5.

3: Lean production and quality management:

Lean production: the process of streamlining operations and processes to reduce all forms
of waste and to achieve greater efficiency.

 methods of lean production:

1. Kaizen:
- Continuous improvement
- Workers and managers constantly try to find ways to improve work
processes and efficiency.
- Involves forming small groups of employees whose role is to identify
changes and improvements to the organization’s products, processes and
procedures.
- Aim is to establish a steady flow of small improvements rather than one-
off and/or radical changes.
- This is because large scale change is resisted
- Kaizen often brings about cost savings
- Eliminates waste by looking at ways to improve the productivity and
efficiency of a firm’s operations.
- Anyone irrespective of rank can make a contribution
- Added benefit of motivating staff as they have inputs in decision making

2. Just in time:
- Inventory management system based on stocks being delivered as and
when they are needed in the production process.
- No need for a stock control system as buffer stock not required
- Created because inventory is costly and wasteful

3. Kanban:
- Ensures that inventory is based on actual customer order rather than
sales forecast.
- Uses a card system with an inventory number attached to each
component in the production process.
- Ensures that production keeps flowing at a steady pace, workers
complete tasks before taking on more and reduce waste as workers do
not have to spend much time switching between tasks.

4. Andon:
- Used to indicate the status of an aspect of production
- often supplemented with audible sound systems to alert supervisors of a
change in status
- can be seen in petrol tanks
- benefits:

o Bringing instant attention to production problems as they arise in

the manufacturing process.
 o Providing a consistent and simple communication tool for all
factory floor workers and supervisors.
o Encouraging workers and supervisors to take immediate action to
deal with production, quality and safety problems.
o Improving the ability of supervisors to identify and resolve
production issues in an efficient and cost-effective way.

 cradle to cradle design and manufacturing:

- Refers to a sustainable model of production based on natural processes

thus benefitting the environment
- Cradle- to -grave: one time use,
- Provides a framework for operations managers to design production
techniques that are efficient and sustainable
- Recycling enables old materials to be reprocessed into new products with
the aim of preventing waste
- Reuse is different from recycling as the product is not made into a new
product but it also reduces waste
- Businesses that adopt C2C philosophy design and manufacture products
that are ecologically and environmentally friendly.

 quality control and quality assurance:

- Quality: a product that fulfils its purpose and meets the expectations of
the consumer.
- Importance of quality:
o Reputation
o Ability to control costs
- Quality management: function concerned with controlling business
activities to ensure that products are fit for their purpose.
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