What Are the Benefits of Lean Manufacturing?

Lean Production, or "Lean" for short, is a management philosophy derived from Toyota's production methods.

Lean Production, or "Lean" for short, is a management philosophy derived from Toyota's production methods.

Including many well-known manufacturing companies and MIT professors' global research, application and development of Toyota's production methods, it has led to the production of lean production theory and production management system, which is still evolving. From Kaizen, which focused on the production site in the past, to inventory control, production plan management, process improvement (process reengineering), cost management, employee literacy development, supply chain collaborative optimization, product lifecycle management (product concept design, product development, production line design , Workbench design, operation method design and improvement), quality management, equipment resources and human resources management, market development and sales management and many other aspects of business management.

Lean production is through changes in system structure, personnel organization, operation mode, and market supply and demand, so that the production system can quickly adapt to the changing needs of users, and can make everything useless and unnecessary in the production process streamlined. A production management method with the best results in all aspects of production, including market supply and marketing. Different from the traditional large-scale production method, its characteristics are "multi-variety" and "small batch".

First of all, different companies have different industry characteristics. For example, in the process industry and discrete industries, the process industry, such as chemical, pharmaceutical, and metal, generally prefers equipment management, such as TPM (Total Productive Maintenance). The industry needs to use a series of specific equipment. The condition of these equipment greatly affects the quality of the product. Discrete industries, such as machinery, electronics, etc., LAYOUT, the layout of production lines, and processes all affect production efficiency and quality. Important factors, so the discrete industry focuses on standardization, JIT (Just In Time), Kanban, and zero inventory.

Chinese name

Lean production

Foreign name

Lean Production

Short name

Lean

Application area

management

Origin of Lean Production

Toyota Lean Production

Lean Production (LP) is a praise from several experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's International Automotive Program (IMVP) for the just-in-time (JIT) production method of Japan's Toyota. Lean production method originates from Toyota production method. It is organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States to experts and scholars from 17 countries in the world. It took 5 years and cost 5 million US dollars to create a mass production method and lean production in the automotive industry. The typical industry of JIT is taken as an example, and it is summarized after theorization. The superiority of the lean production method is not only reflected in the manufacturing system, but also in various aspects such as product development, collaborative support, marketing networks, and management. It is the best production organization system and method in the industry. It will become the standard global production system of the 21st century.

The lean production method was the product of the "resource scarcity" and "multi-variety, low-volume" market constraints imposed on the Japanese automotive industry after the war. It started from Toyota Aizawa, with the joint efforts of Toyota Kiichiro and Ohno Ito, and it was gradually perfected until the 1960s.

Lean production

At the beginning of the 20th century, since the creation of the first automobile production line by Ford Motor Company, the large-scale production line has been modern industry.

Definition of Lean Production

The main characteristics of production. Large-scale production is to reduce production costs and improve production efficiency by standardizing and mass production. This method adapted to the national conditions of the United States at that time, the production of automobile production lines, and the automobile was transformed from the luxury goods of a few rich people into a popular means of transportation in one fell swoop. As a result, the American automobile industry has rapidly grown into a major pillar industry in the United States. It has promoted and promoted the development of a large number of industries including steel, glass, rubber, electromechanical and transportation services. Large-scale flow production is of great significance in the history of production technology and production management. However, after the Second World War, society entered a new stage of market demand diversification. Correspondingly, industrial production was developed in the direction of multiple varieties and small batches. The weakness of single-type and large-volume flow production methods was It became increasingly apparent. In order to comply with the requirements of this era, the lean production pioneered by Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation was explored and created in practice as a high-quality, low-consumption production method under the conditions of mixed production of multiple varieties and small batches.

In 1950, Japan's Toyota Eiji visited the car factory of Ford Company in Detroit, USA. At that time, the plant was able to produce 9,000 cars per month, more than the annual output of Toyota Japan. But Toyota wrote in his inspection report: "There is still the possibility of improving the production system there."

Japan's post-war economic depression was lacking in capital and foreign exchange. At that time, Toyota's automobile business was in its infancy, how to build a Japanese automobile industry? After copying the mass production method of the United States, or in accordance with the national conditions of Japan, another way out, Toyota chose the latter. Japan

The social and cultural background is very different from that of the United States. Japanese family values, obedience, and team spirit are not available to Americans. Japan does not have as many foreign workers as the United States, nor does it have the freedom and freedom of the American lifestyle The flood of individualism. Japan's economic and technological base is also far from the United States. It was not possible for Japan to fully introduce American equipment to produce cars at that time, and Japan's expected production volume was only a few tenths of that of the United States. The "economy of scale" law is being tested here.

Toyota Eiji and his partner Naoichi Ohno conducted a series of explorations and experiments, and proposed a solution to the problem according to Japan's national conditions. After more than 30 years of hard work, a complete Toyota production method has finally been formed, which has made Japan's automobile industry surpass the United States and produced 13 million vehicles, accounting for more than 30% of the world's total cars.

Manufacturing, electronics, computer, aircraft manufacturing and other industries. The Toyota production method is an important part of Japan's industrial competition strategy, and it reflects Japan's management thinking in the repetitive production process. The guiding principle of Toyota's production method is to optimize the production process as a whole, improve technology, streamline logistics, eliminate overproduction, eliminate inefficient labor and waste, effectively use resources, reduce costs, improve quality, and achieve maximum production with minimal inputs Out purpose.

The success of Japanese companies in the international market has aroused strong interest in Western business circles. Western entrepreneurs believe that the way Japan uses in production is the basis for its competition in the world market. Since the 1980s, some western countries have attached great importance to the study of Toyota's production methods and applied them to production management.

Core Ideas of Lean Production

The basic idea of the lean production method can be summarized in one sentence, namely: Just In Time (JIT), translated into Chinese is "designed to produce the required products when needed, according to the required amount. Therefore, some management experts also refer to lean production as JIT production, just-in-time production, just-in-time production or kanban production.

