Kanban

Mass Production & Lean: What’s the difference?

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Assembly line of mass production

Mass production is not considered to be a Lean production method. At the height of its innovation however, it did effectively lower the unit cost of many goods and improved the efficiency of facilities. In the spirit of Lean and continuous improvement, it’s important to keep finding ways to improve the organization and over time, it was clear a better solution may exist. What is mass production? Since Henry Ford’s assembly line, mass production has …

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Foundational Concepts of Lean

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foundational concepts of Lean

Lean manufacturing utilizes a number of strategies and tools to improve the business by boosting productivity and eliminating waste. The following are just a handful of the most common Lean tools, many have been adopted from manufacturing in Japan and the Toyota Production System . 5S (The Visual Workplace) 5S is a system of creating workplace organization to reduce/eliminate waste created by clutter, lack of information, duplication, underutilized space, inconsistency in processes, etc. Components of …

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Using Kanban to Reduce Waste and Inventory

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Reducing Inventory with Kanban

Utilizing the kanban system in your manufacturing facility can greatly reduce wastes, eventually adding value for the end customer. Kanban is commonly used in Lean manufacturing settings and JIT manufacturing settings, A kanban system utilizes visual cues to trigger specific actions, effectively cultivating a pull production system. What’s the difference between a pull system and a push system? Pull systems and push systems are two opposite approaches to production and supply chain management. Pull systems, …

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The Toyota Production System House

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The Toyota Production System, or TPS, is a widely-used and successful production system in manufacturing that focuses on reducing and eliminating waste, while producing quality products for consumers. The TPS model was developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation for their vehicle production system, but the principles and activities it encompasses can be applied to nearly any industry. When discussing the TPS and its many features, it can be helpful to think of the system like …

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What is Kanban?

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Kanban is a process management technique which can be used for a wide range of different things. It was developed using the Toyota “just-in-time” system, but it isn’t restricted to just manufacturing scenarios. In its simplest form, Kanban can be seen as a production system where new requests come in at one end and completed products come out the other. In the middle is where all the production steps are taken. The brilliance of the system is that …

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Kanban Systems

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Kanban systems are an important scheduling system used in ‘just-in-time’ production facilities.  The word Kanban actually means signboard or billboard, and with these systems each part or product is only supplied as it is needed.  This critical part of the just in time method of manufacturing helps to eliminate waste in a variety of ways which is then intended to help improve the value given to customers, and in turn increase profits. How Kanban Works …

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