Half TOO BIG?
by Enrique Mora and Diana L. Conrad

My friend Art Lundgren likes to explain the basics of Lean Manufacturing with the too known example of the half filled glass, which the pessimists say is half empty and the optimists say it is half full. Art says the Lean-minded person will say "Why so big a glass?"

Yes indeed. When we develop a Lean mindset, all of our focus is to detect and avoid or eliminate waste. We have to learn and be aware of the "Wastes in Manufacturing" defined by the Toyota Production System, also known in America as the Lean Manufacturing System. 

We, at MORA International Consulting, have developed the necessary strategies to avoid these wastes. That is what we can do for your company...

On the body of this article you will find several Links to articles about Implementing the Lean Manufacturing Strategies that take care of these typical wastes.

These wastes are...

Defects.- Quality defects originate rework, scrap and lost raw materials. If these defects go all the way to the customer, the loss will be even greater. To avoid this, we move from the traditional and obsolete "Quality Control" still in use in some facilities, to the innovative "Quality at the Source" (Jidoka) concept. Here, each member of the organization is empowered and will make sure that no faulty products leave or arrive at their work-stations. This is supported with ingenious "Mistake Proofing" (Poka-Yoke) devices.  

Waiting.- Caused mainly by low reliability and/or availability of the equipment, lack of stock or poor scheduling. Here we have several tools, strategies and disciplines that will prevent this type of loss. Analyzing your process, we will be able to propose cost-effective improvements, from simple relocations or re-mapping to TPM and other implementations.

Processing.- Over-processing takes place everywhere. Think of those steps that do not add any real value. Processes that can be inaccurate and/or incorrect. We can team up with your manufacturing force and find the appropriate actions that will start saving you time, materials, space and money.  

Production.- Over-production is just as bad as under-production. Production may also be too early or too late. Make sure production is performed at the right time in the right quantity. Lean Manufacturing establishes a one-piece flow environment where production obeys the market. We help drastically reduce this disagreement between supply and demand.

Motion.- There are many cases of people required to perform unnecessary motion, or awkward movements, or where motion is not efficient (not adding value to the product). One of our customers saw in just a few hours, the reduction from 42 miles of  motion of 24 people in three shifts to less than 2 miles of motion with 16 people in two shifts. Our mission is to use the same resources to produce more.

Inventory.- Having too much raw material, WIP (work in process), finished goods because of large lots is sometimes overlooked and is a financial loss. SMED (Quick-Setup Strategy) implementations assist manufacturers to reduce lot sizes. Cellular organization or re-organization cuts WIP drastically. JIT deliveries provide instant solutions to the "conventional warehouse" problems. We are ready to help!

Transportation.- A defective or poor layout of the plant, an ineffective material handling system, an inconvenient location, all cause too much transportation which adds cost and risk to the operation. A value stream mapping will give you a cutting edge to reduce some of that overlooked unnecessary transportation. We are prepared to introduce these improvements and help many companies achieve their goals.

Underutilized personnel resources.- It is not only about the waste of employees' time, (bad enough by itself), but the many ideas that that they generate which could improve the process, workplace or product. In some cases, employees may have skills and knowledge that we are overlooking. All our implementations focus on the thorough utilization of the human resources, creating a better environment and lifting the morale of your people. 

When we focus on these wastes, there is always something that we can do to improve the operation. Think about it!  MORA Consulting is Here and Now for you. Any investment on our services is guaranteed to be recovered in a short period of time (some times even a few hours), and then keep generating the savings for a lifetime.