Lean Manufacturing

Manufacturing Engineering – Week 7

Bert Otten

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean Manufacturing @ Toyota

• Largest and “best performing” car

manufacturer in the world (5,14 mill cars 2022) (statista 2023)

• Highest quality cars ( = least defects)

• Fastest development cycle in the world

How does Toyota do this?

• Economy of scale (Mass Production)
• Economy of scope (Production according to demand)

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean manufacturing
“All we are doing is looking at the time line from
the moment the customer gives us an order to
the point when we collect the cash. And we
are reducing that time line by removing the
non-value-added wastes.”

大野耐一
Taichi Ohno, 1988

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean manufacturing

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean manufactory

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean Manufacturing

• Pioneered by Toyota (Toyota Production System)

• Focus on eliminating 3 - types of- waste:
– Waste created by overburden (workload) – “Muri”
– Waste created by non value adding (process) -“Muda”
– Waste created by unevenness (production) – “Mura”
• Instead of trying to run labor and machinery as hard
as possible, focus is on turning raw materials into a
“saleable” product.
• By lean production the quality improves and costs are
reduced. This leads to a better company result.
Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023
Lean Manufacturing

• Pioneered by Toyota (Toyota Production System)

• Focus on eliminating 3 - types of- waste:
– Waste created by overburden (workload) – “Muri”
– Waste created by non value adding (process) -“Muda”
– Waste created by unevenness (production) – “Mura”
• Instead of trying to run labor and machinery as hard
as possible, focus is on turning raw materials into a
“saleable” product.
• By lean production the quality improves and costs are
reduced. This leads to a better company result.
Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023
Lean Production System reqs’

• Meet external customer’s needs

• Minimize Waste – non value adding process - (Muda)
• Meet internal customer’s needs (employer satisfaction)
• Separate mans work from machines (autonomation*)
• Stop work when a problem is detected

• 自働化 “ jidoka” (automation with a human touch)

• Heijunka (production levelling)

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Process in Value Stream

• Processes either:
– Are necessary (value adding)
• Keep
– Are necessary but non-value adding
• Optimize
– Are non value adding and not necessary
• Eliminate

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Eliminating waste

• Waste is everything you do that the customer does

not want from the process!

• 5 wastes - steps (J. Womack and D. Jones) lead to lean

organisation:
– Value (Define customer value)
– Value Stream (Define)
– Flow (continuous process)
– Pull (demand by the customer)
– Perfection (Strive for excellence)

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Value

• Value is determined by the customer of the

process
– Internal
– External
• Ultimately, the customer “values” a product
over it’s complete lifecycle

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Waste – Example (Value Stream)
• Bringing components to assembly line
• Walking 10 feet to pick up component
• Removing cardboard from component
• Positioning component on chassis
• Picking up power tool and bolts 5 feet away
• Placing bolts on component
• Placing power tool on bolts
• Tightening bolts with power tool
Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023
Waste - Example
• Bringing components to assembly line
• Walking 10 feet to pick up component
• Removing cardboard from component
• Positioning component on chassis
• Picking up power tool and bolts 5 feet away
• Placing bolts on component
• Placing power tool on bolts
• Tightening bolts with power tool
Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023
7 Types of waste

1. Transport (unnecessary – of material)

2. Inventory (unnecessary)
3. Movement (unnecessary - of employees)
4. Waiting (people doing nothing)
5. Overproduction
6. Overprocessing (or incorrect processing)
7. Defects

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

2. Excess inventory

• Excess raw material, work in progress and

finished goods
Results in:
– Longer lead times
– Damaged goods
– Transportation and storage cost
– Delays
• Hides problems!

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

5. Overproduction

• Producing items for which there are no orders.

Results in:
– Extra inventory
– Extra handling
– Extra material cost

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

6. Over- or incorrect processing

• Unneeded steps for production

• Poor tool and product design
• Producing higher than necessary quality

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

7. Defects

• Defective parts
• Correction
• Repair
• Rework
• Scrap
• Inspection

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean manufacturing

The right process will produce the

right results

WIP Limit

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Process redesign

• Process redesign (improvement) is an ongoing

process, using 5S
• 5S (Sort 整理 “ Seiri”, Straighten 整頓
“ Seiton“, Shine 清掃 “ Seisou”,
Standardize 清潔 “ Seiketsu”, Sustain 躾
“ Shitsuke”)
• Standardization is key to continuous
improvement (Kaizen 改善 )
• What is 5S?
Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023
Process redesign

• Process redesign (improvement) is an ongoing

process, using 5S
• 5S (Sort 整理 “ Seiri”, Straighten 整頓
“ Seiton“, Shine 清掃 “ Seisou”,
Standardize 清潔 “ Seiketsu”, Sustain 躾
“ Shitsuke”)
• Standardization is key to continuous
improvement (Kaizen 改善 )

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Pull (flow)

• No product is made to stock

– Requires leveled schedule (can mean the
customer has to wait)
• Requires JIT delivery of parts

• Ultimately: one piece “flow”

• Takt time

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Pull (inventory)
• Uses かんばん ( 看板 “ kanbans” to guide
production process
– Kanban: visual way to identify when a product
needs to be replenished
– Example: two-bin system

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

One piece flow

• A problem in one step in the production

process can cause whole production line to
stop -> Jidoka
• Shows problems in production

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Quality

• Quality problems are a function of problems in

the process
• When problems are clear in the process, the
process can be improved
– Focus on improving process, not on “quick fixes”
– Find root causes (ask 5 times “why?”)
• Quality requires a “fool proof” process (poka
yoke - ポカヨケ )

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Quality – Root cause analysis (5 why’s)
• The vehicle will not start. (the problem)
• Why? - The battery is dead. (1st why)
• Why? - The alternator is not charging. (2nd why)
• Why? - The alternator belt has broken. (3rd why)
• Why? - The alternator belt was well beyond its useful
service life and was not replaced. (4th why)
• Why? - The vehicle was not maintained according to
the recommended service schedule. (5th why =
the root cause)

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Quality
• Six Sigma process

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Just in time

• Parts / material is delivered “just in time”

• Pull from next “process”
• Reduces inventory
• Requires highly reliable process at supplier
• Reduces inventory
• Needs highly reliable supplier

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023

Lean practices

• Do the “Gemba walk” (MBWA)

• Agile

• Scrum
The END!

Aeronautical Engineering 29-03-2023