HOMEWORK 1

Question 1: List down Production Characteristics in each column

Craft Mass
Highly trained labour force; apprenticeships provide
1 Smooth Production Flow
design, machining, and proper training.
Machines with a wide range of uses can drill, grind,
2 Undefined Demand
cut, etc., through metal and wood.
Enterprises with a decentralized structure where the
3 owner interacts directly with suppliers, employers, and Fast Production
clients.
4 Deficient production volume Disengaged Workforce
5 Lack of economies of scale Inflexible

Question 2: Why lean? Listing 1-5 reasons:

Lean manufacturing improves efficiency, reduces waste, and increases productivity. The
benefits, therefore, are manifold:
• Increased product quality: Improved efficiency frees up employees and resources for
innovation and quality control that would have previously been wasted.
• Improved lead times: As manufacturing processes are streamlined, businesses can better
respond to fluctuations in demand and other market variables, resulting in fewer delays and
better lead times.
• Sustainability: Less waste and better adaptability make for a better-equipped business to thrive
well into the future.
• Employee satisfaction: Workers know when their daily routine is bloated or packed with
unnecessary work, negatively affecting morale. Lean manufacturing boosts not only productivity
but employee satisfaction.
• Increased profits: And, of course, more productivity with less waste and better quality
ultimately makes for a more profitable company.
 The five core principles of lean manufacturing are value, the value stream, flow, pull and
perfection. These are now used as the basis to implement lean.
1. Value: Value is determined from the customer's perspective and relates to how much they are
willing to pay for products or services. This value is then created by the manufacturer or service
provider, who should seek to eliminate waste and costs to meet the optimal price for the
customer while also maximizing profits.

2. Map the Value Stream (Value Stream Mapping – VSM):

- Involving analyzing the materials and other resources required to produce a product or service
to identify waste and improvements.
- The value stream covers the entire lifecycle of a product, from raw materials to disposal.
- Each stage of the production cycle needs to be examined for waste, and anything that doesn't
add value should be removed. Chain alignment is often recommended as a means to achieve this
step.
- Modern manufacturing streams are often complex, requiring the combined efforts of engineers,
scientists, designers and more. The actual manufacturing of a physical product is just one part of
a broader work stream.

3. Create Flow:
- Creating flow is about removing functional barriers to improve lead times.
- This ensures that processes flow smoothly and can be undertaken with minimal delay or waste.
- Interrupted and disharmonious production processes incur costs and creating flow guarantees a
constant stream for production or service delivery.
4. Establish a Pull System:
- A pull system only commences when there is demand. This is the opposite of push systems
used in manufacturing resource planning (MRP) systems. Push systems determine inventories in
advance, with production set to meet these sales or production forecasts. However, the
inaccuracy of many predictions can result in either too much or not enough of a product being
produced to meet demand. This can lead to additional warehousing costs, disrupted schedules or
poor customer satisfaction. A pull system only acts when there is demand and relies on
flexibility, communication, and efficient processes to be successfully achieved.
- The pull system can involve teams only moving onto new tasks as the previous steps have been
completed, allowing the team to adapt to challenges as they arise in the knowledge that the prior
work is mostly still applicable to delivering the product or service.
5. Perfection:
- The pursuit of perfection via continued process improvements is also known as 'Kaizen'
(Continuous Improvement), created by Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda (see
'When and Who Invented Lean Manufacturing?' above). Lean manufacturing requires ongoing
assessment and improvement of processes and procedures to continually eliminate waste to find
the perfect system for the value stream.
- To make a meaningful and lasting difference, the notion of continuous improvement should be
integrated through:
+ an organization's culture (example: Deming’s 14 Points)
+ requires the measurement of metrics such as lead times, production cycles, throughput and
cumulative flow.
Question 3: Wastes: show 1-5 examples from those steps/activities our canteens
1) Inventory: This waste occurs when the canteen is stocked with more goods than it can
sell. For example, an outside production facility will deliver steamed dumplings at the
beginning of the day. If the canteen orders too much, the excess at the end of the day will
be discarded because they cannot be steamed and resold the next day.
2) Overproduction: This waste occurs when an item is produced more than it sells. For
example, the canteens serve fried food at lunchtime, but because it's overprocessed, those
dishes will be thrown away because they can't be fried and resold later in the day, which
creates a waste of money.
3) Defect: This waste occurs when a faulty manufactured item must be replaced with a new
one, discarding the old one. Milk coffee is often brewed in several cups to save time, but
when an ingredient like sugar, milk, or coffee has a problem, all mugs are discarded.
4) Over-processing: This waste occurs when a process does not add the required value to
the whole production process or affects the process. For example, in the canteen, each
stall has a cash register. Still, two employees are working simultaneously, which does not
help the process of receiving orders and paying faster but also wastes a lot of time or
 salary payment. Moving one person from the checkout counter to prepping ingredients or
preparing food would improve the process.
5) Waiting: This waste occurs when an ingredient needs time to be shipped or approved
before the following production process. For example, on some special days, the number
of people using rice in the afternoon increases. If the canteen runs out of rice or the
number of pho users increases, the canteen must order more pho from outside businesses
during service. Waiting time for rice or pho to be delivered is classified as a waste.