Lean

What is Lean?
Lean or “Lean Manufacturing” or “Lean Production” is a systematic method of production that
aims at adding value to the product to meet customer needs and focusing on minimizing
wasteful activities. It is based on the principles of Toyota Production System (TPS).

What constitutes Lean?

 Describe Value - Value is defined from the perspective of the customers in terms of
products and services
 Identify Value Stream - Map and identify the value stream for all products & services,
their actions and functions to identify and eliminate waste elements present in the
process by removing all non-value-added activities
 Make Value Flow continuously - After all the waste has been eliminated, ensure the
flow of the process through the remaining value-added activities
 Allow customers to Pull value - Let the customers pull value in all process steps where
continuous flow exists or is possible, enabling Just-in-Time (JIT) Production
 Pursue Perfection - Lead towards Perfection through Continuous Improvement process
by ensuring optimization of process by reducing the number of steps and time and
information required for creation & delivery of product or service

What is a Lean process?

A Lean Process is a series of steps and events involved in the way work is done, where the main
focus is on providing maximum value to the customers with minimum of resources. The
objective lies in providing maximum value to the customer through a perfect value creation
process that has zero waste.

What are the steps of Lean process?

The components of a Lean process are:
 Value Added (VA) - Steps in process that add value to the customer or for which
customer is willing to pay for.
 Non-Value Added (NVA) - Step in process that do not add any value to the customer.
Such steps are waste elements in a process which are affecting the smooth flow of
material & information, hence must be eliminated from the process.
 Necessary Non-Value Added (NNVA) or Non-Value Added Required (NVAR) - Steps in a
process which also do not add any value to the customer but have to be maintained for
appropriate reasons. Examples of such steps are steps related to performing activities
concerning compliance with legal & statutory requirements; steps related to QA &
Audits

Waste
What is waste in lean?
Waste can be termed as elements of Process that adds no value to the product or service. It adds
cost & time to the process but provides no value in return.

How many types of waste are there in Lean?

3 types of waste are there:
 Muri - Waste of unreasonableness or overburden on a person or machine. It concerns the
inability of the process to perform as per customer demand.
 Mura - Waste of inconsistency or unevenness. It is generally caused by variation in the
process. Variation here means irregularity in demand resulting in peaks and slower
phases of activity.
 Muda - It consists of the 7 types of waste, commonly known as TIMWOOD
(Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over-processing, Over-Production &
Defects). All the waste is generally categorized under any one of these 7 heads.

What are the 7 waste of Lean?

The 7 waste of Lean are:
 Transport - Movement of goods that does not add any or little value to the process
 Inventory - Storing more material, parts or products (intermediate or finished) at a time
than is required by the customer. Customer can be the end customer or the next step in
the process.
 Motion - Movement of people that does not add any or little value to the process. It
generally involves movement of people that is either not needed or whose frequency can
be reduced
 Waiting - Refers to idle time when people, material, information, tools, etc. are either not
ready or waiting for work for any reason
 Over-Processing - Processing more than that is required and adds no value to the process
 Overproduction - Producing more than customer demand. Considered to be the worst
kind of waste as it hides other 6 wastes.
 Defects - Work that contains errors, mistakes, rework or lacks some characteristics
considered to be important by the customer

Another waste is also added to the above list, called Skills which means unutilized skills of
people. For example – A qualified person doing a less skilled job.
5S

What is 5S?
5S in Lean uses five phrases, each of which start with an S, to find types of waste so that it can
then be eliminated. The 5 S’s are:
 Sort – eliminating any mess or clutter in the workplace by removing anything that isn’t
necessary for a given job.
 Set in Order– Make sure all remaining items in the area have an assigned place where it
is stored.
  Shine – Keeping an area clean of dust, debris, and other messes that can cause
problems.
 Standardize – Follow standardized procedures across all shifts in all locations to ensure
maximum efficiency.
 Sustain – Put in processes to ensure the other 4 S’s are followed at all times and aren’t
just a one-time project.

How does 5S help?

Eliminates waste that results from a poorly organized work area (e.g. wasting time looking for a
tool).

Why & where 5S can be used?

5S is a system for organizing spaces so work can be performed efficiently, effectively, and
safely. It focuses on putting everything where it belongs and keeping the workplace clean,
which makes it easier for people to do their jobs safely and efficiently. 

Fishbone

What is a fishbone diagram?

