. Strategy ("The General's Art") is still, largely, an art. But, that should not prevent us from
bringing the available science to bear on the problem.

7 Wastes of Lean Manufacturing

The seven wastes of Lean Manufacturing are what we are aiming to remove from our processes
by removing the causes of Mura and Muri as well as tackling Muda directly. But what exactly are
the seven wastes of Lean Manufacturing (or 7 Mudas)?

The Seven Wastes of Lean Manufacturing are;

 Transport
 Inventory
 Motion
 Waiting
 Over-Processing
 Overproduction
 Defects

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How to Remember the 7 Wastes
There are a couple of Simple Mnemonics that you can use to help you remember the 7 Wastes. The
first is to ask your self “Who is TIM WOOD?”

TIMWOOD

1. Transport
2. Inventory
3. Motion
4. Waiting
5. Over Processing
6. Over Production
7. Defects

TimWood comes from Standard-Cooper in the UK in the Automotive Industry. It is now probably the
most recognized way of remembering the seven wastes.
An alternative is

WORMPIT;

1. Waiting
2. Over Production
3. Rejects
4. Motion
5. Processing
6. Inventory
7. Transport

What Exactly is Waste?

The simplest way to describe waste is as “Something that adds no Value.” Customers would not be
happy to pay for any action that we take that does not add value to what they actually want and
nor should we be.
Would you be happy if you received a bill in a restaurant that included a meal that was prepared
in error? If you buy a product in a store the price that you pay will contain costs that you would not
want to pay. Would you want to pay for the machine operators wages while they sat idle waiting
for a delivery, or for the rework processes that had to be undertaken because the machine was
incorrectly set, or even for storing your product for three months before it was delivered to the
store? These wastes are included within the cost of your products, either inflating the price you pay
or reducing the profit of the company.
Why Remove Waste?
Profit is selling price less costs, no matter how you think about the selling price it is very much dictated
by the market not by yourself. If you charge too much then your customers will go elsewhere, even
if you charge too little you may lose customers as they will perceive there may be something wrong
with what you are offering. Therefore the only way you have to improve your profits are to reduce
your costs; this means removing all elements of waste from your processes.

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In addition to improving your profits you will find that waste has a major impact on your customer’s
satisfaction with your products and services. Your customers want on time delivery, perfect quality
and at the right price. Something that you cannot achieve if you allow the 7 wastes to persist within
your processes.
The Waste of Transport

Transportation is a waste and costs you money.

Transport is the movement of materials from one location to another, this is a waste as it adds zero
value to the product. Why would your customer (or you for that matter) want to pay for an
operation that adds no value?
Transport adds no value to the product, you as a business are paying people to move material
from one location to another, a process that only costs you money and makes nothing for you.
The waste of Transport can be a very high cost to your business, you need people to operate it
and equipment such as trucks or fork trucks to undertake this expensive movement of materials.
The Waste of Inventory

Inventory Hides Problems

Inventory costs you money, every piece of product tied up in raw material, work in progress or
finished goods has a cost and until it is actually sold that cost is yours. In addition to the pure cost of
your inventory it adds many other costs; inventory feeds many other wastes.
Inventory has to be stored, it needs space, it needs packaging and it has to be transported around.
It has the chance of being damaged during transport and becoming obsolete. The waste of
Inventory hides many of the other wastes in your systems.

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 The Waste of Motion

Excessive motion of either people or a machine is a waste.

Unnecessary motions are those movements of man or machine which are not as small or as easy
to achieve as possible, by this I mean bending down to retrieve heavy objects at floor level when
they could be fed at waist level to reduce stress and time to retrieve. Excessive travel between
work stations, excessive machine movements from start point to work start point are all examples
of the waste of Motion.
All of these wasteful motions cost you time (money) and cause stress on your employees and
machines, after all even robots wear out.

The Waste of Waiting

Eliminate the waste of waiting to make your processes smoother

How often do you spend time waiting for an answer from another department in your organization,
or waiting for a delivery from a supplier or an engineer to come and fix a machine? We tend to
spend an enormous amount of time waiting for things in our working lives (and personal lives too),
this is an obvious waste.
The Waste of Waiting disrupts flow, one of the main principles of Lean Manufacturing, as such it is
one of the more serious of the seven wastes or 7 mudas of lean manufacturing.

