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LEAN MANUFACTURING
Lean
manufacturing is changing businesses around the world through
techniques that create outstanding results and translate
directly into bottom-line profits. Lean Manufacturing is
a process that originates in Japan, and centres around the
Toyota Production System.
There
are 5 principles to the process:
- Define value from
your customers perspective
- Identify the value
stream
- Flow
- Pull
- Strive for perfection
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The
general idea is to eliminate any waste in the production system,
as well as increase the flow of information and materials through
the system.
Here at CTD we are on the journey
of implementing this competitive weapon using the name GEMMS
(Growth-Enabling Manufacturing and Management System). GEMMS
allows us to:
- shrink lead times
- increases sales growth
- reduce set-up times
- avoid unnecessary equipment
expense
- multiply inventory turns
- reduce costs, and
- pass the savings to the
customer
At CTD we strive for Workplace
Organization and Standardization through a method called the 5
"S"s. They are:
- Sort through and sort
out: Clean out the work area, keeping what is necessary in the
work area, relocating or discarding what is not.
- Set in order and set
limits: Arrange needed items so they are easy to find, use and
return, to streamline production and eliminate time searching
for them.
- Shine and inspect through
cleaning: Clean and care for equipment and areas, and inspect
while doing so.
- Standardize: Make all
work areas similar so procedures are obvious and instinctual,
and defects stand out.
- Sustain: Make these "rules"
natural and instinctual. Once they are habits, the total benefits
of 5S will be reaped.
The system as a whole creates
a workspace that allows for minimized waste. Not only do the five
steps help to ensure that time will be spent doing more productive
activities, but it also reduces the chance of error, rework and
injury which are all high cost activities.
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