Lean production

core:

1.Pursue zero inventory

Lean production is a production system that pursues no-stock production or minimizes inventory. To this end, a series of specific methods including "kanban" have been developed, and a unique production and management system has gradually formed. .

2. Pursue rapid response, that is, respond quickly to market changes.

In order to quickly respond to changes in the market, lean producers have developed layout and production programming methods such as cell production and fixed-variable production.

3. Harmony of the internal and external environment of the enterprise

The key to the success of the lean production method is to harmonize the internal activities of the enterprise and the external market (customer) needs with the development goals of the enterprise.

4. Humanism

Lean production emphasizes the importance of human resources, and regards the wisdom and creativity of employees as the company's valuable wealth and the driving force for future development a. Full respect for employees; b. Emphasis on training; c. Collaboration.

5. Inventory is the "bane"

High inventory is one of the characteristics of mass production methods. Due to the unstable operation of equipment, unreasonable process arrangement, high scrap rate and uneven production, etc., the phenomenon of untimely supply often occurs, and inventory is regarded as an essential "buffer". However, lean production considers inventory to be a "scourge" of enterprises. The main reasons are: 1. Inventory raises the cost of operation; 2. Inventory conceals the problems of the enterprise.

Lean production effect

Lean production mainly studies time and efficiency. Lean production focuses on improving the stability of the system. The successful cases of lean production for more than 50 years have been confirmed ::

· Lean production reduces production time by 90%;

· Lean production reduces inventory by 90%;

· Lean production improves production efficiency by 60%;

· Lean production reduces market defects by 50%;

· Lean production reduces scrap rate by 50%;

· Lean production increases safety index by 50%.

Common problems faced by the manufacturing industry

· Insufficient production capacity to meet market demand

· Cannot deliver on time and volume

· Inefficient staff

· Inventory is too high, backlog of funds

· Quality cannot meet customer requirements

· The production cost is too high

· Repeated problems, busy with daily fire fighting

· Insufficient R & D capabilities, a lot of problems emerged during mass production

· Suppliers cannot deliver on time, quality and quantity

The solution to these problems-lean production:

Lean production achieves the goals of reducing costs, shortening production cycles and improving quality by eliminating non-value-added activities in all links of the enterprise.

Lean Manufacturing Advantage

Compared with mass production methods, the advantages of lean production methods adopted in Japan are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Required human resources-whether in product development, production systems, or other parts of the factory, compared to factories under mass production methods, the minimum can be reduced to 1/2;

2. New product development cycleminimum can be reduced to 1/2 or 2/3;

3. Inventory of work-in-progress in the production process-the minimum can be reduced to 1/10 of the general level under mass production methods;

4. Factory occupied spaceminimum can be reduced to 1/2 of that under mass production method;

5. Inventory of finished products-the minimum can be reduced to 1/4 of the average inventory level under mass production methods;

Lean production is a production technology and management technology that thoroughly pursues the rationality and efficiency of production and can flexibly produce high-quality products that meet various needs. Its basic principles and many methods have positive significance for the manufacturing industry. The core of lean production, that is, the basic ideas about production planning and control and inventory management, also plays an important role in enriching and developing modern production management theories.

The ultimate goal of lean production

"Zero waste" is the ultimate goal of lean production, which is specifically manifested in seven aspects of PICQMDS. The goals are detailed as follows:

(1) "Zero" wasted man-hours (Products · Multi-variety mixed production)

Reduce the waste of time for the variety switching of the processing operations and the production line of the assembly line to "zero" or close to "zero".

(2) "Zero" inventory (Inventory · reduced inventory)

Connect processing and assembly to streamline, eliminate intermediate inventory, change the estimated production of the market to simultaneous production of orders, and reduce product inventory to zero.

(3) "Zero" waste (Cost, comprehensive cost control)

Eliminate waste from redundant manufacturing, handling, and waiting to achieve zero waste.

(4) "Zero" defect (Quality, high quality)

Defects are not detected in the inspection position, but should be eliminated at the source of the occurrence, and zero defects should be pursued.

(5) "Zero" failure (Maintenance · Improve operating rate)

Eliminate the breakdown of machinery and equipment to achieve zero failures.

(6) "Zero" stagnation (Delivery · Fast response, short delivery time)

Minimize Lead Time. To this end, it is necessary to eliminate intermediate stagnation and achieve "zero" stagnation.

(7) "Zero" disaster (Safety first)

Lean production tools

1.5s activity

2.TPM

3.TQM

4. Kanban, as a core management tool for lean production, can visually manage the production site. In case of abnormality, the relevant personnel can be notified as soon as possible and measures can be taken to resolve the problem.

5. Continuous improvement

6. Cellular production

7. Balanced production

8. Fast switching

Lean Production Principles

Principle 1: Eliminate the eight wastes

The eight major wastes that are common in enterprises involve: overproduction, waiting time, transportation, inventory, processes (operations), actions, product defects, and neglect of employee creativity.

Principle 2: Focus on processes to improve overall effectiveness

Management master Deming said: "Employees are only responsible for 15% of the problems, and the other 85% is attributed to the system process." What kind of process produces what kind of performance. To improve the process, we should pay attention to the goal of improving the overall efficiency, not the efficiency of local departments. Even if the efficiency of local departments is sacrificed for the overall benefit of the enterprise, it is not necessary.

Principle 3: establish an uninterrupted process to respond quickly

Establish an uninterrupted process, reduce the valueless invalid time in the process as much as possible to shorten the time of the entire process, and quickly respond to customer needs.

Principle 4: reduce inventory

It should be pointed out that reducing inventory is only one of the means of lean production, the purpose is to solve problems and reduce costs, and low inventory requires efficient processes, stable and reliable quality to ensure. When many companies implement lean production, they think that lean production is zero inventory. Without first transforming the process and improving quality, they simply demand lower inventory. As a result, it can be imagined that the cost has not only decreased but has risen sharply. , Lean production is not suitable for my industry and my business. This misunderstanding needs to be avoided.

