Lean management and lean philosophy

The key word for Lean Management is "waste", it includes all those activities that absorbing resources do not generate added value. For this, Lean Management is the antidote, as it systematically pursues its detection, prevention and elimination.

Faced with the imperative need to counteract the advance of Japanese industry in the various markets and production lines, North Americans were forced to take the main ideas underlying the Kaizen ideology and condition them to the socio-cultural and economic characteristics of Western companies.. Thus, starting from the ideas and principles generated by Ishikawa, Taguchi, Ohno, Shingo and Imai, the new management ideas to which Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints have been added are formed.

What began as a counter-attack on the Japanese industry has become today, at the end of 2007, something fundamental in the face of the increase in the cost of raw materials, the depletion of oil and environmental pollution, with its main item being Global warming.

Developing processes with higher quality means less reprocessing, less consumption of energy resources, less scrab and lower costs. The fundamental point of the “lean management” (Lean Management) is the quality. Quality is the critical principle that cost and delivery follow.

We are currently witnessing changes that will revolutionize the way of living, working and producing. To the new sources of renewable energy, the unimaginable power of telecommunications is added, with global positioning systems included.

Faced with such changes, we must structure productive systems that accompany this new revolution of knowledge and doing.

What differentiates the Lean System from the Traditional

The Lean System constitutes and is based on a philosophy and mentality totally opposed to the traditional one.

For the Lean System, it is about producing what the market requires, in the requested quantity, at the right time, put in the right place and at the right cost.

The Lean philosophy does not take anything for granted, continually seeking new ways of doing things, in a more agile, flexible and economical way.

Lean thinking calls into question every product, service and process, considering that everything can be improved. Nothing is final, everything can be improved, problems should be seen as a blessing, since they allow the application of new and better concepts.

Making the time factor one of the fundamental axes is a critical issue in companies that have the Lean System.

Each change in the environment is a reason to strengthen the Lean methodology. Thus, given the advance of relocations and competition from Southeast Asia, the lean proposal leads us to improve the optimization in the use of various resources, including time and continuous improvement, in order to offer high-quality products. value capable of competing with the cheapest products based on a higher value delivered for each monetary unit received by the company.

While traditional companies give up on situations like those described above, Lean companies look for new and better ways of doing things.

Those who operate in traditional companies take most of the processes for granted, putting almost nothing into question, and if they do, they do not seek, or do not know how to generate change. Many times they even criticize the processes but consider that they are not subject to modification.

A traditional company does not know the difference between random changes and special changes, while the Lean company makes its differentiation and detection one of the fundamental guidelines of its daily actions.

Unlike other methodologies, lean affects every aspect of the job and all workers. When an employee, of whatever rank, joins a lean company from a traditional company, he realizes that something different is happening there.

It is about producing more with less, not only workers, but all resources. In addition, lean work is discipline and compliance with standards. Lean is also to empower workers so that they can resolve as quickly as possible and with the maximum degree of effectiveness given their experience in the “firing line”.

Fundamental tools of lean management

The main tools and methods applied to achieve lean production are:

• Total Quality Management, applied to each of the company's processes, systems, products and services.

• Total Productive Maintenance, aimed at generating the best use of machines and equipment at the lowest cost.

• Quick tool change and quick setup times for machines, equipment and even facilities.

• The productive organization in cells.

• Knowledge and Teamwork Management.

• Continuous planning in its strategic, tactical and operational aspects, with the intervention of each and every one of the members of the organization.

• Versatility of the workforce.

• Error-proof or failure-proof systems.

• Detection and elimination of Bottlenecks.

• Coaching.

• A continuous improvement of ergonomic aspects and consequently of the design of the workplace.

• Quick control of the workplace.

What does rapid control of the workplace mean?

Rapid control of the workplace means and involves:

1. That there is nothing extra or unnecessary.

2. There is a place for everything and everything is in its place.

3. Total cleanliness is appreciated.

4. Access to information at a glance.

5. Paperwork has been reduced to its bare minimum.

6. Waste or abnormal is quickly noticed.

7. The methodologies are standardized and easy to understand.

Lean Management fundamental objectives

Make the company, its systems and processes, mechanisms of the highest quality, producers of goods and services in the quantity, variety, quality, terms and costs required by the market, eliminating all non-value-added activities for the company. and your customers.

Producing goods in larger quantities, without variety, lacking in quality or not meeting the specifications of consumers, outside the established deadlines and at a cost higher than what the market is willing to pay is or constitutes an enormous waste of resources.

Today, given the new conditions that exist in the environment, such as the reduction of traditional sources of energy, the increase in the price of oil and other raw materials, the incessant increase in pollution and global warming, Lean thinking it will become not only a necessity but also an obligation.

In the immediate future of companies we have, apart from financial reports, reports on pollution and contamination. Governments will require through the financial system to have accounting balances and reports on environmental management and product quality. If they do not have an approval certified by graduates in ecology, they will not be allowed access to bank financing, but in addition, official bodies will exert strong pressure to comply with the regulations.

Will this be worldwide, or will it only be applied in the most advanced countries? Undoubtedly, considering the magnitude of the pollution, the central countries, more developed or with the highest GDP, will be the most subject to controls.

What role does the Lean philosophy play in all this? Much. To the extent that this philosophy allows a more limited and productive consumption of resources, it will allow to achieve higher levels of production with less consumption of resources and environmental pollution.

