Chapter 2

Why Lean
Production?
Dr. Yasser Aly Yakout
Copyrighted Material @2023

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Outline: Why Lean
Production?
• Why Lean Production?
• New Economies
• System and System Thinking
• The Thinking Way
• House of Lean Production
• Customer Focus
• Muda
Motion, Delay, Conveyance, Correction,
Overprocessing, Inventory, Overproduction,
Knowledge
• A Word of Caution
• Mura
• Muri

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Why Lean Production?

• Lean production, also known as the Toyota Production System

(TPS)
• Lean Manufacturing means doing more with less; less time, less
space, less human effort, less machinery, less materials; while
giving customers what they want

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Best Books of Lean Manufacturing

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Best Books of Lean Manufacturing

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New Economics

• Companies could set their

prices according to:
Cost + Profit margin = Price
• The profit equation is now
as follows:
Price (fixed) – Cost = Profit
• To maximize profit
Reduce Cost

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 Systems and Systems Thinking

A system is an integrated series of parts with a clearly defined goal

Systems have the following characteristics:

• Each part of a system has a definable purpose

• The parts of the system are interdependent
• We can understand each part by seeing how it fits into the system
• To understand the system, we must understand its purpose, its interdependencies, and
its interactions

Systems thinking is the ability to think in terms of systems and

knowing how to lead systems
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 Lean/Toyota
Stop production, so that
production never has to stop!
(Jidoka concept)
Make only what the customer has
ordered. (Pull system)
Make things one at a time and
move them quickly through the
Lean vs system. (Flow)
Conventional What do you think? (Leader =
Teacher)
Models We have simple visual standards
for all important things.
The people closest to the work
develop standards and pull in
specialists as required.
Make problems visible.
Go and see for yourself.
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
Conventional
Move the metal! Make your
numbers!
Make as much as you can.
Go as fast as you can. (Push
system)
Make big batches and move
them slowly through the
system. (Batch and queue)
Thou shalt! (Leader = Boss)
We have some standards. (Not sure
where they are or if they’re
followed)
Engineers and other specialists
create standards. The rest of us do
what we’re told.
Don’t get caught holding the bag!
Only grunts go to the shop floor.
Do-Do-Do-Do!
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House of
Lean
Production

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Lean
Activities

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Toyota Production System

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 • The core goal is to provide the highest quality, at the
lowest cost, in the shortest time by continually
eliminating Muda or waste
• Today customers have broader expectations
Customer Focus
• Lean companies have added safety, environment,
and morale to their core goals

PQCDSM
Productivity Quality Cost Delivery Safety Morale

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Defining Value

Common Definitions for Value:

1. Value is what the customer is
willing to pay for
2. Value is an activity that
changes the form, fit, or function
of a product
3. Value = Quality/Cost

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 Muda ≡ Waste
• Muda means waste, or any activity
for which the customer is not
willing to pay
• Muda is the opposite of value,
which is simply what a customer is
willing to pay for
• Human motion can be divided into
three categories:
• Actual work: Refers to any
motion that adds value to the
product or service
• Auxiliary work: Motion that
supports actual work; usually
occurs before or after the
actual work
• Muda: Motion that creates
no value

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Work vs
Muda

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Learning to See Muda

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1. Motion

• Wasted motion has both a human and machine element

• Wasted human motion is related to workplace ergonomics
• Poor ergonomic (workplace design) negatively affects
productivity and quality as well as safety
• Productivity suffers when there is unnecessary walking,
reaching, or twisting.
• Quality suffers when the worker has to strain to process or
check the work piece because of reaching, twisting, or poor
environmental conditions

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Ergonomics (Workplace Design)

• Poor ergonomics has perhaps the biggest impact on safety

• Ergonomic injuries comprise more than 50% of all workplace
injuries in North America
• The most important ergonomic risk factors are posture, force,
and repetition all of which depend on workplace design
• Ergonomics, therefore, is a key to reducing the Muda of human
motion

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2. Delay

Waiting waste occurs when

• A worker must wait for material to be delivered, or
• For a line stoppage to be cleared, or
• When employees stand around waiting for a machine to process a part,
or
• Excessive work-in-process (WIP) because of large batch production,
equipment problems, or defects requiring rework

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Lead Time

• Lead time is the time between the customer

placing and receiving his or her order
• Lead time may be defined as follows:
Lead time = Processing time + Retention time
• Delays increase retention time, which far
exceeds processing time in most
manufacturing operations