Principle 5: High quality throughout the process

Quality is manufactured, not tested. Inspection is just a remedy after the fact that it is not only costly but also cannot guarantee that no errors will occur. Therefore, quality should be built into the design, process and manufacturing, and a quality assurance system that will not go wrong is built right. Lean production requires low inventory and uninterrupted processes. Imagine if any link goes wrong, all subsequent ones will be stopped, so lean production must be based on the high quality of the entire process, otherwise, lean production can only be empty words.

Principle 6: Drive production based on customer needs

The original intention of JIT is: when needed, only produce the required quantity, production and sales are synchronized. In other words, production is carried out at the speed of sales, so that the balance of logistics can be maintained, and any production that is too early or too late will cause losses. In the past, Toyota used the "kanban" system to pull. With the information system supplemented by the ERP or MRP information system, it was easier to achieve material pull outside the enterprise.

Principle 7: Standardization and job innovation

The role of standardization is self-evident, but standardization is not a limitation and restraint, but fixes the best practices in the enterprise, so that different people can do the best and maximize the effectiveness and efficiency. . Moreover, standardization is not rigid and immutable, and standards need continuous innovation and improvement.

Principle 8: Respect and empower employees

Respecting employees is about respecting their wisdom and ability, providing them with a stage to give full play to their ingenuity, and doing better for the enterprise and themselves. At Toyota, employees implement independent management and take their own actions within the scope of the organization's responsibilities. There is no need to worry about being punished for a mistake in work. There must be an inherent reason for the error. As long as you find a reason and take countermeasures, it will not appear next time . Therefore, lean companies employ "one person", non-lean companies employ only "one hand" of employees.

Principle 9: team work

In lean enterprises, flexible team work has become the most common form of organization. Sometimes the same person belongs to different teams at the same time and is responsible for completing different tasks. The most typical team work is Toyota's new product development plan, which is promoted by a large team. The team members come from different departments, including marketing, design, engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, etc., they are in the same team Collaborative operations have greatly shortened the time to launch new products, and have higher quality and lower costs, because many problems have been fully considered from the beginning, and have been solved by professionals before the problems cause trouble.

Principle 10: meet customer needs

Satisfying customer needs is to continuously improve customer satisfaction, and it is quite short-sighted to sacrifice customer satisfaction for a little immediate benefit. Toyota never puts this phrase on its lips, and always practice it with actual actions. Although the product is in short supply, Toyota never blindly expands the scale and maintains a stable and pragmatic style in order to win the respect of customers until all preparations are ready.

Principle 11: Lean Supply Chain

In a lean enterprise, suppliers are the precious wealth of the company's long-term operations, and they are external partners. They share information, share risks and benefits, and win and lose. Unfortunately, many domestic companies run counter to this lean concept when implementing lean production. In order to achieve the goal of "zero inventory", all the inventory is pushed to the suppliers, which makes the suppliers complain: Your inventory has decreased. , And my inventory has increased dramatically. The goal of lean production is to reduce inventory throughout the supply chain. No effort is needed to transform the process, but simply transferring inventory from one place to another does not solve any problems. As you continue to squeeze and exploit your suppliers, can you still expect them to provide any quality support and service? In the end it's you who are hurt. If you are a strong player in the supply chain, you should take the role of leader and integrate a lean supply chain to benefit everyone.

Principle 12: "Self-examination" and "In situ"

There are two prominent features in lean culture: "self-reflection" and "local present."

The purpose of "self-reflection" is to find out your mistakes and make continuous self-improvement. Toyota believes that "problems are opportunities"-when mistakes are made, individuals are not punished, but corrective actions are taken and the knowledge learned from each experience is widely disseminated within the company. This is completely different from the practice of many domestic enterprises fines at every turn-most of the problems are caused by the system process itself, and punishing individuals will only make every effort to cover up the problem, and it will not help to solve the problem.

"In-place and in-place" advocates that everyone, regardless of position, go deep into the scene, thoroughly understand the true situation of the incident, and manage based on facts. This "in-place" work style can effectively avoid "bureaucracy."

Lean Production Improvement Principles

Lean Production Cancelled

(Eliminate)

Every process on the process chart is reviewed to confirm the necessity of its reservation, and all those that can be cancelled will be cancelled, for example:

Cancel all the work content, work steps, work links and work movements (including body, hands, feet and heels) that can be cancelled.

Cancel all unsafe, inaccurate and irregular actions.

Cancel inconvenient or abnormal jobs

Eliminate all unnecessary idle time

Lean Manufacturing Consolidation

(Combine)

For the operation and inspection items on the program map, consider the possibility of merging with each other. Those who can merge will merge them on the premise of ensuring quality and improving efficiency, such as:

Combine the small movements that must suddenly change direction into a continuous curve movement.

Combine several tools into one versatile tool.

Combine several discrete processes into one process

Merge possible simultaneous actions

Lean Production Rearrangement

(Rearrange)

Perform a macro analysis of the sequence of operations on the program map, considering the necessity and possibility of rearrangement, and sometimes only by rearrangement can significantly improve efficiency, such as:

Rearrange process flow to optimize procedures

Rearrange work sites to shorten logistics routes

Rearranged assembly line stations to eliminate weak links

Rearrange the division of work and balance the workload

Lean Production Simplified

(Simplify)

This includes both simplifying complex processes and simplifying each process, such as:

Reduce various cumbersome procedures and reduce complexity

Use the simplest actions to get the job done

Simplify unnecessary design structures and make processes more reasonable

Transport routes, information transmission routes strive to shorten

The essence of lean production

Lean production method is a kind of method with the main goal of minimizing the resources occupied by the production of the enterprise and reducing the management and operating costs of the enterprise.

Production of lean production

The production method is also an idea and a culture. Implementing the lean production method JIT is determined to pursue perfection and excellence, that is, to strive for perfection and perfection, and to continuously strive for the ultimate goal of seven zeros. It is a spiritual force that supports the lives of individuals and businesses, and a state of self-satisfaction in the never-ending learning process.

