...series of recommendations that, if implemented, will assist with the fictional organizational goal that has been requested by the department managers at this company. Principals of Lean Manufacturing Lean Manufacturing is defined as a production practice that uses less and fewer resources than traditional manufacturing. The primary objective of implementation of lean processes is to eliminate any element of the process that does not add value and striving for perfection with zero defects and zero inventories. (Lynch, 2005) There are various principals to lean manufacturing that can be applied to any area of an organization to realize the process improvement in the assignment below I will discuss three examples 5s, Six Sigma and Kaizen. Process Improvement-5S 5S is a system that reduces waste and optimizes productivity through an orderly workplace and using visual cues to obtain more consistent results of the operation. Created first by Toyota Production Company, a Japanese based company, the five pillars in this process are: Sort (Seiri) Eliminating unnecessary item...
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...Have the Continuous Improvement (Cl) efforts at Absa Bank’s Horizon Medium Business Banking unit, in the Gauteng West region successfully addressed the key concepts of Continuous Improvement as set out by Trollip, 2008? By Sinqobile Khobotho Ndlovu {20625261} Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Business Administration At the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Business School Research Supervisor: Mr. Bux Heather November 2008 Page 1 of 112 Declaration “I, Sinqobile K Ndlovu, declare that: • This work has not been previously accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. • This dissertation is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Business Administration. • The dissertation is the result of my independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by referencing and a reference list is attached. • I hereby give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organizations.” Signed: …………………. Date: 20 December 2008 Page 2 of 112 Abstract Success in today’s highly competitive financial sector requires an organization to have a sustainable competitive advantage that would distinguish it from the rest. Products...
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...Submitted by – Protik Neogi Kaizen The term Kaizen is known as continuous improvement which basically a long term approach to work systematically seeks to achieve small incremental changes in process in order to improve efficiency and quality. Kaizen can be applied to any kind of work, but it is perhaps best known for being used in lean manufacturing and lean programming. If a work environment practices kaizen, continuous improvement is the responsibility of every worker, not just a selected few. This word bassically came from Japan which mean "good change''. One approach to continuous, incremental improvem47ent is called kaizen. It originated in Japan and the word translates to mean change (kai) for the good (zen). Kaizen is based on the philosophical belief that everything can be improve. Some organizations look at a process and see that it's running fine; Organizations that follow the principle of Kaizen see a process that can be improved. This means that nothing is ever seen as a status quo – there are continuous efforts to improve which result in small, often imperceptible, changes over time. These incremental changes add up to substantial changes over the longer term, without having to go through any radical innovation. It can be a much gentler and employee-friendly way to institute the changes that must occur as a business grows and adapts to its changing environment. Because Kaizen is more a philosophy than a specific tool, its approach is...
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...The Benefits of Implementing Kaizen and Measuring its Success Abstract This paper serves as a literature review of kaizen. Points of interest include its origins, how it is different from innovation, its benefits, and its implementation. Difficulties of implementing kaizen are addressed briefly. Standardization and sustainability may just be the most difficult elements of the kaizen process. However, they are perhaps the most important aspects of kaizen, yet they are sometimes overlooked. This can lead to failed kaizen attempts even as severe as reverting back to the old, supposedly improved upon standards. A particular research program looked at inputs to kaizen events and how they affect the outcome of the events. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing failure and using that feedback to improve the effectiveness of the kaizen event initiative. This research program is also referenced in this paper. Introduction After World War II, the United States felt it could benefit from assisting the Japanese economy. The United States sent those who contributed to American businesses during the war to act as advisors to Japanese businesses, one of whom was Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Deming’s ideas that made the Japanese increasingly competitive came to be known as kaizen (Maurer 9-10). What is Kaizen? Dr. Deming’s ideas that became known as kaizen included reduction of waste, respect for workers, and service to the customer (Maurer 9). Kaizen is a Japanese term that is...
