1. Japanese Production Methods
‘Traditional’ manufacturing was based on ‘pushing’ production through the production process to meet sales targets and forecasts
This can result in large stocks of work in progress and finished goods if demand is lower than forecast
Japanese techniques use the concept of ‘pull production’ – a production process is only performed when it is demanded by the next stage in the line *
29 November 2018
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2. What is lean production?
An approach to management that focuses on cutting out waste, whilst ensuring quality. This approach can be applied to all aspects of a business – from design, through production to distribution. 2

3. Lean production in a nutshell
Doing the simple things well
Doing things better
Involving employees in the continuous process of improvement (Kaizen)
…and as a result, eliminating waste (muda in Japanese) 3

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Lean production
Lean production: Involves raising productivity by using less of everything – less raw materials, labour, energy, floor-space, time etc.
JIT is a key component of lean production *
29 November 2018
© easilyinteractive.com 2008

5. Examples of waste in business
Type of waste
Description
Over- production
Making more than is needed – leads to excess stocks
Waiting time
Equipment and people standing idle waiting for a production process to be completed or resources to arrive
Transport
Moving resources (people, materials) around unnecessarily
Stocks
Often held as an acceptable buffer, but should not be excessive
Motion
A worker who appears busy but is not actually adding any value
Defects
Output that does not reach the required quality standard – often a significant cost to an uncompetitive business 5

6. Kaizen
Kaizen (or ‘continuous improvement’) is an approach of constantly introducing small incremental changes in a business in order to improve quality and/or efficiency 6

7. How Kaizen works
Leaner production is based on making many small changes
As the ideas come from employees, they are less likely to be radically different, and therefore easier to implement
Small improvements are less likely to require major capital investment than major process changes
Ideas come from the talents of the existing workforce, as opposed to using R&D, consultants or equipment – any of which could be very expensive
The culture - all employees should continually look for ways to improve their own performance
Kaizen encourages employees to take ownership for their work, can help reinforce team working and improve motivation 7

8. The kaizen umbrella Just in time production (JIT) Zero defects
Co-operative staff-management relations
Kanban
Quality improvement and management (covered in BUSS2)
Productivity improvement
Small group activities
New product development
Six sigma
SMED 5S
Customer orientation
TQM
Quality control circles
Suggestion system
Robotics automation
Discipline in the workplace
TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) 8

9. Implementing continuous improvement
Workers are encouraged to:
Plan – identify where improvement is needed and develop a plan which will result in improvement
Do – implement the plan
Check – check whether or not the expected improvement has materialised
Action – if the plan has succeeded, introduce it throughout the business

10. Just-in-time
Just-in-time (“JIT”) aims to ensure that inputs into the production process only arrive when they are needed 10

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Just in Time
JIT: A strategy involving coordinating the delivery of raw materials and components to arrive at the factory just in time for production
e.g. At Skoda in the Czech Republic, Skoda notify the car seat suppliers of the production schedule via integrated computer systems and the companies work together
Seats are delivered to Skoda on the production line exactly when they are required
Skoda only take ownership of the seats when they arrive on the production line – minimising stocks of work in progress *
29 November 2018
© easilyinteractive.com 2008

12. How does JIT work?
Based on a "pull" system of production - customer orders determine what is produced
Requires complex production scheduling - achieved using specialist software to connect production dept with suppliers
Supplies delivered to production line only when needed
Requires close cooperation with high-quality suppliers 12