Concept of Lean Thinking Lean Thinking originated from manufacturing methods used by Japanese automotive manufacturers, especially from Toyota. Lean thinking is basically about getting the right things, to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity while minimizing waste and waiting time and being flexible and open to change. A term coined by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones in their book “Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation” to describe an exceptionally focused, efficient, agile and successful organisation. Lean thinking provides a way to specify value, sequence value-creating actions in the best way, conduct these activities without interruption whenever someone requests them, and perform them more and more effectively. Lean thinking means doing more and more with less and less resources while providing customers with exactly what they want. “Becoming ‘lean’ is a process of eliminating waste with the goal of Continue reading
Production Management
How to Eliminate Waste in Manufacturing?
What is Waste in Manufacturing Term? Waste Squander disposal is a standout amongst the best approaches to expand the gainfulness of any business. Forms either add esteem or waste to the creation of a decent or administration. The seven squanders started in Japan, where waste is known as “Muda.” “The seven squanders” is an apparatus to additionally order “Muda” and was initially created by Toyota’s Chief Engineer Taiichi Ohno as the center of the Toyota Production System, otherwise called Lean Manufacturing. To wipe out waste, it is imperative to see precisely what waste is and where it exists. While items altogether contrast between industrial facilities, the regular squanders found in assembling conditions are very comparative. For each waste, there is a technique to lessen or take out its impact on an organization, consequently enhancing general execution and quality. We’ve all heard the expression, “you can’t make something out of nothing.” Continue reading
Concept of Agile Manufacturing
The Agile Manufacturing was presented in the first time at the publication in the USA of a report entitled 21st Century Manufacturing Enterprise Strategy. So, it has been introduced as a method of increasing competitive advantage in response to increasingly competitive global markets. Agile concept focuses on the fast response to changeable of customer demand. The key component in agile manufacturing is flexibility. The agile manufacturing methods can be adjusted and consolidated into companies of any size to ensure the growth and success. The changeable of customer and technological requirements that make the manufacturers develop agile supply chain capabilities in order to be competitive. So, many companies use the flexibility and agility to respond the customers’ requirement and markets demand in real time. The new concept of agility manufacturing need to secure competitive advantage from the production process that can be both efficient and responsive. Agility can be defined as Continue reading
Types of Plant Layouts
Moore defined plant layout as, “The plan of or the act of planning, an optimum arrangement of facilities, including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, materials handling equipment and all other supporting services along with the design of the best structure to accommodate these facilities”. There are three basic types of plant layouts and these correspond to the three types of processing systems. Product layouts are most conducive to continuous processing, process layouts are used for intermittent processing and fixed position layouts are used when projects require layouts. 1. Product Layout Product layout is used to achieve a smooth and rapid flow of large volumes of products or customers through a system. This is made possible by highly standardized products or services which require highly standardized, repetitive processing operations. A job is divided into a series of standardized tasks, permitting specialization of both labor and equipment. The large volumes handled by Continue reading
Safety Stock Analysis in Inventory Management
In real life situations one rarely comes across inventory lead times and usage rates that are known with certainty. When usage rate and/or lead time vary, then the reorder level should naturally be at a level high enough to cater to the production needs during the procurement period and also to provide some measures of safety for at least partially neutralizing the degree of uncertainty. The question will naturally arise as to the magnitude of safety stock. There is no specific answer to this question. However, it depends, inter alia, upon the degree of uncertainty surrounding the usage rate and lead time. It is possible to a certain extent to quantify the values that usage rate and lead time can take along with the corresponding chances of occurrence, known as probabilities. These probabilities can be ascertained based on previous experiences and/or the judgemental ability of astute executives. Based on the Continue reading
Sales Forecasting – Meaning and Methods
Financial forecasting is a significant part of financial planning process. The financial forecasting begins with sales forecasting. Sales forecast is a forecast of firm’s future sales both in terms of volume and value. The sales forecast always begins with analyzing the historical trends in sales over the past periods. It also takes to consideration the future economic prosperity if given line of business. To determine the forecasted sales growth, the firm must rely on competitive market conditions, customers tastes and preferences, change in technology and future possibilities of market expansion. Nowadays, several statistical methods like regression analysis, time series analysis, econometric models are used to consider all these factors in providing sales forecasts. Some factors that should be considered while developing sales forecast are as follows: Provide a projection of divisional sales based on historical growth and combine the divisional sales forecasts to provide a approximate corporate sales forecast. Forecast Continue reading