Faced with this new economic crisis and the strong increase in fuels, companies like Toyota will once again test the validity and superiority of Lean concepts.

Reason for the transformation

The goal of transforming the process to lean principles is to achieve:

1. Eliminate activities that do not add value from the processes.

2. Introduce the necessary flexibility to adapt production to fluctuating demand.

One of the critical reasons is the elimination of stocks, since these are to the production process, what the devil is to the Church. This is due to the fact that they allow a quick response to urgent problems, mask machine breakdown times, mask absenteeism, limit the effects of failures and errors, require large investments, require a great financial effort, generating with all it a lot of concealed waste.

Lean thinking

Central and paramount axis of all lean thinking is to minimize waste of resources. For this purpose, the application of resources to unproductive uses, the harmonious and efficient use of resources, thinking in terms of avoiding excess inventories or over-inventories, and excess capacity in terms of machines and facilities are prevented and avoided.

It is therefore necessary to make use of continuous analysis when making decisions, setting policies and determining strategies, based on the cost-benefit ratio.

But there is a secret in all this, that cost-benefit ratio is not based on immediate results, but on process improvements in the medium and long term.

How knowledge is generated and disseminated clearly distinguishes traditional work from high performance work. In high-performance work, workers are active agents of knowledge.

In lean factories the methods are strictly set by standards. But the knowledge of the workers is essential in the determination and application of the standards. Knowledge becomes an essential element.

Improving the efficiency of the production system

It is critical and essential to improve the man-machine relationship, which can be achieved either through the organization and management of production, or through the organization and management of human resources.

In the first case, that is, through the organization and management of production, the question is to establish a management that is as simple and reactive as possible that makes possible the permanent improvement of costs that do not correspond to the needs and expectations of customers..

To achieve this it is necessary:

• Optimize the design of production equipment applying simultaneous engineering.

• Implementations to achieve a "piece by piece" process.

• Achieve the highest product quality by mastering the processes.

• And, the continuous reduction of manufacturing times.

Regarding the organization and management of human resources, the objective is to permanently improve the competence and capacities of all the personnel involved in the production process, developing their capacities for initiative, creativity and teamwork.

The principles associated with this position revolve around:

• The development of prevention.

• The development of integrated work units committed to teamwork and continuous improvement.

• The management of competencies and the development of associated training plans.

• And, communicational improvement, in all its orientations (vertical - up / down and horizontal)

Lean Activities

1. Search by all company personnel (both managers, workers and clerks) of "mudas" (waste), for which they must be previously trained for the purposes of detection and analysis.

2. Resolution of the "change" as a problem, and generation of continuous improvement. Within the purification of the processes, it should be stated as a fundamental principle that "every process can be improved".

3. Measurement of the economic effects of the various seedlings and their monitoring over time.

4. Continuous improvement of staff in lean thinking.

5. Permanent activity to raise awareness among staff regarding the need to apply the lean system.

For each company, depending on its particular activities, the various types of waste and waste should be detected, analyzed and questioned.

A fundamental tool when generating improvements in a systematic way is to identify for each area of the organization which are its internal and external customers, and the products and services that they require, and under what conditions (form, content, quantity, frequency, etc.), who your internal and external suppliers are, and what products and services they provide.

Then the levels of priorities and compliance with specifications have to be negotiated, eliminating duplications and establishing an order of priorities (time management - a scarce and high-value element).

Conclusions. In search of new performances.

Lean Management, as Western heir to Kaizen concepts, constitutes a powerful tool to face both the new market situation and the problems of the current ecological-energy crisis.

It should be noted that Kaizen is synonymous with the Holy War for ineptitude, carelessness, improvisations, mistakes and botched jobs. It is about continuous and planned improvement in all corners of the organization.

It's not about hiding dirt under the carpet. Kaizen goes much further. Problems are tracked, found, and annihilated wherever they are. But everything does not end here. Improvements must be sought and implemented that prevent these same problems from recurring in the future.

Lean Management is destined to be the basis for the new productive management in the West to meet the needs and challenges of the twenty-first century.

Most entrepreneurs in the West find it difficult to adopt a lean stance, making it easier for them to wield positions than to actually adopt them and put them into practice effectively and efficiently.

Going in a company, from a traditional system to a lean one (lean), is not something that can be achieved overnight, however very few understand it and are willing to wait long enough to see the fruit of change mature..

For those companies, whose managers and employees are willing to adopt the new posture and philosophy of making and thinking about production as soon as possible, they will not only be prepared beforehand for the difficult moments that await us all in the coming years, but also have to make a big difference over your competitors.

Lean management has a growing and important role, according to Lluís Cuatrecasas Arbós, in business management throughout the world. Practice shows that the rules of savings and simplicity that inspire this thinking are present in a large majority of successful companies, whether they use this denomination or not. Lean principles and tools are applicable to all types of processes. The conditions for its implementation do not depend on resources or technology but, above all, on the will and resolve of the members of the company and, in particular, its management, which must exercise decisive leadership.

Lean Management pursues the search for balance between:

• Compliance with quality specifications.

• The systematic elimination of waste.

• And, respect for process flows.

Finally, there are two statements:

1. In the first place, and as in the Toyota Production System, it has as a central element the systematic elimination of waste. The heart of the Toyota production system is the elimination of waste.

2. And secondly, and again as in Toyota, Lean is above all things a way of thinking.