Fishbone diagrams are a Lean problem-solving tool used to identify the root cause of an issue.
The goal is to reveal relationships between variables Performing a root cause analysis is one of
Lean’s most important methods for problem solving and implementing corrective actions that
will prevent the problem from happening again.

Pareto

What is Pareto Chart / Analysis?

Pareto Chart / Principle is based is based on 80:20 principle which teaches that 80% of results
are achieved by just 20% efforts or 80% of problems are caused by just 20% of causes.

WIP

What is WIP?
WIP stands for Work in Progress. It is a commonly used acronym in manufacturing, project
management, as well as a wide range of other industries. In simple terms, it simply refers to any
task or project that is currently being worked on.

Brainstorming

What is Brainstorming?
It is a group activity undertaken by a team to jointly think about a problem or issue and try to
find a solution. It’s a very important part of RCA and al problem-solving methodologies. The
team comprises of all stakeholders involved in the process, where the team members are
selected on basis of expertise and skills.
 Process Mapping

What is process mapping?

Process mapping is a tool used to show the sequence of steps within a business process from
beginning to end. Mangers and Lean practitioners use process mapping to evaluate workflow,
look for areas of improvement, and identify non-value-added activities.

Value Stream Mapping

What is Value Stream Mapping?

A tool used to visually map the flow of production. Shows the current and future state of
processes in a way that highlights opportunities for improvement.

How Value Stream Mapping is useful?

Exposes waste in the current processes and provides a roadmap for improvement through the
future state.

What are the steps in VSM?

Steps in VSM are:
 Define Value - Define Process & Value to Customer
 Create Current State - Create the Current State VSM (CSVSM)
 Analyze Current State - Analyze Current State to identify possible opportunities for
improvement
 Design Future State - Design a Future State VSM (FSVSM)
 Implement Action Plan - Create & Implement Action Plan to achieve Future State

Bottleneck Analysis

What is Bottleneck Analysis?

Identify which part of the process limits the overall throughput and improve the performance
of that part of the process.

How does Bottleneck Analysis help?

Improves throughput by strengthening the weakest link in the process.

Continuous Flow

What is Continuous Flow?

It means smooth flow of material or information through process with minimal (or no) buffers
between different steps of the process.

How does Continuous Flow help?

Eliminates many forms of waste (e.g. inventory, waiting time, and transport).
 Gemba (The Real Place)

What is Gemba?
A philosophy that reminds us to get out of our offices and spend time on the plant floor or
production floor, among the processing teams – the place where real action occurs by first-
hand observation of the various issues and problems occurring in the process.

Jidoka (Autonomation)

What is Jidoka?
Jidoka basically means designing machines & production processes in such a way that quality
becomes an inherent part of them. Under Jidoka, workers are not tied up with machines but
instead are free to perform other value-added tasks assigned to them

How does Jidoka help?

After Jidoka, workers can frequently monitor multiple stations (reducing labor costs) and many
quality issues can be detected immediately (improving quality).

Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)

What is Kaizen?
Kaizen is also called Continuous Improvement. It is a strategy where employees at all levels of a
company work together proactively to achieve regular, incremental improvements to the
process.

How does Kaizen help?

Combines the collective talents of a company to create an engine for continually eliminating
waste from manufacturing processes.

Kanban (Pull System)

What is Kanban?
Kanban system is a very popular efficiency improving system. It’s a Scheduling system used by
business organizations to improve their production processes, a Pull system having limited WIP
(Work in Progress) which exposes system problems. It aims at having a steady & controlled flow
of work & eliminating all kind of NVA (Non-value added) activities. Although designed for
manufacturing, Kanban system has been successfully implemented in Service industry,
especially software companies

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

What are KPIs?

Metrics designed to track and encourage progress towards critical goals of the organization.
Strongly promoted KPIs can be extremely powerful drivers of behavior – so it is important to
carefully select KPIs that will drive desired behavior.

How do KPIs help?

The best KPIs:
 Are aligned with top-level strategic goals (thus helping to achieve those goals)
 Are effective at exposing and quantifying waste (OEE is a good example)
 Are readily influenced by employees (so they can drive results)

PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act)

What is PDCA?
An iterative methodology for implementing improvements:
 Plan (establish plan and expected results)
 Do (implement plan)
 Check (verify expected results achieved)
 Act (review and assess; do it again)

How does PDCA help?