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The waste of Overproduction

Over producing what the customer does not want now is a waste
The most serious of all of the seven wastes; the waste of overproduction is making too much or too
early. This is usually because of working with oversize batches, long lead times, poor supplier relations
and a host of other reasons. Overproduction leads to high levels of inventory which mask many of
the problems within your organization.
The aim should be to make only what is required when it is required by the customer, the
philosophy of Just in Time (JIT), however many companies work on the principle of Just in Case!

The Waste of Over-processing

Doing More than the customer wants costs you money

The waste of Overprocessing is where we use inappropriate techniques, oversize equipment,
working to tolerances that are too tight, perform processes that are not required by the customer
and so forth. All of these things cost us time and money.
One of the biggest examples of over-processing in most companies is that of the “mega
machine” that can do an operation faster than any other, but every process flow has to be
routed through it causing scheduling complications, delays and so forth. In lean; small is beautiful,
use small appropriate machines where they are needed in the flow, not break the flow to route
through a highly expensive monstrosity that the accountants insist is kept busy!

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The Waste of Defects

Defects hide many other problems and wastes

The most obvious of the seven wastes, although not always the easiest to detect before they reach
your customers. Quality errors that cause defects invariably cost you far more than you expect.
Every defective item requires rework or replacement, it wastes resources and materials, it creates
paperwork, it can lead to lost customers.
The Waste of Defects should be prevented where possible, better to prevent than to try to detect
them, implementation of pokayoke systems and autonomation can help to prevent defects from
occurring.

Additional wastes
Waste of Talent; failing to make use of the people within your organization. This is an issue that
many of our companies in the West fail to address. We still tend to operate within a command
and control environment and take little real notice of what our employees really think and what
they can contribute. Your employees are your greatest asset by far and can help you to drive out
many of the other wastes.

Waste of resources; failure to make efficient use of electricity, gas, water. Not only does this waste
cost you money it is also a burden on our environment and society as a whole.
Wasted materials; too often off-cuts and other by products are just sent to landfill rather than
being utilized elsewhere.

Eliminating the Seven Wastes

Eliminating the seven wastes is something that can be done through the implementation of Lean
and the various lean tools, however the focus of your implementation should not be to identify and
remove waste. Instead you should use the principles of lean manufacturing to identify value
according to the customer and make those value adding processes flow through your organization
at the pull of the customer. This approach helps you to make your value adding processes more
efficient and causes the waste to literally “dissolve.”
Approaching lean from a perspective of removing the 7 wastes rather than making value flow
however usually ends up with us making non-value adding processes more efficient and we get

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better and better at doing things that the customer does not want. To eliminate the 7 wastes of lean
we have to focus on the lean principles and value as perceived by customers.

Twitter

VALUE STREAM MAPPING

What is Value Stream Mapping?

Value stream mapping is defined as a lean-management tool for analyzing the current state and
designing a future state for the process that takes a product or service from its inception to the
customer, minimizing as much waste as possible. Put simply, it lets you review the steps within the
process that takes your product from start to finish, so you can discover ways to cut waste and make
the process as lean as possible. Reducing waste and making your process as lean as possible
increases efficiency and productivity while also allowing waste to be more easily identified. Value
stream mapping is part of the Six Sigma methodology for going lean.
Value stream mapping uses a flowchart with a series of standardized symbols to denote various
work streams and information flows. Each item listed in the process is viewed through the customer's
point of view and mapped as adding value or not adding value; the purpose being to root things
that don't add value. Standard value stream maps are drawn with value-adding steps across the
center of the map, while non-value-adding steps are drawn as vertical lines at right angles to the
value stream. This makes activities easily separated into the value stream.

Value stream mapping can be applied to any process that has repeatable steps and multiple
handoff points. In a manufacturing process, these handoffs are fairly easy to identify since they
involve tangible things physically changing hands. For example, it's fairly easy to visualize
procurement ordering spare parts, the parts being shipped from the manufacturer to the plant, the
plant receiving the spare parts and storing them, and so on.

We've already eluded to one benefit of value stream mapping, but let's take a look at how it can
help your organization's sustainability, as well as go over a few challenges it can present. The
benefits include:

 Improving your organization's bottom line by reducing or eliminating waste and

discovering the root cause or source of the waste.

 Visualization is an effective communication tool. After sources of waste have been

identified, your organization can standardize improved behavior, communication and
collaboration.

