LeanBooklet in Order
LeanBooklet in Order
LeanBooklet in Order
Continental Inc.
1524 Jackson Street Anderson, IN 46016 765.778.9999 765.622.0697 800.8SKILLS www.continentalinc.com
Illustrations: Rick Barker Copyright 2000 by Continental Inc. All rights reserved.
Note: All other product names and services identified throughout this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used throughout this booklet in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with the book.
Why do you say add value to the customer vs. add value to the product?
These are two different things. For example, a custom made shirt may be made more valuable by adding extra stitching, using top of the line fabric and adding a monogram. All these things add value to the product in terms of quality and the longevity of the product. However, if the customer just wants a basic shirt that fits well and that will last about two years, then these things do not add value to him. He will not be willing to pay a premium to have a more valuable product and the added extras are actually a form of waste. Another example of this would be UPS Ground vs. FedEx overnight. In Indiana one can ship UPS Ground to Michigan, and it will arrive 90% of the time next day for about $3 or $4. FedEx offers an upgraded product of 100% next day delivery to Michigan. You can even select a 10:30 am delivery time. The price of this service is closer to $10, over twice the cost of the UPS Ground. Obviously, the FedEx product has more. However, in many instances, the customer does not require a 100% guarantee and is only willing to pay for a 90% probability of next day delivery. So, unless the customer puts value on a 100% delivery guarantee he will be unwilling to pay the extra cost.
principals to their operation. What used to take weeks is now done is about an hour, adding value to the customer. It is no surprise that these operations have opened up all over the country. What was once thought of as impossible speed of delivery is now commonplace. Applying Lean Manufacturing gives manufactures these types of results on a routine basis.
2) Inventory Excess inventory ties up a great deal of cash, which is wasteful. Stockpiling inventory between processes is wasteful.
3) Conveyance Unneccessarily moving a part during the production process is wasteful. It can also cause damage to the part, which creates wasteful rework.
4) Correction Having to re-work parrts because of manufacturing errors is a large source of waste. Additionally, sorting and inspecting parts is wasteful and can be eliminated by error proofing (designing your processes so the product can only be produced one way, the correct way every time).
5) Motion Unneccessary or awkward operator motions put undue stress on the body and cause waste. Improvement in this area should result in reduced injury and workmans compensation claims.
6) Processing Unclear customer requiremens cause the manufacturer to add unneccessary processes, which add cost to the product.
7) Waiting The operator being idle between operations is wasteful. It is acceptable for the machine to wait on the operator, but it is unacceptable for the operator to wait on the machine.