Unit 3.2 | Production - Lean Production

Lean Production: techniques used by businesses to cut down on waste and therefore increase efficiency.

Lean production might include using any of the following methods:

1. Kaizen: it means “continuos improvement” in Japanese, and its focus is on the elimination of waste. E.g. reduce amount taken for workers to walk between jobs so they eliminate unnecessary movements, getting rid of piles of stock, ... etc.

Advantages:

• increased productivity
• reduced amount of space needed for the production process
• work-in-progress is reduced

2. Just-in-time: production method that involves reducing or virtually eliminating the need to hold stocks of raw materials or unsold stocks of the finished product. Supplies arrive just at the time they are needed. 

3. Cell production: where the production line is divided into separate, self contained units (cells), each making identifiable part of the finished product, instead of having a flow or mass production line. 

Advantages:

• improves morale of the employees, as employees feel more valued.

4. Kanban: operates by having two component bins, one on the production line and one being made ready. It reduces the amount of part-finished stock and means that everyone has to work together and efficiently so that production is not held up.