The essence of the lean production method is the management process, including the optimization of personnel organization and management, vigorously streamlining the middle management, carrying out flat organizational reforms, and reducing indirect production personnel; promoting balanced production and synchronization to achieve zero inventory and flexible production; The quality assurance system of the production process (including the entire supply chain) achieves zero defects; reduces and reduces waste in any link to achieve zero waste; and finally realizes a pull-on-time production method.

The variety of products produced by the lean production method can meet the customer's requirements as much as possible, and through its methods and means to eliminate all waste (human, material, time, and space) in each link to meet the customer's price requirements. The lean production method requires eliminating all waste, pursuing excellence and continuous improvement, removing all useless things in the production process. The principle of the arrangement of each worker and his post is to add value and remove all non-value-added posts; streamline product development design, production, Everything in management that does not add value. Its purpose is to respond to market demands with the best quality, lowest cost and highest efficiency.

Lean Production Difference

The main differences between lean production methods and traditional production methods are: changed quality control methods; eliminated (reduced) various buffer zones; increased employee participation and responsibility; trained employees and communicated with employees; only where needed Use automation; lean organization.

Lean Production Characteristics

The lean production method is a comprehensive philosophical system around maximizing the inherent capabilities of the company's employees, cooperating vendors and assets. This system requires a problem-solving environment and continuous improvement of the problem. It requires that each link is the best, and these links break the traditional functional boundaries.

The main characteristics of lean production are :

(1) Quality-finding, correcting and solving problems;

(2) Flexible-small batch, single piece flow;

(3) Time to marketminimize development time;

(4) Product diversification-shorten product cycles and reduce the impact of scale benefits;

(5) Efficiency-improve productivity and reduce waste;

(6) Adaptability-standard size assembly, coordination and cooperation;

(7) Learning-continuous improvement.

Lean Production Production Features

Pull on time production

Taking the needs of end users as the starting point of production. Emphasizing logistics balance and the pursuit of zero inventory, requiring that the parts processed in the previous process can immediately enter the next process.

Organizational production lines rely on a form called Kanban. That is, the information required by the kanban is transmitted from the next to the upper one (the form of the kanban is not limited, the key is to be able to transmit information). The beat in production can be controlled and controlled manually, but the focus is on ensuring the logistics balance in production (for each process, it is to ensure the timely supply of subsequent processes). Due to the use of pull-type production, the planning and scheduling in production are essentially completed by each production unit, and centralized planning is not used in form, but coordination between production units is extremely necessary during operation.

Total quality management

Emphasize that quality is produced rather than inspected, and the final quality is guaranteed by quality management in production. Quality inspection and control in the production process are performed in each process. The emphasis is on cultivating the quality awareness of each employee, and paying attention to quality inspection and control during each process to ensure that quality problems are found in a timely manner. If quality problems are found in the production process, production can be stopped immediately until the problem is resolved, So as to ensure that there is no invalid processing of substandard products.

For the quality problems that arise, the related technical and production personnel are generally organized as a group to work together to solve as soon as possible.

Teamwork

Team work. Every employee does more than execute superior orders at work. More important is to actively participate in the role of decision-making and assist decision-making. The principle of the organization team is not completely divided according to the administrative organization, but mainly based on the business relationship. The team members emphasized that one can be multi-skilled, and they should be familiar with the work of other staff members in the team to ensure smooth coordination of work. The evaluation of team members' work performance is affected by the internal evaluation of the team. (This has a greater relationship with Japan's unique personnel system.) The basic atmosphere of team work is trust, which is based on a long-term supervision and control, while avoiding the audit of each step of work and improving work efficiency. The organization of a team is changing. For different things, establish different teams. The same person may belong to different teams.

Concurrent engineering

Concurrent Engineering. During the design and development of the product, the concept design, structural design, process design, and final requirements are combined to ensure that the required quality is completed at the fastest speed. All work is done by the project team related to this. During the process, the team members arrange their own work, but can regularly or at any time feedback information and coordinate the resolution of problems that arise. Feedback and coordinate the entire project based on appropriate information system tools. The use of modern CIM technology assists the parallelization of project processes during product research and development.

Comparison of management ideas between lean production and mass production

Lean production, as a new management idea from environment to management goals, has achieved success in practice. It is not a simple application of one or two new management methods, but a set highly related to the corporate environment, culture and management methods. Integrated management system, so lean production itself is an autonomous system.

(1) Different optimization ranges

The mass production method originates from the United States and is based on the relationship between American companies. It emphasizes market orientation and optimizes the allocation of resources. Each enterprise optimizes its internal management based on financial relationships. Relevant companies, whether suppliers or distributors, treat their opponents as opponents.

The lean production method uses product production processes as clues and organizes closely related supply chains, on the one hand, reducing transaction costs in corporate collaboration, on the other hand, ensuring stable demand and timely supply, and optimizing the entire large production system.

(2) Different attitudes towards inventory

Inventory management in mass production emphasizes that "inventory is a necessary evil".

Lean production inventory management emphasizes that "inventory is the root of all evils."

The lean production method treats all inventory in production as "waste", and at the same time believes that inventory masks defects and problems in the production system. On the one hand, it emphasizes the guarantee of production on the one hand, and on the other hand, the requirement of zero inventory, so as to continuously expose and improve the contradictions in the basic links in production, and continuously reduce the inventory to eliminate the "waste" generated by the inventory. Based on this, lean production puts forward the slogan "Eliminate all waste". Pursue the goal of zero waste.

(3) Different views on business control

The traditional employment system of mass production is based on the "employment" relationship between the two parties. In business management, the principle of efficient division of labor in individual work is emphasized, and it is promoted and guaranteed by strict business audits. At the same time, auditing work also prevents personal work from causing damage to the enterprise Negative effects.

Lean production originates from Japan and is deeply influenced by Eastern culture. When professional division of labor is emphasized, mutual cooperation and streamlining of business processes (including unnecessary verification work)-eliminate "waste" in business.

(4) Different views on quality

Traditional production methods treat a certain amount of defective products as an inevitable result in production.

