Lean Production Waste Removal Essay

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Updated: Mar 12th, 2024

Lean Management Systems (LMS) is a strategic concept utilized by business leaders to initiate radical changes within their respective companies. The goal of every enterprise is to make a profit by increasing revenue while at the same time lowering production cost (Bell, 2006). This is where LMS comes in. The correct use of LMS principles will allow a company to reduce waste, in terms of using the least amount of resources to accomplish a task. This can be achieved by educating the workforce with regards to the importance of LMS and the reduction of waste. The employees must come to realize that they will benefit from these strategies and therefore they must cooperate with management when it comes to implementation and documentation of the new production process.

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Elimination of Waste

Gone are the days of trial and error when it comes to production processes. In a highly competitive business environment of the 21st century every resource must be utilized properly and its usage maximized to produce high-quality products. The elimination of waste can translate to reduction in production cost. Therefore, the company can offer more competitive pricing. This will be a competitive advantage, especially in a time when there is no longer brand loyalty among consumers; they are constantly on the lookout for the best-cost items in the marketplace.

The Toyota Company is considered one of the pioneers when it comes to using LMS principles to improve their production processes. During the early stages of their experimentation with LMS, their founder, Sakichi Toyoda developed the concept called jidoka (Toyota, 2009).

This is also known as “automation with a human touch” or the use of automated technology to oversee a complicated production process that has the ability to shut down the whole system if there is a problem with the raw materials or machine parts that are critical in the manufacturing process. The use of jidoka allowed Toyota to use less number of workers to oversee a complex system and at the same time it allows them to determine the problem quickly and preventing the system to produce substandard products due to a failure in the system.

The automatic shut-off will allow VMC to save money on components and at the same time provide a quick feedback mechanism that there is something wrong with the system. In the case of VMC they have to figure out if they can improve their production processes in terms of converting everything into a fully automated system. Furthermore, since it will only require less labor to manage a fully automated system, VMC must train the one in-charge to master every aspect of the computerized assembly process for it is not enough to simply shut-down the factory if something is broken, the ultimate goal is to immediately restore production.

According to Shinkle et al. (2004) business leaders must provide clear strategic direction for their companies; document their management systems; and create structured and disciplined process for approval, communication, and control of the flow of people, money, material projects, and activities. Mr. Richard and Mr. Banker of VMC will benefit greatly if they will reexamine these principles. They must communicate a clear strategic direction to their employees so they will be motivated to go along with the new changes. But they must document the things that they want to do so that their employees will learn it quickly and provide avenues for discussion and room for improvement.

Finally, a structured and discipline system will teach their employees what to do and who they must approach to seek approval when it comes to requesting for resources. In this way waste can be significantly reduced.

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Business leaders will do well to listen to objections and suggestions coming from the rank and file employees to improve their strategies and improve the documentation process. Greg Banker and Frank Richard have an overview of VMC’s production flow but it is their employees who are knowledgeable when it comes to the “nuts and bolts” of the whole system. The implementation of new guidelines must not be finalized until supervisors and other employees will be given ample time to absorb it and to make comments. VMC must also provide enough time to train the workers with regards to the use of a new system.

Greg Banker and Frank Richard must also establish a feedback mechanism where employees can immediately communicate suggestions and at the same time report problems that can slow down VMC’s implementation of LMS strategies. It could not be stressed enough; Frank Richard will have to polish his communication skills in order to change the mindset of his workers. There will be resistance to change because these people have been doing the same thing over and over again. But the CEO must break all barriers in order to ensure the survival of VMC.

Conclusion

Apart from motivating the employees by clearly explaining the rationale behind the drastic changes that will be implemented by VMC, the company will do well if they will document the system. In this way confusion and frustration will be reduced because employees will always have a hard copy of the plan instead of simply having to contend with verbal instructions. If the instructions and goals are documented then supervisors and managers can help train rank and file employees to bring them up to speed when it comes to the current mindset – the adherence to LMS principles to create competitive advantage.

References

Bell, S. (2006). Lean Enterprise Systems. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Shinkle, G., L. Gooding, M. Smith. (2004). Transforming Strategy into Success. New York: Productivity Press.

Toyota. (2009). Toyota Production System. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2024) 'Lean Production Waste Removal'. 12 March.

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IvyPanda. 2024. "Lean Production Waste Removal." March 12, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lean-production-waste-removal/.

1. IvyPanda. "Lean Production Waste Removal." March 12, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lean-production-waste-removal/.


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IvyPanda. "Lean Production Waste Removal." March 12, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lean-production-waste-removal/.

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