Lean Manufacturing – we’ve all coined the phrase and thrown it out
there around the board room table while dissecting our businesses and looking
to strengthen the bottom line – but do we really understand and adopt the
principles behind the phrase? The
definition of lean manufacturing can be long and drawn out but, in a nutshell;
it is the elimination of supply chain waste. As this waste is removed
quality improves while production time and costs are reduced.
In the manufacturing industry we hear it a lot – particularly from
our customers who want the best machines on the market, those which won’t guzzle
energy while working at a rate which mirrors the speed of sound! But as manufacturers,
particularly those within the food industry, strive to improve competitiveness
the elimination of waste throughout the supply chain and production cycle has
become paramount. In particular the energy
saving factor - and ultimately cost saving while producing higher product
volumes - is factored into about 50% of machinery sales at my company Endoline.
Although the
manufacturing operations for food producers are responsible for a relatively
small proportion of the energy used across the supply chain, it is an area
where they can most easily make a significant impact through improved
performance. Manufacturers need to look at new machines which automatically
'shut down' during product changeovers and waiting periods to save energy. Technical
advancements, such as servo-drive systems, can further reduce energy consumption
and help manufacturers make significant savings as these machines have the
ability to not only reach higher speeds – so delivering the required output
sooner – but they accelerate and decelerate during ‘downtime’ periods to keep
electricity to a minimum. We are all of
aware of the dramatic uptake in automation over the last few years and while it
is helping
But what about the rest of us? We all
know that lean manufacturing and energy efficiency is high on our customer’s
priority list but how can we introduce some of those principles to our own
companies to strip out the waste in our supply chain – while retaining the
value and, the best bit, make our bottom line look healthier!
My own team have embarked on their own ‘lean’
journey and the first stop was quality. However any change to this and you
could risk both your product and your reputation. If you are supplied with poor
quality material from your supplier base, things can take longer to make and
ultimately impact on customer delivery dates which can cost your company more
in significant overtime to meet these dates. Coming out of a recession, one of
the fundamental changes is that every customer wants their machine faster.
Previous lead times would be between 12-16 weeks but they are now routinely
expecting eight weeks and if anything goes wrong, the only way to keep delivery
dates is to put more people on the project. The key principles of the ‘lean’
journey have been applied to our business and the key learning has been to give
ourselves more capacity – and don’t use overtime as your get out of jail free
card!
As machinery has becoming more and more
expensive to manufacture you have to get this area of your business right to achieve
the desired margin. One key learning was
to improve and streamline our partnerships within our supply chain from
deliveries to the quality of materials being supplied, many now do line side replenishment, which takes half the time and prevents both
over ordering and under supply. This did require a complete change of
mindset, from both suppliers and also the team, to put in place standards and
expectations that needed to be met but we are now reaping the benefits.
Finally empower the different departments
within your business to identify different areas of waste and consider how
these could be eliminated. Lean is a
state of mind and it affects every aspect of our business and every department.
Some people think lean manufacturing just affects the shop floor but that’s
ignorance. Its principles can be applied to any process in any area of the
business.
Alan Yates, CEO
and MD of Endoline Machinery