Lean production is based on the perspective of organizational decentralization and human collaboration. It is believed that it is feasible for producers to ensure the absolute reliability of product quality without sacrificing production continuity. The core idea is that the cause of this probabilistic quality problem is not probabilistic in itself. By eliminating the production links that produce quality problems, "eliminate all waste caused by defective products" and pursue zero defects.

(5) Different attitudes towards people

Mass production methods emphasize strict hierarchical relationships in management. The requirement for employees is to strictly complete the tasks assigned by superiors. People are regarded as "equipment" attached to their posts.

Lean production emphasizes individual intervention in the production process, making every effort to give play to human initiative, while emphasizing coordination, and the evaluation of individual employees is also based on long-term performance. This approach treats employees more as members of corporate groups than as machines. Give full play to the subjective initiative of the grassroots.

Development process of lean production

At the beginning of the 20th century, starting with the creation of the first automobile production line by Ford Motor Company in the United States, large-scale production lines have been the main feature of modern industrial production and changed the inefficient single-piece production method. Milestones. Lean production is a revolutionary production method created and summarized in accordance with Toyota's actual production requirements in practical applications. It is known as the "machine that changes the world" and is the first human modern production method after mass production. 3 milestones.

Generally speaking, according to the formation process of lean production mode, it can be divided into three stages: the formation and improvement of Toyota production mode, the systematic phase of Toyota production mode (that is, the proposal of lean production mode), and the innovation phase of lean production mode (Rethinking previous method theories and presenting new insights).

Formation and improvement of Toyota production methods

In 1950, a young Japanese engineer, Toyota Eiji, Detroit visited Ford's Ruchi factory for three months. At that time, the Ruchi factory was the world's largest and most efficient manufacturing plant. But Toyota Eiji carefully examined every nuance of this huge company, and after returning to Nagoya, together with the talented Ohno in manufacturing, quickly concluded that mass production methods were not suitable for Japan. Because first, the Japanese domestic market was small at the time, and there were many varieties of cars. Many varieties and small batches were not suitable for the requirements of mass production methods; , Can not simply imitate the Lucci factory and improve on this basis; third, the lack of a large amount of cheap labor. As a result, Toyoda Eiji and Ohno started the innovation of production methods suitable for Japanese needs. Ohno first implemented some on-site management methods in the factory he was responsible for, such as visual management method, one-man multi-machine, U-type equipment layout method, etc. This is the bud of Toyota's production method.

With the initial effectiveness of Ohno's management method, his status has been gradually improved. Ohno's management has been applied to a wider range, and some people have gathered around him to further improve the method. By observing and thinking about the production site, a series of innovations have been proposed, such as the three-minute mold change method, on-site improvement, automation, five-question method, supplier team reorganization and partnership, and pull production. At the same time, these methods are constantly being improved, and eventually a set of Toyota production methods suitable for Japan is established.

After the oil crisis in the fall of 1973, the Japanese economy fell to a state of negative growth, but Toyota not only achieved higher profits than other companies, but also increased year by year, widening the distance from other companies. As a result, Toyota's production method began to receive attention and was popularized in Japan. It has been recognized by the academic community, attracted some professors to study it, and completed the systematization of the content.

With the large-scale overseas establishment of Japanese car manufacturers, Toyota's production method has spread to the United States, and has been widely spread with its great effects in terms of cost, quality, and product diversity. At the same time, it has withstood the test of punctual supply and cultural conflicts, and has further verified the suitability of Toyota's production methods, proving that Toyota's production methods are not only suitable for Japanese culture, but are advanced for universal application in various cultures and industries ways to produce. For example, in a Toyota production system, the most important thing is to stop the production line when a problem such as a small fault occurs. But in the United States, once the production line is stopped, they are fired without exception, because workers are not granted the right to stop the production line. And in the United States, a country that bears responsibility for its own mistakes, it will be held accountable for any wrongdoing. This situation is not only in the American automobile industry, but also in other industries, so everyone is afraid to stop the production line. This is an example of the cultural differences between the two countries.

The Systematic Phase of Toyota Production MethodThe Formation of Lean Production Method

In order to further unravel the mystery of the success of the Japanese automobile industry, in 1985, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology raised $ 5 million and identified a research project called the International Automobile Program (IMVP). Under the leadership of Professor Daniel Ruth, 53 experts and scholars were organized. From 1984 to 1989, it took five years to conduct field visits to nearly 90 automobile assembly plants in 14 countries. Several hundred copies were consulted Public briefings and materials, and a comparative analysis of mass production methods in the West and Toyota production methods in Japan. Finally, in 1990, he published the book "Machines That Changed the World." The first name of the Toyota production method was Lean Production. That is, the lean production method. The sensation in the automobile industry caused by this research result has set off a frenzy of learning lean production method. The proposal of lean production method has expanded the Toyota production method from the field of manufacturing to product development, collaborative support, sales service, finance Management and other fields run through the entire process of the company's production and operation activities, making its content more comprehensive, richer, and more targeted and operable to guide the transformation of production methods.

Then in 1996, after four years of research in the second phase of the International Automobile Program (IMVP), he published the book Lean Thinking. "Lean Thinking" makes up for the problem that the previous research results do not provide much guidance on how to learn lean production methods, while this book describes the key principles necessary to learn the Toyota method, and uses examples to explain various industries The action steps that can be followed further improve the theoretical system of lean production.

At this stage, the American business community and academia have conducted extensive learning and research on lean production methods, put forward many views, and made a lot of supplements to the original Toyota production methods, mainly by adding a lot of IE technology and information technology. Cultural differences and the like perfect the lean production theory to make lean production more applicable.

New Development Stages of Lean Production

The theories and methods of lean production are constantly developing with the changes of the environment, especially at the end of the 20th century. With the deepening of research and the widespread dissemination of the theory, more and more experts and scholars have participated in it. Phenomenon, a variety of new theoretical methods are emerging, such as the combination of mass customization and lean production, cell production, new development of JIT2, 5S, new development of TPM, and so on. Many large American companies have combined the lean production method with the actual situation of the company to create a management system that suits the needs of the company, such as: ACE Management (Achieving Competitive Excellence) of the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in 1999, Lean Six Sigma management, Boeing's brainstorming, General Motors' 1998 GM Competitive MFGSystem, etc. The essence of these management systems is to apply the idea of lean production and to concreteize its methods to guide the various factories and subsidiaries within the company to implement the lean production method smoothly. The implementation process of each tool is broken down into a series of charts. Employees only need to implement them step by step according to the requirements of the chart. Each tool corresponds to a set of standards to evaluate the implementation. It can also be used by the parent company to the subsidiary. Evaluation.