 Individual opinions are set aside, and priorities are centered around the customer's
perspective.

 In addition to eliminating waste, value stream mapping can add value as well. Getting rid
of waste is the means to an end of adding value. Things like being able to offer a lower
price and/or a better-quality product add value to your customers.

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Value stream mapping can be a wasteful activity if you're not careful. To avoid this, take note of
the following considerations:

 Ensure you balance the amount of effort it takes to conduct value stream mapping with
the potential value or savings it provides. In other words, keep the return on investment
(ROI) at the center of your focus.

 It's important to have experienced employees from all departments involved in the value
stream mapping process, since maps can be very cross-functional and complex.

 Start small. Even though small improvements won't always offer a huge amount of savings
upfront, they often translate into savings on the bottom line once a full walkthrough is
complete.

 Keep it simple. Don't try to use professional map templates and symbols at the beginning.
It's OK to sketch out a rough draft on a whiteboard or to use pencil and paper and then
formalize the map once things become clearer.

Remember, overdoing it and making it more complicated than it should can be problematic.
You're trying to reduce waste, not create more. If you're unsure about value stream mapping, you
can even try one on a budget for a simple overall review of your process. This can help you better
grasp the concept and could even translate into results.

Which Symbols Are Used in Value Stream Mapping?

Value stream maps use a series of standardized symbols to ensure everyone is on the same page
and speaking the same language. These symbols are broken down into four categories: process
symbols, material symbols, informational symbols and general symbols. Let's take a look at them
and define what each one represents.

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These are the most commonly used symbols found on a value stream map. Most people print
them and create a symbols chart for quick reference until they are memorized.

How to Conduct a Value Stream Analysis

Before you start the process of actually creating a value stream map, spend some time observing your
company's processes so you can visualize it later. As you prepare for value stream analysis, keep these tips in
mind:

 Discuss the goals with key leadership and consider these goals as you start the process of analyzing
your processes. Your goals should be focused around three criteria for value-adding activities: the
customer wants you to do it, material is processed into final products, and it's done correctly the first
time.

 Physically observe the process and gather data. Ask employees to walk you through their existing
process and how they get things done each day. Many process engineers like to start at the end of
the process and work their way back to the beginning. Record things like the time it takes to
complete each step and any inefficiencies you notice during that time. Take note of the number of
workers, number of working hours, machinery uptime and downtime, etc.

 Focus on the current state initially. Once you've demonstrated where the issues are, you can create
the current state value stream map, showing how things are working now, before moving onto the
ideal future state.

How to create a value stream map

You've observed your organization's process, and your team is ready to create a current state value stream
map. Below, we'll break down each step, but the basics are as follows:

 Figure out the scope of your value stream map

 Map out each step of your process

 Add inventory and wait times to the map

 Draw information flow

 Create a timeline

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Step 1. Outline the scope of your value stream map

List your start and end points by placing them in the upper-left (start) and right (end) corners of your map.

For example, if you're looking at your supply chain, you'll most likely start with your supplier (raw materials) in

the upper-left corner and end with the customer in the upper-right corner. Next to the customer, write out

the takt time — the maximum amount of time you can spend and still satisfy the customer. This is calculated

by taking the available production minutes and dividing it by the number of units required for production.

For example, imagine you own a coffee-roasting company and need to roast 100 pounds of coffee a day

to meet demand. Considering it takes about an hour to roast 100 pounds of coffee, the takt time would be

0.6 seconds (60 minutes / 100 pounds of coffee = 0.6 seconds).

Step 2. Map out the steps of your process

Using the dedicated process symbols, add process boxes to show every step involved. Place a

small circle with a number inside denoting the number of operators who work on this step in the

process. As you can see from the example below, one person roasts the coffee beans, two

people bag the coffee and prepare it for shipping, two people sell/make coffee at the counter,

and one person makes wholesale deliveries.

Under each process box, add a correlating data box that contains your analysis (the "other

information symbol"). Data you may want to include in these boxes might be things like the time it

takes to complete one unit (cycle time), the time it takes to switch the type of product

(changeover time), uptime, and yield.

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Make sure you limit the number of process boxes to keep the map focused and at the

appropriate level or scope. Limiting process boxes to 10-15 steps is an acceptable number. You

can always create another value stream map for other processes with their own set of 10-15 steps.