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...(LCC) 1.1 Definition Life cycle costing is a cost management approach which includes all costs and ensures that all those costs are managed over the life cycle of the product. Product life cycle begins from conception of the product until its abandonment which can be referred as ‘from cradle to grave‘. Product life cycle has four stages: 1) Product planning and initial concept design It involves process of identifying any underlying conditions, assumption, limitations and constraints such as minimum asset performance, maximum capital costs that might restrict the range of acceptable options to be evaluated. It is a valuable reference for better decision whether the plan should be carried on. This includes the research and development cost market research costs. 2) Product design and development Starting from preparation of development contract until equipment is ready to be introduced to the business. It is also a stage where the factory trials take place. Cost of product design, prototyping, and market testing costs. 3) Production All the manufacturing costs related to producing the products such as direct material, labor, overhead and administrative costs will be incurred. 4) Distribution and customer (or logistical) support This stage is where product are sent to customers and ready to be used. All marketing, selling and distribution costs are incurred at this stage. As for logical support cost, it involves delivery and transportation costs, warehousing...
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...Philippines Technological University of the Philippines Ayala Boulevard, Ermita Manila IM – 10: Production Management CHAPTER VIII. Production Process Improvement For Product Innovation Submitted by: Tugade, Erwin Benedict P. Liang, Dongping (Jessie) BAM – IM – 4LE Submitted to: Noel B. Hernandez, Ph. D. Topics to be discussed 1. Production Process. 2. Characteristics of A Production Process. 3. Importance of Continuous Process improvement. 4. Innovation Drivers of Change. 5. Reverse Engineering. 6. Kaizen. Objectives * To be able to know what is Product Innovation. * To identify the reason of Continuous Innovation. * To be able to enumerate different factors Necessitating Change in Process Design * To introduce some new ways of thinking about continuous improvement. * To understand innovation as drivers of change. * To discuss about Reverse Engineering and Kaizen. Introduction To win in manufacturing, not only do you need the ability to innovate, but you must also execute upon that innovation and deliver new product to market before your competitors do. That's true manufacturing agility, and it can't happen if your enterprise is burdened by isolated plant-based execution systems that lack coordination between headquarters, engineering and the shop floor. As Blanchard (2005) believes that innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. And companies’ success, for example, means increased...
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...KAIZEN COSTING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table Of Contents 1 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 The Concept Of Kaizen Costing 2 1.3 Kaizen And Management 4 1.4 Kaizen -The Three Pillars 5 1.4.1 Housekeeping 5 1.4.2 Waste (Muda ) Elimination 7 1.4.3 Standardization 10 1.6 Kaizen And Total Quality Management (Tqm) 13 1.7 Kaizen And Suggestion Systems 14 1.8 Goals Of Kaizen Vs. Quality, Cost And Delivery 15 1.9 Common Disconnects/Roadblocks In Kaizen Implementation 16 1.10 Advantages Of Kaizen Costing 17 1.11 Disadvantages Of Kaizen Costing 18 1.12 Conclusion 19 References 19 1.1 Introduction Kaizen means improvement, continuous improvement involving everyone in the organization from top management, to managers then to supervisors, and to workers. In Japan, the concept of Kaizen is so deeply engrained in the minds of both managers and workers that they often do not even realize they are thinking Kaizen as a customer-driven strategy for improvement. Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy for process improvement that can be traced to the meaning of the Japanese words ‘Kai’ and ‘Zen’, which translate roughly into ‘to break apart and investigate’ and ‘to improve upon the existing situation’. It is using common sense and is both a rigorous, scientific method using statistical quality control and an adaptive framework of organizational values and beliefs that keeps workers and management focused on...