At this stage, Lean thinking moved beyond its birthplacemanufacturing, as a universal management philosophy spread and applied in various industries, it has been successfully applied in architectural design and construction, and has been used in the service industry, civil aviation and Applications in the transportation industry, healthcare, communications and postal management, and software development and programming complete the lean production system.

Cell production was first born in the electronics assembly industry at the end of the 20th century. It refers to a production method in which one or a few operators undertake and complete all processes in the production unit. Some scholars call it "cell production "Because it is like a cell in the human body, it contains all the elements of metabolism inside the cell and is the smallest unit of life. The unit production method is mainly manual work, without using conveyor belts to move production objects. Some simple machinery and automated tools are also used according to needs. The process is divided widely, and one or several people complete all the processes. Because the layout of the work table used in the cell production method is often U-shaped, much like a self-employed kiosk, it is also referred to as the "kiosk production method" in Japanese (called "roof method" in Japanese). Cell production methods can be divided into three types: one-person production method, segmentation method, and roving method.

Lean Six Sigma is a management method that combines the six sigma management method and lean production method, namely LeanSigma, which can improve shareholder value by improving customer satisfaction, reducing costs, improving quality, speeding up process speed and improving capital investment. Maximize. Six Sigma is a statistic of process or product performance, and performance improvement tends to be perfect-a goal, and is a quality management system that can achieve continuous leadership, the pursuit of almost perfection and world-class performance. Six Sigma Management is a highly effective enterprise process design, improvement and optimization technology that evolved from TQM and provides a series of new product development tools equally applicable to design, production and service . The focus of Six Sigma management method is to treat all work as a process, use quantitative methods to analyze the factors that affect quality in the process, find the most critical factors and improve them to achieve higher customer satisfaction. Therefore, the integration of Lean and Six Sigma overcomes the shortcomings that Lean cannot use statistical methods to manage processes; on the other hand, it overcomes the shortcomings of Six Sigma that cannot significantly increase the speed of processes or reduce capital investment.

Lean Production FAQs

Eight major problems that Chinese companies often encounter in implementing a lean production system:

1. The concept of managers and operators has not changed.

The concepts of relevant main actors have not changed, and the coordination is not in place, it is difficult to achieve the expected purpose of lean production

2. Quick success and immediate benefits.

The kind of thinking that requires "immediate results" in a short period of time to "see great results" and undergo a major change is not in line with the principle of continuous improvement of lean production

3. Did not find a good entry point.

Find a good entry point for the introduction of lean production, with the easiest and most obvious improvement results, let everyone feel the benefits of the new way of working, and then change consciousness and build confidence.

4. The model area goes first.

Develop a detailed trial plan, work in the form of a model area, and improve all the problems in the sample operation before promoting it to the entire plant.

5. On-site "5S" operation was not completed.

The concepts of literacy required by the "5S" are not implemented well, it is difficult to implement lean production without developing a good working attitude

6. The implementation process stagnates when it encounters difficulties.

"Three tanners are better than Zhuge Liang" Brainstorm ideas and prepare multiple solutions. Open your mind and draw different opinions. Don't explain the reasons why you can't do it. Think of a way to do it. Do nt wait for perfection, you can start with five points of confidence

7. Too much investment.

The improvement should be based on the principle of not spending money. Don't think of investing in new equipment and new technologies whenever you encounter problems. You should try to avoid investing a lot of money. It is also the best solution to improve on existing facilities or foundations.

8. Lack of overall cooperation.

I believe that the implementation of the lean production method is only the responsibility of IE engineers, and has nothing to do with other units. For example, if the procurement, logistics, engineering and other units can not fully cooperate, even if there is a good plan, but it is only a short-lived, can not continue to play Lean Performance.

Lean production tools

1, 5S and visual control

"5S" is the acronym "5S" for Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seikeetsu, and Shitsuke. It originated in Japan. 5S is the process and method of creating and maintaining an organized, tidy and efficient workplace. It can educate, enlighten, and develop good "human nature" habits. Visual management can identify normal and abnormal conditions in an instant, and it can be passed quickly and correctly. message. Learning to use 5S and visual control should:

· Understand why 5S is needed and master the steps and methods for 5S and visual management;

Learn about the types of visual control tools, learn how to create visual control tools, and some of the most basic new tools that can quickly improve all work areas.

2.JIT

The just-in-time production method originated from Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, and its basic idea is "to produce the required product only when needed and in the required amount". The core of this production method is to pursue a production system without inventory, or a production system that minimizes inventory. Learning to apply just-in-time production should:

· Recognize value-added and non-value-added activities to reduce or eliminate non-value-added and waste;

· Identification of seven types of waste and eventual elimination of waste;

· Learn to use various pulling methods to achieve just-in-time production.

3. Kanban Management

Kanban is a Japanese noun, which means a label or card hanging or attached to a container or a batch of parts, or a variety of colored lights, television images, etc. on the assembly line. Kanban can be used as a means of communicating production management information in the plant. Kanban cards contain a lot of information and can be used repeatedly. There are two types of kanbans commonly used: production kanbans and shipping kanbans. Learning to use Kanban management should:

· Understand the pull kanban and visual kanban for management process, and the significance of these kanbans for production organization, standardized operations and continuous improvement;

· Understand the role of production kanban: the "funding" of purchases; focus on what you want to "buy" during production, when and how much

4. Zero inventory management: Factory inventory management is part of the supply chain and the most basic part. As far as manufacturing is concerned, strengthening inventory management can shorten and gradually eliminate the residence time of raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products, reduce invalid operations and waiting times, prevent stock-outs, and improve customers' three major factors of "quality, cost, and delivery". Satisfaction. Learning to use zero inventory management should:

· Understand the basic concepts of inventory management, master the methods of inventory analysis, and learn to choose the right inventory system;

Learn and master the skills of managing inventory operations;

· Master the production and implementation of inventory management forms and programs.

