Challenges with Lean Manufacturing

Introduction: LEAN thinking emerged from the shop floors of Japanese factories and is making
its way into the new manufacturing and service environments of today. Organizations are
drawn to Lean production because Lean enables organizations to do more for less. Today
businesses work in intensely competitive economies, where the winner takes all. They compete
not just for market share and benefit but also for organizational survival. LEAN thinking makes
production cheaper, better, faster and agile.
Body: You should compare the possible advantages and costs before engaging in any important
effort. Lean implementation is no different in this way. You need to weigh whether or not the
advantages of lean manufacturing would outweigh the expense of introducing them. A good
understanding of these differences will help you decide whether lean is right for your business
or not.
We need to be aware of the following possible hurdles
Expense -The old adage "takes money to make money" also applies here. It takes cash to
upgrade equipment and layouts, and also to promote line balances and routine work. Acquiring
the right equipment or upgrading the production line costs money, and these costs must be
covered before the business can begin to see Lean's advantages. It would certainly cost money
to investigate and permanently correct issues and error proofing. It also takes an up-front
commitment to temporary labor to make the adjustments dictated by Lean. This temporarily
raises labor expenses as changes are being implemented. Overtime, however, these changes
would pay for themselves by improvements in efficiency, speed and complaints from
consumers.
Resistance: People are afraid of inventions, including those which bring improvement. It's a
part of life it seems; most people don't like change. For most workers, putting aside old habits
and procedures can be hard. In their comfort zone, everybody wants to live and sees change as
a challenge to this. While all employees can give some resistance, when attempting to convert
to a lean culture, long-term employees will give the most resistance. The trick to overcoming it
is to communicate with them regularly and often. Be sure to clarify what the move will offer
them individually, as well as what it will provide for the company. Education and
communication in order to resolve resistance should also be a primary priority.

Start-up and Upkeep: Initially, you're going to need the facilities to incorporate lean capital.
Some efforts are required to understand how you want to apply and where you want to
concentrate. In order to enforce the scheme, temporary staff will also be brought in to 'back-
fill' some of the staff. There will be maintenance that is needed once introduced. Labels, floor
tape, and other visual monitors would be destroyed and will require replacement. Parts will
be relocated, requiring the re-generation of Kanban cards. Customer demand would likely
require supply to be periodically levelled. However, you can begin to free up the need for too
much labor as implementation progresses. As labor is released, some of these individuals can
be re-deployed to take on maintenance and lean implementation in other areas as well.
Conclusion: Lean concepts will provide companies and their workers with considerable
benefits. The basic Lean concepts are not always understood by decisionmakers. Often, in
convincing executives and making PowerPoint presentations, there is more waste generated
than lean implementation. The adoption of a Lean Improvement Approach will make a positive
difference in the workplace as long as they recognize its advantages and challenges.

Description Box:
Lean management is a long-term approach to work that systematically seeks to achieve small,
incremental changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and quality. Have you
wondered what would be the possible challenges to the implementation of Lean management?
Today we shall explore this topic and try and understand the possible ways to deal with the
challenges.
Credits
Video-
Content- Sudarshan Mandal, Hrushikesh Athare
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Have you wondered what would be the possible challenges to the implementation of Lean
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