The main concepts of lean manufacturing are used by a plethora of modern companies to organize their production processes. Every business is free to select separate techniques that might be used in its manufacturing operations. The following paper is intended to discuss and evaluate the appropriateness of particular lean operations implemented by the company that gives other people access to its specific information.
Think of Your Current Employer in Terms of Lean Operations
Nike is one of the most popular clothing brands in the entire world that uses lean manufacturing concepts in its work. The central goal of such an approach to business is a desire to develop and create the best product or option on the market. Also, the transnational corporation has its culture of employment (Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, & Kumar, 2014). This factor requires every worker to meet specific criteria intended to improve the business’s status and the clients’ satisfaction. The company’s production process is stable, whereas all employees follow specific schedules and regulations set by their managers (Bhamu & Sangwan, 2014). It is essential to mention that Nike also meets another lean criterion that implies the provision of different products or services to the clients betimes. In conclusion, it would be proper to state that the manufacturing process of the Nike Company is maximally optimized, whereas its losses are reduced to the possible minimum.
List and Evaluate the Types of Lean Techniques and Concepts that are Currently Being Employed by the Nike Company
There are many lean techniques used by the Nike Company in its manufacturing process to improve the business’s productivity. Some of these concepts will be listed below:
- 5S. The title of this technique is made of five verbs (sort, set in order, shine, standardize. sustain) (Distelhorst, Hainmueller, & Locke, 2013). Such a strategy reduces all the time-consuming and insignificant processes to the minimum to organize the employees’ working places conveniently and appropriately.
- Just-in-Time. This technique is useful for reducing the levels of inventory deterioration.
- Kanban. This method prevents the wastes of raw material and professional equipment that often occur in the manufacturing process. Also, it does not let workers produce more items than they are required per every shift.
- Muda. This concept might also be referred to as waste. Its action might be considered reversed as it is better to avoid Muda instead of using it in the manufacturing process (Fullerton, Kennedy, & Widener, 2014). It implies the elimination of different wastes to save finances and time for the Nike Corporation.
- PDCA. The last lean manufacturing concept used by Nike is PDCA (plan, do check, act). This method implies additional scientific researches that are intended to identify necessary improvements for future work.
Do You Feel that This Company is Successfully Implementing These Lean Operations Concepts?
Indeed, Nike is a successful firm due to its managers’ organizational abilities, valuable knowledge, and experience. This factor is possible to prove with the fact that the factories of Nike have a considerably low rate of toxic evaporations and other garbage. This manufacturing process is possible due to its organization with the help of such lean operations as Muda and Kanban (Resta, Powell, Gaiardelli, & Dotti, 2015). It would be proper to mention that the company’s factories always work in accordance with the previously set schedule. Such accurate management of the working process and shifts is possible due to the 5S technique as employees do not waste their time solving minor technical or organizational issues. Engineers from Nike always try to make their colleagues’ work as efficient as possible by using the PDCA lean-approach. They address various problems and try to solve them scientifically. Once the issue is determined, the team of scholars uses and promotes appropriate decisions or ideas to resolve it.
New Lean Technology to Implement in the Nike Company
Another efficient lean technology that would be beneficial for the Nike Company is called the visual factory. Such a technique lets employees from different departments communicate faster with the help of visual data. This method makes the manufacturing process faster as the factory workers are not obliged to go to another end of the facility to clarify particular actions at the manager’s office. Visual factory implies a clear way of communication that is intended to reduce employees’ time-consuming transportations to solve particular issues or uncertain instructions (Schroeder & Goldstein, 2013). It would be proper to state that the given technology is not supposed to replace other lean practices as there are no similar systems used in the Nike factories.
Conclusion
The Nike Corporation is known all over the world for its high-quality sportswear. The company specializes in the production of shoes and clothes, which requires several garment factories to work consistently. To optimize the manufacturing process efficiently and appropriately, the company’s managers consider implementing such lean technologies as 5S, Just-in-Time, Kanban, Muda, and PDCA. All these approaches reduce particular time-consuming activities and make the production process well-organized. However, it would be advantageous for the brand’s leaders to implement the innovative lean operation that is called the visual factory. It lets employees communicate with the help of different pictures, tables, and other information, instead of sharing the same data verbally.
References
Belekoukias, I., Garza-Reyes, J. A., & Kumar, V. (2014). The impact of lean methods and tools on the operational performance of manufacturing organizations. International Journal of Production Research, 52(18), 5346-5366. Web.
Bhamu, J., & Sangwan, K. S. (2014). Lean manufacturing: Literature review and research issues. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 34(7), 876-940. Web.
Distelhorst, G., Hainmueller, J., & Locke, R. M. (2013). Does lean capability building improve labor standards? Evidence from the Nike supply chain. SSRN Electronic Journal, 1(1), 1-26. Web.
Fullerton, R. R., Kennedy, F. A., & Widener, S. K. (2014). Lean manufacturing and firm performance: The incremental contribution of lean management accounting practices. Journal of Operations Management, 32(7-8), 414-428. Web.
Resta, B., Powell, D., Gaiardelli, P., & Dotti, S. (2015). Towards a framework for lean operations in product-oriented product service systems. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, 9(1), 12-22. Web.
Schroeder, R. G., & Goldstein, S. M. (2013). Operations management in the supply chain: Decisions and cases (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.