5. Comprehensive production maintenance (TPM)

TPM originated in Japan. It is a method of full participation to create well-designed equipment systems, improve the utilization rate of existing equipment, achieve safety and high quality, and prevent failures, so that enterprises can achieve cost reduction and overall production efficiency. improve. Learning to use comprehensive production maintenance should:

· Understand the relationship between 5S and TPM;

· Master the calculation of OEE and how to improve OEE;

Master the method of implementing TPM;

· How to establish and maintain historical records of equipment and evaluate the TPM level of the enterprise.

6. Use value stream maps to identify waste

The production process is full of amazing waste phenomena. Value Stream Mapping is the basis and key point for implementing lean systems and eliminating process waste. Using value stream mapping to identify waste should be able to:

· Identify where waste is generated during the process and identify lean improvement opportunities;

Recognize the components and importance of value streams;

· Master the ability to actually draw a "value stream map";

· Recognize the application of data in the value stream graph, and improve the sequence of opportunities through data quantification.

7. Balanced design of production line

Due to the unreasonable layout of the assembly line, production workers move unnecessarily, thereby reducing production efficiency; due to irrational action arrangements and unreasonable technological routes, workers have repeatedly picked up or dropped workpieces. Learn the balanced design of the production line:

Able to design and implement a line-balanced production line;

Understand the issues in a typical process environment and how they affect those issues;

Know when to maximize productivity.

8.Pull system and supplementary pull system

The so-called pull production is based on kanban management. It adopts the "reclaiming system", that is, the next process to produce according to the "market" needs. For the shortage of work in process in this process, the same work in process is taken from the previous process to form the entire process Pull the control system, and never produce one more product. JIT needs to be based on pull production, and pull system operation is a typical feature of lean production. Lean pursuit of zero inventory is mainly achieved through the operation of the pull system. The learning pull system and supplementary pull system should:

Understand the definition of pull systems and supplementary pull systems;

Understand the key parameters and calculation methods of the pulling system;

How to apply pull systems to lean projects in a changing environment;

· Understand the difference between manufacturing pull system and purchasing pull system.

9, reduce the setup time (Setup Reduction)

In order to minimize downtime and waiting waste, the process of shortening the set-up time is to gradually remove and reduce all non-value-added jobs and turn it into a non-downtime time to complete the process. Lean production is achieved by continuously eliminating waste, reducing inventory, reducing defects, and shortening the manufacturing cycle time. Reducing set-up time is one of the key ways to help us achieve this goal. To learn to reduce setup time:

Understand how set-up time affects the turnaround efficiency of the process;

Learn 4 steps to reduce setup time;

· Understand the preparations required to reduce setup time.

10.Single piece flow

JIT is the ultimate goal of lean production. It is achieved by continuously eliminating waste, reducing inventory, reducing defects, and shortening the manufacturing cycle time. One-piece flow is one of the key techniques that helps us achieve this goal. To learn a single flow you should know:

The fundamental difference between single-piece flow and traditional operations;

Design how to implement single-piece flow;

With one-piece flow, your business will benefit from:

The unfavorable condition is obviously exposed and solved in time;

Be team-driven and focus on the operator;

shorten the time to solve the problem;

The operating time of the operator increases and the auxiliary time decreases;

Reduce production area, reduce logistics and transportation, and improve production efficiency.

11.Continuous improvement (Kaizen)

Kaizen is a Japanese noun equivalent to CIP. Miracles begin to emerge when the precise determination of value is started, the value stream is identified, the various steps of value created for a particular product flow continuously, and the customer pulls value from the business. To learn about continuous improvement:

· When Kaizen is needed and how to apply Kaizen;

Kaizen strategies, commonly used tools and techniques.

Lean production implementation steps

1.Choose key processes to improve

Lean production does not happen overnight. It emphasizes continuous improvement. The key process should be selected first, and strive to establish it as a model line.

2.Draw a value flow chart

Value flow diagram is a method used to describe logistics and information flow. After drawing a value flow chart of the current state, a Lean Vision can be drawn. In this process, more icons are used to indicate continuous processes, various types of pulling systems, balanced production and shortening tooling replacement time. The production cycle is subdivided into value-added time and non-value-added time.

3.Continuous improvement seminars

The Lean Vision must be put into practice, otherwise the most cleverly planned chart is just a piece of waste paper. The implementation plan includes What, When and Who is responsible (Who), and review nodes are set up during the implementation process. In this way, all employees are involved in the productive maintenance system for all employees. Under the guidance of value flow chart and lean vision map, each independent improvement project in the process has been given new meaning, so that employees are very clear about the significance of implementing the project. There are several ways to continuously improve the production process: eliminate quality inspection links and rework; eliminate unnecessary movement of parts; eliminate inventory; rationalize production planning; reduce production preparation time; eliminate downtime; and improve labor utilization.

4.Build corporate culture

Although the significant improvements that occurred on the shop floor can trigger a series of subsequent corporate cultural changes, if it is taken for granted that due to improvements in the floor plan and production operation methods, positive cultural changes can be automatically established and promoted, which is obviously not realistic. Cultural change is more difficult than improvement on the production site. Both must be completed and complement each other. The implementation experience of many projects proves that the key to the success of the project is that the company leaders must physically combine the improvement of production methods with the evolution of corporate culture.

Traditional enterprises are shifting to lean production. It can not be done simply by using the corresponding "kanban" tools and advanced production management technology, but the philosophy of all employees must be changed. The reason why lean production was born in Japan rather than in the United States is precisely because the corporate cultures of the two countries are quite different.

