OCTOBER 19-20, 2012 - YMCA University of Science & Technology

Proceedings of the National Conference on
Trends and Advances in Mechanical Engineering,
YMCA University of Science & Technology, Faridabad, Haryana, Oct 19-20, 2012
Work in
progress (WIP)
Inventory
WIP inventory is kept between production
stages
Lesser inventory or single piece is kept between
production stages
Reference Reference is production and Supply Reference is Customer demand
Quality
inspection
Quality control inspectors are responsible
for quality.
Worker is responsible for product quality
3. Lean structure:
There are many tools available for lean manufacturing implementation so it becomes important to understand
that efforts to implement any one lean principle alone would achieve small improvement, but every tool has its
own role and at the same time it supports other tools. Many organizations have attempted to implement few of
these lean tools separately but could not produce kind of success they have been striving for. On the other side
the organizations have been in implementing techniques like JIT, Kanban, production leveling, team building,
quality circle, simultaneously has gained much improvement (17). Lean structure represents how different tools
are linked with each other and organization can work for lean manufacturing implementation with practical
application of different tools from beginning to end in a systematic manner. Some organization has been very
successful in continuously improving its performance because of implementing lean tool with coherence. Laid
down lean tools can be grouped like basic tools, supporting tools and philosophies.
Basic tools Supporting Concepts/ lean tools Philosophies Goals
Visual
management
5S
problem
solving
TPM
Process
stability
Pull system
SMED
Kanban
Contineous flow
Heijunka
Takt time
Built in quality
Poka yoke
Seperate man and
machine work
Just-intime
Jidoka
Customer first
Respect for people
Kaizen
Genba focus
Highest safety
Low cost
Short lead time
High morale
High quality
Physical and mental safety Training and feed back Team work
Figure1. Lean structure
3.1 Basic tools : First and foremost requirement of lean thinking and its practical implementation is to
develop process stability by working with some basic tools like 5 S, TPM, Visual management, problem solving.
It will help in reduction of process variation and hence process output.
5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seiso,
seiketsu, and shitsuke. The list describes how to systematize a work place for efficiency and effectiveness by
identifying and storing the items used, maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order. The
decision-making process usually comes from a dialogue about standardization, which builds understanding
among employees of how they should do the work. Total productive maintenance (TPM) originated in Japan in
1971 as a method for improved machine availability through better utilization of maintenance and production
resources. Whereas in most production settings the operator is not viewed as a member of the maintenance team,
in TPM the machine operator is trained to perform many of the day-to-day tasks of simple maintenance and
fault-finding. Teams are created that include a technical as well as operators. In this setting the operators are
enabled to understand the machinery and identify potential problems, correcting them before they can impact
production and by so doing, decrease downtime and reduce costs of production.TPM is a critical add-on to lean
manufacturing. If machine uptime is not predictable and if process capability is not sustained, the process must
744