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...Toyota has a global geographic structure with subsidiaries and plants all over the world. Toyota's external environment relates to major forces outside the organization with potential to influence significantly their products and services. Toyota America will be analysed in terms of the opportunities and problems they are currently facing and their likely contributing factors. Under the general environment we will be discussing the six dimensions: demographics, economic, sociocultural, global, technological and political/legal dimensions respectively. The current demographic situation in the US is that baby boomers are retiring. This will not directly influence Toyotas sales, but will influence the future buyers and vehicles that will need to be produced. Toyota is currently the most profitable automobile company in the industry. The general industry that Toyota competes is with the big three's and Honda. Right now the U.S. economy is in turmoil. Profitability outlooks are almost out the door. The American public is simply not buying, thus making it tough for Toyota along with their competitors. Threw out the late 40's to the present Toyota's sales have steadily increased. The reason for this increase in sales was the negative reputation that American people had against the Japanese after WWII. This stigma has long been forgotten in the American society, thus accommodate Toyota factories in the US in the late 80's. Presently the Toyota Company is widely accepted by general society...
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...Introduction In the post-war period, Japanese companies developed the concept of lean production. Lean production was regarded as the third step in the historical progression, which took industry from the age of the craftsman through the methods of mass production and into an era that combined the best of both (The Economist 2009). Lean production was designed to combine the flexibility and quality of craftsmanship with the low costs of mass production. And due to its unique characteristics bringing an underdog company in its industry to the market leader, this idea of lean thinking has been adopted by many other industries. Today ‘lean’ may no longer be fashionable but its core principles (flow, value, pull, minimizing waste etc.) have become the paradigm for many manufacturing (and service) operations (Lewis 2000). In this essay, my main argument is that although success of lean production and its positive impacts on corporate competitiveness is undeniable, nevertheless, from the workers’ point of view, lean production has also increased the pressures of work and the degree of exploitation wherever it exists. In the first part of my essay I will present a brief history of lean production. This will be followed by the demonstration of main characteristics and the analysis of how lean production has impacted corporate competitiveness by utilizing Toyota as an example, which is the birthplace of lean production. Part three will spell out the limits of lean production as...
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...document contains references to 13 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 4 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE A TECHNOLOGY For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. Fundamental mindset that drives improvements towards lean production Yuji Yamamoto and Monica Bellgran School of Innovation, Design, and Engineering, Malardalen University, Eskilstuna,...
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...The term ‘lean production’ came about to describe the Toyota production system in the late 1980’s. This came to pass through a research group from MIT who over five years analysed the automotive industry in fourteen countries. It was called ‘lean manufacturing’ rather than the Toyota production system to make it easier for competitors and organizations to adopt this type of system. The concept of lean production in a manufacturing organization basically means to try and maximise the use of materials to achieve optimum customer value and at the same time reducing waste and ensuring the same standard of quality in the finished product. Reducing the resources means it will cheaper for the organization to create the product plus also for the customer to buy it. With regards to a manufacturing organization ‘lean production’ is basically a list of rules, tools and techniques which improves the organization in questions manufacturing processes. The main concept of ‘lean’ in a manufacturing organization is to reduce waste which can be broken down and understood as the seven wastes:- 1. Over-production – One of the worse types of waste which is the manufacture of the product before it is actually needed. This can create excess inventory. 2. Waiting – Time between the manufacturing processes 3. Motion – Time wasted from moving people around 4. Transport – Time wasted from the movement of materials from each manufacturing stage. 5. Inventory – Having too much stock...
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...Lean production is a Japanese method of production that focuses on cutting out waste and costs whilst ensuring quality. This method helps the business to be more efficient and responsive to the market needs. It also cuts out all activities that do not add value to the production process, such as holding of stock, repairing faulty product and unnecessary movement of people and product around the plant. Other aspects of a business – from design, through production to distribution can also use this type of method. In this case, Gateshead Holdings is a metal component manufacturer. Geoff Cartwright spoke face to face with all 146 workers individually explaining all about his three-year plan. One of the first features of Lean production used by him in order to transform Gateshead Holdings into profitable company was the Cell production. It is a form of team working which helps ensure worker commitment as each cell is responsible for a complete unit of work. Each cell is responsible for a significant part of the finished article and rather than each person only carrying out only one very specific task, team members are skilled at a number of roles providing a means of job rotation and more adaptable to the future needs of a business. This way the workers also improve communication, avoiding confusion arising from misunderstandings. The workers will have greater motivation due to multiplicity of work, teamwork, and greater responsibilities. The workforce of 146 was reduced by 25...