5.Promote to the entire enterprise

Lean manufacturing uses a variety of industrial engineering techniques to eliminate waste, focusing on the entire production process, not just individual or several processes. Therefore, the success of the model line must be extended to the entire enterprise, shortening the operating procedures, and the push-type production system is replaced by a customer-oriented pull-type production system.

All in all, lean production is an endless process of excellence. It is committed to improving the production process and every process in the process, to the greatest extent possible to eliminate all activities that cannot add value in the value chain, improve labor utilization, and eliminate waste. In accordance with customer orders, production is also minimized.

The transition from a traditional enterprise to a lean enterprise cannot be accomplished overnight, it requires a certain price, and sometimes unexpected problems may occur. However, as long as the enterprise is firmly committed to the lean road, most of them can recover the entire transformation cost within 6 months, and even less than 3 months, and enjoy the benefits brought by lean production.

Lean Production Implementation Process

Production line (equipment) layout: Configure equipment types according to the process flow; reasonably configure the number of equipment according to the needs of the production cycle; the layout of the equipment is "U" as the preferred solution; the direction of operation should be uniform;

Logistics storage of WIP between processes: The storage site is in principle concentrated on the production site; the maximum storage and minimum order quantities of WIP are specified; the "5S" set management is realized; the storage method and the corresponding logistics equipment are specified.

In-process product logistics storage: implement the principle of "single piece (small batch), one flow delivery"; clarify storage location and storage volume; configure corresponding logistics equipment.

Lean production

Production line material (parts and components) supply: The principle of "multi-frequency, low-volume, on-time" is used to determine the supply storage area, storage volume, supply logistics rules, and set up supply logistics equipment.

Production operation mode: According to the production cycle, the "one person and multiple sequence" cycle production is implemented.

Staffing: The principle of separation of man-machine work time is implemented. The cycle time of the work should be constant, and the content of the work should be repeated.

Production plan: According to the production capacity and production cycle of each process, indicate the production volume and progress; implement the "leveling" principle on the premise of integration of sales plan and production plan.

Lean Production Management Principles

Principle 1: Management decisions must be based on long-term ideas, even if short-term financial goals must be sacrificed accordingly

Principle 2: Establish an uninterrupted workflow to make problems surface

Principle 3: Use a pull-back system to avoid overproduction

Lean Production JIT

Principle 4: Equalize workload (leveling)

Principle 5: Establish a culture of immediate suspension to solve problems and a focus on quality control from the beginning

Principle 6: Standardization of job work is the basis for continuous improvement and empowering employees

Principle 7: Use visual control to make problems impossible to hide

Principle 8: Use reliable, well-tested technology to support people and processes

Principle 9: Develop employees who thoroughly understand and embrace the company's philosophy to become leaders and enable them to teach other employees

Principle 10: Cultivate and develop outstanding people and teams who believe in the company's philosophy

Principle 11: Value your company's business partner and supplier network, challenge them, and help them improve

Principle 12: Visit the site to understand the situation thoroughly (locally present)

Principle 13: Don't make hasty decisions, use consensus as the basis, thoroughly consider all possible options, and execute decisions quickly

Principle 14: Become a learning organization through continuous reflection and continuous improvement

Lean production

Part I: Toyota Mode

I. Toyota Mode

4P in Toyota mode

Building an efficient production method

Comprehensive productivity

Manufacturing is service industry --- PQCDS

What is waste? Understanding Waste Three M

Blind spots for arithmetic calculations

Non-costism

A common waste phenomenon in factories

Four Toyota wastes

Toy's four waste levels

V. Purpose of Toyota Way

Toyota's comprehensive production system

Process of Toyota production method

Basic Techniques of Lean Production

Seven, lean production and production management

Part II: Toyota's perspective, field improvement technology

Source of benefits in manufacturing methods

6S is the foundation for improvement

1S finishing

2S rectification

3S cleaning

4S cleaning

5S literacy

6S security

Red card combat

Signage combat

Three pillars of 6S activities

Independent maintenance of machinery and equipment

Steps for self-maintenance

6S implementation steps

Find 6S active objects

2. Balanced production

Balanced production

Uneven production

Inventory generation

Disadvantages of large inventory and large inventory

Excessive manufacturing leads to high inventory

Short inventory lead to high inventory

Balanced production --- after initial reform

Leveling --- small batch

Balanced production practices

Designated / free seat

Smooth production

Leveling ProductionCase 1

Leveling ProductionCase 2

Conditions and advantages of small batches

Reduce waste from overproduction and countermeasures

Individual efficiency and overall efficiency

Third, balanced production JIT

pull production

Kanban way

Two Kanban methods

Kanban and present chain

kanban function

Six rules of Kanban

Example --- Kanban

Fourth, shorten the production lead time

Necessity and advantages of reducing lead time

Reduce production lead time mechanism

Reduce waiting time

Reduce processing time

Reduce mold changing time

Labor efficiency

True efficiency and observation efficiency

Reduce operation time

Three types of field operations

Focus on finding action waste

Short action distance 1

Example--Unit Production 1

Short action distance 2

Example--Unit Production 2

Move easily and easily

Restriction-free principle

Reduce transportation time

Transportation is no added value

The role of transportation in production

Improved handling and activation of handling

Improved handling method

V. Shorten job conversion time

Focus on shortening the mold change time

Necessity to shorten mold change time

Four forms of job conversion

Four stages of rapid conversion

Seven rules for fast conversion

Six, standard operation

Three elements of standard operation

Cycle time

Work sequence

Standard stock

Three points of standard work

Engineering capacity table

Standard job portfolio

Standard Job Sheet

Standard Essentials

Working instructions

Seven, automation

Characteristics of each operation method

The basic idea of automation

The nature of automation

Automated implementation steps

Stop the machine

Example--FA special equipment

Eight, completely eliminate waste methods

Learn to find waste

Eliminate waste

U-shaped configuration

U configuration

Plan to cultivate multi-talented workers

Practice effect

Part III: Toyota Way to Introduce Enterprises

I. Key points for implementation

Four necessary steps for introduction

Composition promotion organization

Establish demonstration projects

Development order of introduction

Awareness reform / method introduction

Set clear performance goals