If you work in the logistics or manufacturing industry, you will probably have heard about Lean Management and its benefits for workplace efficiency. Many large-scale organisations strive for efficiency across their day-to-day operations and implementing these systems is an industry in itself.
Here at Orgatex, we specialise in Lean Management systems for industries of all sizes, building on existing knowledge from industry leaders.
So, what is Lean Management?
Lean Management is an approach to managing a workplace where waste is minimised and continuous improvement is promoted. ‘Continuous improvement’ is where small, incremental changes are sustained across a sustained period of time. This includes reducing wasted products and energy, with the goal of removing anything that doesn’t add value to your operation or final product.
Let’s review Lean Management in full, outlining 5 key areas where it can be implemented in your workplace.
What Is Lean Manufacturing & Logistics?
Lean Manufacturing can be implemented across any workplace that is involved with manufacturing or logistics. Usually, when organisations are looking to create ‘Lean’ operations, the 5S methodology is the first place they start.
Created by Toyota after the second world war, Lean Management was created to help ‘clean up’ operations in their current configuration by using colour-coded visual cues. These visual cues create order, show intent and maintain organisation. Along with these visual cues, Lean Management follows something called the ‘5S Methodology’.
The 5S Pillars of Lean Manufacturing and Logistics
The 5S Pillars are 5 easy-to-remember ‘S’ words that, once implemented, result in continuous improvement in any workplace.
Sort
At your warehouse, sort your items into three categories where you intend to:
- Retain
- Return
- Rid
Reviewing your items in this way can allow your organisation the ability to organise its materials and identify where they are going to be stored, returned or discarded. ‘Red tagging’ is a great way to order those things which no longer serve a purpose, and it is as simple as literally adding a red tag to an item.
Set in order
Once you have identified the items in your workplace, and organised them corresponding to the categories above, you need to order them using a clear labelling system. This labelling can be on the items themselves, general containers or for indicating areas of intent.
Shine
A critical aspect of 5S is keeping your workplace clean from clutter, used items and general disorder. This aspect included the maintaining, servicing and repairing of damaged items, too.
Standardise
Once you have a working system in place, it should be both the role of management and the workers to standardise the new way of operating. Communal communication systems, such as visual boards can be used to display and achieve agreed-upon messages throughout your workplace.
Sustain
Ensuring that these new organisation systems are in place is the final step in the S5 methodology. Your business should strive to maintain and sustain these new ways of operating through a review process, making revisions to workplace efficiency as they arrive.
How To Implement Lean Management
Implementing Lean Management is a long process of continuous improvements to your organisation and will involve methodological review processes along the way.
Here at Orgatex, we have identified 5 ways to implement Lean Management across both logistics and manufacturing.
Identify Value
First of all, you need to gauge everything in your inventory and decide what adds value to your business. Anything that doesn’t add value to your organisation, your product or the way you deliver your objectives should be considered for removal.
Some areas of your operation might not clearly add value straight away, but will have benefits to the way your business is seen by your customers. It may also be the case that some areas of your business add value to your business by creating a comfortable working environment for your employees.
Your employees will likely know of areas of their day-to-day lives that don’t add value to your end objective, so speaking with them should be fruitful.
Map Your Value Stream
Any operations should be mapped out in terms of the value that they add to your overall business goals. Remove any steps that don’t add value or review how they operate by the overall cost of operating against the value that they create.
Kanban boards, utilising visual Kanban cards, are key to helping with visualising value streams for many industries. They help by identifying roadblocks or bottlenecks to productivity and offer a general visual overview of your workflow.
Create a Continuous Flow
Once you have mapped out value streams within your workplace, it will be time to ensure that the value systems are optimised to increase productivity. As waste is to be minimised, identifying and removing processes that don’t add value should be implemented. Our Kanban and visual boards help by allowing you to visualise any gaps or blockages in place.
Kaizen Production, Japanese for ‘continuous improvement’, is a method that promotes everyone in the workforce’s feedback on the methods in place. Once their feedback has been received, they are asked to help implement small but effective periodic changes to how they work, improving output.
Getting feedback from staff can be difficult at times. If you frequently email your staff, ask for feedback in your morning email. Make sure you allow them adequate time to complete the feedback form. You can also set replies to anonymous, so your employees don’t feel like they will be later questioned about their responses.
Establish a Pull System
A ‘pull system’ is where you imagine a customer pulling a product from you and only creating that product if it is being demanded. This helps avoid over-production and holding too much inventory, costing you money in staffing, cost of production and the cost of running a warehouse.
Establishing a pull system is an aspect of Just In Time (JIT) manufacturing, created by Daniel Roos, James P. Womack, and Daniel T. Jones in their book ‘The Machine That Changed the World (1991)’. It was written on their observations of the Toyota factory and its use of Lean Manufacturing and the 5S methodology. Sometimes known as the Toyota Production Method, JIT was developed by Taiichi Ohno as a method of trimming manufacturing processes.
Sustain Continuous Improvement
Not everything above can be implemented all at once, meaning that you have to make these changes over a sustained period of time. This is an aspect of ‘continuous improvement’ which strives to continuously improve your workplace through the above time-tested methods.
How to Implement Lean Management with Orgatex
We are industry leaders in implementing Lean Management principles across the fields of manufacturing and logistics. We manufacture and help implement Lean Management products and tools designed to designate clear areas of intent as well as labelling and visual boards.
Orgatex also offers consultations along with our products, helping you implement them effectively in your workplace. Don’t hesitate to contact us here at Orgatex to see how our approach can help you increase your productivity and efficiency by implementing Lean Manufacturing and logistics solutions today.