Step 3. Add inventory and wait times

You now can use arrow symbols showing process flow to connect your start and end points; in this

case, your supplier to your customer. Arrows comprised of a thick, solid line generally denote

shipments. In our example, the supplier ships coffee beans to the coffee roaster, which ships

coffee to the customer. You can use "push arrow" symbols to indicate how materials are moved

from process to process.

Between each stage, use the inventory triangle symbol to show the number of parts/materials you

have at the end of each step. You can even add a truck, airplane or other equipment symbols on

shipment arrows to denote the mode of transportation.

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Step 4. Draw the flow of information

It's now time to illustrate the flow of information within the production process. Add production

control box symbols to show who is scheduling and controlling production. Production control

boxes are generally placed between the start and end points. Be sure to include the

responsibilities of the person or group in the lower portion of the box.

Once your production control boxes are in place, add the lines of communication. Use jagged

lines to denote electronic communication like email or phone and straight lines to show manual

communication such as memos, printouts or physical conversations. Add detail boxes with

information like what information is exchanged, how often the information is exchanged, and the

media used.

Below, you can see how the manager of the coffee-roasting company receives customer orders

and sends weekly forecasts to the supplier electronically via email. The daily schedules and tasks

are delivered to in-house employees in person.

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Step 5. Create a timeline

The timeline is the most important aspect of your value stream map when it comes to detecting

areas of waste within your process. A timeline has two levels – a top and bottom. The bottom level

contains the times for value-added processes (taken from the data boxes on your map). The top

level includes non-value-added processes.

In our example, you can calculate the non-value-added times based on the inventory you record

to account for overproduction. Your customers demand 100 pounds of roasted coffee a day, so

100 pieces count as one day of non-value-added time. At the end of your timeline, you should

include a data box that summarizes this information. This data box should include:

 Production lead time – the total non-value-added time from the top half of the timeline

 Value-added time – the total value-added time from the bottom of the timeline

 Process cycle efficiency – the percentage of value-added time taken from the production

lead time
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Future state value stream map
Once you have a good visualization of the current state of your process, you can start to create a
future state value stream map – one that lays out what the process could look like once waste is
eliminated. A few things to consider when planning your future state map include:

 Where are the bottlenecks? From the current state map, look at things like processing times
and cycle times. If these data points are greater than your takt time (how frequently a part
must be produced to meet demand), you have a bottleneck. This might be a symptom of
overproduction or extra processing time like overtime.

 Where can inventory be reduced? It may be beneficial to implement a "supermarket"

system – a controlled inventory system where the downstream process takes items from the
"shelf" and the process owners upstream restock items to the "supermarket." Consider things
like raw material, work in progress (WIP), buffer stock and safety stock to see where
inventory can be reduced and whether it makes sense to implement a "supermarket."

 Where can flow be improved? Look for areas where you can improve flow. Are there ways
you can keep materials from stopping and waiting? Could you benefit from a first-in/first-
out lane in your process?

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means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
Helpful Tips for Conducting Value Stream Mapping

 Pick important processes. This means you should select value streams that align with your
strategic plans or annual goals. You must understand your customers and know what they
require to be clear about the value streams through which you're delivering the product to
these customers and how well those streams are performing.

 Group jobs into process families. Grouping jobs into process families allows you to achieve
better flow. For example, if you have multiple process steps, look at whether any of these
steps could be combined, making it easier to produce the product at a lower cost.

 Walk the process. This was mentioned in the first step of creating a value stream map, but
it's important to visualize the process and see how things are done firsthand, as opposed to
just hearing about it from an employee or reading about it on a spreadsheet. Use a
stopwatch and time various steps to obtain accurate data. Ensure you or another person
on your team walks the entire process, rather than having different people walk different
parts of the process.

 Work backward. Looking at a process from the end product to its origins can give you a
fresh perspective on how a product is made.

 Sketch an initial map by hand. Using a whiteboard or pencil and paper is a great way to
start laying out a process. It's easy to erase and correct mistakes or add and subtract
information from team members. Once you have a rough draft of your value stream map,
you can finalize it using chart-drawing software.

Answer the following questions and submit your work in the Google Classroom under classwork
Assignment M2

1. How does TPS contribute to competitive advantage

2. Draw the value stream map of the enrolment system. Use dummy data based on
your experience.

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Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.