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...Dr. Bill has retired from CSU and bought a failing guitar pick factory. For years, this company dominated the pick market, but recent technological developments have left them in the dust. There are rumors that the plant and office structure were built by the Spaniards soon after their initial conquest of this area… Part of his plan to jump-start this company is to hire a CSU-DH grad as the grand poobah of HFE (and other duties as assigned). Your first few weeks are full of new assignments from Bill as well as requests for your new expertise. So, the majority of what follows will be in the form of a management briefing, slide show, or report, or memo. 9 questions plus 1 bonus question 1. Given the rapidly rising importance and pervasiveness of knowledge management, we could easily devote an entire course to information processing. As quality professionals we are often called upon to improve a process - and the result is the additional need for data collection or new "mental routines". Dr. Bill wants to become the guitar pick success story for 2011 and has hired you to take the skills you have learned in QAS 515 and assist him in bringing (dragging?) the processes and workforce into the 21st century. After your first week walking around both the plant and admin areas with a clipboard taking notes, several themes arise: • there are no computers – for stand-alone, process/machine control, or administration use • there is a Tayloristic job breakdown and about...
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..."Learn to see waste." Benefits of Implementing Lean Methodologies: • Reduces process lead time to better service customers • Greatly improves throughput and asset utilization • Opens capacity for future growth opportunities • Reduces work-in-process inventory • Reduces set-up times • Avoids unnecessary equipment expense • Increases the number of inventory turns per year • Improves cash flow • Impacts your bottom line The Machine That Changed the World is a book based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's $5 million, five-year study on the future of the automobile, written by James P. Womack,Daniel T. Jones (scientist), and Daniel Roos. When The Machine That Changed the World was first published in 1990, Toyota was half the size of General Motors. Today Toyota is passing GM as the world's largest auto maker and is the most consistently successful global enterprise of the past fifty years. This management classic was the first book to reveal Toyota's lean production system that is the basis for its enduring success. Now reissued with a new Foreword and Afterword, Machine contrasts two fundamentally different business systems -- lean versus mass, two very different ways of thinking about how humans work together to create value. Based on the largest and most thorough study ever undertaken of any industry -- MIT's five-year, fourteen-country International Motor Vehicle Program -- this book describes the entire managerial system of lean production...
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...Executive Summary The Oak Hills facility is a manufacturing division of The Oil and Gas Service Company (TOGS). It manufactures special testing equipment used by the Exploration and Extraction (E&E) unit in the search for oil and gas. Oak Hills battled major internal problems which included high inventory levels and long lead times for both domestic and international orders, in spite of lowered demand. Oak Hills doesn’t utilize resources such as MRP to plan production, lacks in manager to employee communication, wastes time in set-up procedures, has an inefficient facility layout as well as idle time during lid manufacturing and lack of quality inspections in the production process. TOGS trusts that a supply chain team, through the implementation of a lean system, will resolve these issues. Case Analysis Oak Hills currently experiences different issues that will influence the conversion process to a lean system. The machines being used are outdated; creating a waste of raw materials. Because of facility layout, the sensor boards are far from the assembly line. This creates over processing, unnecessary wait, and movement waste. The workload for the quality control department is overloaded, creating further quality issues.This inaccuracy causes creation of scrap materials and rework. Additionally, Oak Hills lacks in the use of automation leading to excess manual quality control. An increasing concern is the unsatisfactory delivery...
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