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3. Conveyance

• Conveyance waste includes the large waste caused by inefficient

workplace layout, overly large equipment, or traditional batch production
• For example, when large batches must be moved from process to process
• Making smaller batch sizes and moving processes closer together can
reduce conveyance Muda
• Conveyance, delay, and motion wastes are closely related (i.e., a work
pieces being carried within a process area either by conveyor or by
workers)
• Conveyance is necessary Muda: obviously, materials must be moved
through the factory, but it must be minimized

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4. Correction

The Muda of correction is

related to making and having
to fix defective products

It comprises all material,

time, and energy involved in
making and repairing defects

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5. Overprocessing

It is an indirect form of Muda related to doing

more than what the customer requires

Such Muda often exists in companies driven by

their engineering departments

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6. Overproduction

• Overproduction means making things that don’t sell

• Overproduction is a root cause of other kinds of Muda:
• Motion: Workers are busy making things that nobody ordered
• Waiting: Related to large batch sizes
• Conveyance: Unneeded finished goods must be moved to storage
warehouses
• Correction: Early detection of defects is more difficult with large Batches
• Inventory: Overproduction creates unnecessary raw materials, parts, and
WIP

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7. Inventory

The Muda of inventory is related to the keeping of unnecessary

raw materials, parts, and WIP

Conditions result when flow is held in a plant and when

production is not linked to the drumbeat of the market (Pull)

Example, organizations that schedule production solely on the

basis of material requirement planning (MRP) systems inevitably
have substantial Muda of inventory. MRP is a “Push” system

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8. Knowledge

• This Muda exists when there are disconnects within a company, or

between the company and its customers and suppliers
• Disconnects within a company can be horizontal, vertical, or temporal
• These inhibit the flow of knowledge, ideas, and creativity, creating
frustration and missed opportunities

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 The 7 Waste Model:
TIMWOOD
Waste Category Description Root Cause
Transportation Unnecessary transport of materials • Batch Production
• Inefficient layout
• Longest set-up time
Inventory Too many finished goods in inventory, WIP inventory, • Batch Production
raw material inventory • Longest set-up time
• Bottleneck
• Lack of continuous flow
• Push organization
Motion Not Value-Added movement of people and machines • Inefficient layout and process flow
• Lack of standardization
Waiting Customer waiting, waiting for materials, waiting for • Bottleneck
employees • Lack of continuous flow
• Lack standardization
• Unbalanced workload
Overproduction Overproduction happens when a process produces • Batch Production
more products/services than necessary • Production on Forecast
Overprocessing Unnecessary processes or operations • Not value added activity
• Lack of investigation of customer needs
• Activity by tradition
Defects Production of defective Parts/Services that can’t be • Lack of standardization
sold to the customer. Defects can be scraps or • Lack of training
reworks, which add tremendous cost to organization • Lack of error proofing system
• Poor quality of supplies
• Obsolete process
Goals
Minimize the movement by arranging processes near each
other
The inventory must be dimensioned based on the real
actual and on the supplier delivery time
Remove unnecessary motion and improve disposition of
material in the workplace
Maximize “Value Adding” time to reduce waiting and to
arrange processes in a continuous flow approach
Produce just the necessary, in the right time at the right
quality
Optimize value added activities to remove all unnecessary
steps
Produce “right first time”
Stop the process when the defects occur, solve the problem
in order to remove it definitively
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A Word of Caution

Learning to see waste is an important first step

Lean system is much more than a hunt for Muda

• Seek to create continuous flow so that the customer can pull
• Seek to create stability so that any obstacle to flow is readily
apparent
• Seek to employ the techniques of visual management so
that the out-of-standard condition is visible
• Seek to involve our team members in all these activities of
continuous improvement

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Mura

• Mura refers to unevenness or

fluctuation in work, usually
caused by fluctuating production
plans
• Example: a production line that is
producing difficult models for half
the shift and simple models for
the second half, so that workers
strain for half the day and coast
the other half
• Lean system seeks to reduce Mura
through Heijunka, or production
leveling, by mixing models

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Muri
• Muri means “hard to do”
• It is caused by:
• Variations in production,
• Poor job design or ergonomics,
• Poor part fit,
• Inadequate tools or jigs,
• Unclear specifications, …

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Relationship between 3 M’s

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