5.3 Lean Production & Quality Management

(HL ONLY)

Lean Production:

British Firms:

    • Overproduced

    • Produced too slowly

    • Unnecessarily moved people, materials, stock, etc

    • Mistakes were made in production

    • Made goods of greater quality (therefore expense) than the needs/wants of the customer


Japanese Firms (lean production aims):

    • Avoid producing more than what is required

    • Do not waste time (nobody is idle)

    • Avoid errors through regulated quality control

    • Avoid inefficient manufacturing processes

    • Avoid unnecessary movement/transport

Kaizen (continual improvement):

  • This method strives toward perfection by eliminating waste in the workplace.

  • Successful implementation requires "the participation of workers in the improvement." People at all levels of an organisation participate in this method.

  • It develops a culture of continual small improvements and standardisation yields large results in terms of overall improvement in productivity.

Objectives:

  • Less waste, with higher output

  • Greater efficiency of production

Case Study: Toyota's Production System

Vocabulary:

Muda = Waste

Muri = Overburden

Mura = Uneven-ness

Operating with the minimum resource required to consistently deliver:

  • Just what is needed

  • In just the required amount

  • Just where it is needed

  • Just when it is needed

Kanban = A scheduling system for lean manufacturing and just-in-time manufacturing.

Kanban is an inventory-control system to control the supply chain.

Lean Production

  • Highest quality

  • At the lowest cost

  • Shortest lead time --> Amount of time between beginning of manufacturing & end of manufacturing

Heijunka = Leveling

  • Elegantly and without haste – helps organizations meet demand while reducing while reducing wastes in production and interpersonal processes.

Kaizen = Continuous Improvement

  • A strategy where employees at all levels of a company work together proactively to achieve regular, incremental improvements to the manufacturing process.

Jidohka = Automation

  • Jidoka highlights the causes of problems because work stops immediately when a problem first occurs. This leads to improvements in the processes that build in quality by eliminating the root causes of defects.

Just-in-Time Production

  • A pull system of production - production is only triggered once an order has been made

  • Stock of raw materials arrive "just in time" for them to be used in production

  • Finished goods are dispatched as soon as they are completed

  • Barcode systems ensure that stock levels are managed accurately

Advantages of JIT

  • Reduced stock holding costs

  • Improved liquidity

  • Reduced breakeven point

  • Improves motivation

Cradle to Cradle Design and Manufacturing

  • Reduce the consumption of materials and stimulate recycling habits

    • All materials in continuous cycles

    • Renewable energy only

    • Celebrating diversity

  • Different design approach --> Assembly and disassembly of product is considered --> Every part of the product is designed to be taken back in the technical and biological cycle --> No longer using, but borrowing products --> circular economy

Types of stock

Stock are also known as inventories. There are 3 categories of stock:

  • Raw materials and components

  • Work-in-Progress

  • Finished goods

Quality Management

Quality is achieving a standard for a product or service which meets customers expectations

Key aspects of quality:

  • Conformance -

    • Does it do what it is expected to do?

  • Performance - How well does it do it?

  • Aesthetics - How good does it look like?

Quality Control: Inspection and taking defects out

Quality Assurance: Based on processes and builds quality in