Applies a scientific approach to making improvements:
 Plan (develop a hypothesis)
 Do (run experiment)
 Check (evaluate results)
 Act (refine your experiment; try again)

Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing)

What is Poka-Yoke?
Poka Yoke is a Quality Assurance method of “mistake proofing” in all aspects of business &
personal activities. It employs signals that make mistakes or errors clearly stand out from the
rest, or devices that stops an assembly line or process if a part or step is missed.

How does Poka-Yoke help?

It is difficult (and expensive) to find all defects through inspection, and correcting defects
typically gets significantly more expensive at each stage of production.

Root Cause Analysis

What is Root Cause Analysis?

Root Cause Analysis or RCA is a method of identifying the root causes behind a problem or
issue. It analyzes the main factors and contributing factors behind an issue and takes corrective
actions to solve the issue. It helps in identifying the hidden causes and their effects rather than
just looking at the visible reasons.

How does Root Cause Analysis help?

Helps to ensure that a problem is truly eliminated by applying corrective action to the “root
cause” of the problem

What is 5 Why?
It is a simple problem-solving technique in which root cause is identified by asking “Why?” at
least five times.
8D Problem Solving Process

What is 8D Process?
8D is made up of eight steps for problem solving,
 D0: Plan how you will solve the problem. Gather the necessary information and identify
prerequisites.
 D1: Establish a team with people who have knowledge of the product or process at
hand.
 D2: Describe the problem using quantifiable terms. Answer questions about who, what,
when, where, why, how, etc.
 D3: Develop an interim plan that will be put in place temporarily. Although it will not
solve the problem, an interim containment plan that does not impact the customer can
help to isolate the problem.
 D4: Determine and verify root causes and all applicable reasons for why the problem
has occurred. Use the 5 Why or Fishbone diagram to know the real cause.
 D5: Verify permanent solutions that are a long-term fix. The solution should resolve the
problem for the customer and be verified through a series of tests and analyses.
 D6: Implement corrective actions after they have been verified.
 D7: Prevent recurrence by training workers, managing the solution, and documenting
efforts.
 D8: Congratulate and recognize your team for their efforts! It is important for workers
to feel valued and can encourage them to get involved in future problem-solving
processes

10 Human Mistakes

What are 10 human mistakes?

10 types of human mistakes are:
 Forgetfulness - These mistakes are most common caused by not concentrating.
 Miscommunication - These mistakes are caused by not reading the instructions and
jumping to conclusions
 Error in Identification - Wrong judgment by humans and not identifying the factors
properly
  Errors by Untrained Workers - Lack of imparting training to workers or deploying
workers in projects where they are not trained to work
 Willful errors - Deliberately ignoring rules, may be due to pressure situations like lack of
time or resources, etc.
 Inadvertent errors - Errors caused by distraction or fatigue or similar reasons
 Slowness - Errors caused by delay in judgment and taking action when it’s too late
 Lack of standards - Errors caused by not having or following any standards (written or
visual)
 Surprise errors - Errors caused by malfunctioning of machines, machine breakdown or
machine not capable of doing the desired work
 Intentional errors - Least caused. Errors caused intentionally like sabotage or terrorist acts

SMART Goals

What are SMART Goals?

Goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Specific.

How do SMART Goals help?

Helps to ensure that goals are effective.

Standardized Work

What is Standardized Work?

Documented procedures of doing process work that capture best practices (including the time
to complete each task). Must be “living” documentation that is easy to change.

How does Standardized Work help?

Eliminates waste by consistently applying best practices. Forms a baseline for future
improvement activities.

Takt Time

What is Takt Time?

The pace of production (e.g. manufacturing one piece every 34 seconds) that aligns production
with customer demand. Calculated as Planned Production Time / Customer Demand.

How does Takt Time help?

Provides a simple, consistent and intuitive method of pacing production. Is easily extended to
provide an efficiency goal for the plant floor (Actual Pieces / Target Pieces).

Visual management

What is Visual Management?

Visual indicators, displays and controls used in work areas to improve communication of
information.

How does Visual Management help?

Makes the state and condition of manufacturing processes easily accessible and very clear – to
everyone.

Just-In-Time (JIT)

What is Just-In-Time?
Pull parts through production based on customer demand instead of pushing parts through
production based on projected demand. Relies on many lean tools, such as Continuous Flow,
Heijunka, Kanban, Standardized Work and Takt Time.

How does Just-In-Time help?

Highly effective in reducing inventory levels. Improves cash flow and reduces space
requirements.