Lean Manufacturing—What It Is and Why It Matters
Lean manufacturing is a methodology for reducing waste in the manufacturing process. First introduced by Toyota in 1930, the term ‘lean’ was coined in 1988. It has since become common practice in the industry. An increasing number of manufacturers have been adopting lean methodology in recent years. But what do we mean by lean? And why is it important? What is lean manufacturing? Lean manufacturing is the continual pursuit of waste reduction in the manufacturing process. Waste is anything that uses resources without adding value to the customer. The seven wastes defined in the original Toyota Production System are: Unnecessary transportation Excess inventory Unnecessary motion of people, equipment, or machinery Waiting—inactive employees, or idle equipment Over-production of product Over-processing—putting in more resources than a customer needs Defects—which require resources to correct By following the lean methodology, practitioners aim to reduce or entirely remove these seven waste...