LEAN Maintenance: Lean approach in maintenance operations

Ichraf BOULENOUAR, MIMI Engineering

National Higher School of Advanced Technologies
Department of Industrial Engineering and maintenance

Abstract Maintenance shares significant operating costs in an organization and plays a crucial role in overall organizational performance. Embedding Lean thinking into maintenance
requires applying its principles and practices. This study aims to review and analyze existing knowledge about Lean Maintenance in reputable literature, with a focus on grasping the vital
practices for its effective implementation A successful application of Lean Maintenance not only boosts the performance of the maintenance department but also creates ongoing chances
for improvement. This approach aims to achieve maintenance excellence by eliminating various types of waste in the process.

1.Introduction 2. Research methodology 3.Lean historical background

these years, in the complex world of industry, maintenance has taken center stage. The principles of Lean thinking originated in
The Lean philosophy represents a management approach concentrated on Etablishing research post-World War II Japan, as Toyota aimed to
1940s-1950s
maximizing value while minimizing waste and delivering high-quality products or criteria enhance manufacturing efficiency and reduce
services to customers. Due to their effectiveness, lean principles have found waste.
application across various sectors, including maintenance. Lean maintenance was
Introduced in the last decade of the 20th century by Smith, it's primary goal is to
identify and eliminate waste within the maintenance process , such as unnecessary Taiichi Ohno, an engineer at Toyota, is widely
downtime, rework, and excessive maintenance costs. The objective of this work is to Maintenance Lean maintenance recognized for developing the Toyota
Lean evolution
provide a detailed exploration of the implementation and impact of lean (operations &waste) (tools & practices) Production System. He introduced Lean
1950s-1970s concepts such as Just-In-Time (JIT) production,
maintenance. Specifically, the focus is on the principles and practices associated with
lean maintenance . emphasizing the production of items only
when necessary, and the minimization of
excess inventory.
Search in electronic database
(IEEE, Scopus…) The term "Lean" was popularized in the West
through the book "The Machine That Changed
the World" by James P. Womack, Daniel T.
Extracting and synthesis the 1970s-1980s Jones, and Daniel Roos. This book highlighted
slect ressources the efficiency of the Toyota Production System
and introduced Lean principles to a broader
audience.

Lean thinking gained widespread acceptance

across various industries, including
manufacturing, service sectors and
1990s-2000s
maintenance. Organizations worldwide began
implementing Lean methodologies to enhance
efficiency, improve quality, and reduce costs.

Lean principles are continuously evolving,

with an increasing focus on extending Lean
thinking beyond manufacturing. This
evolution has led to the expansion into
2000s-Present
various areas, including Lean Six Sigma, which
integrates Lean principles with statistical
methods to enhance overall process
improvement.

4. Maintenance wastes 5.Lean maintenance tools

The first step in lean maintenance is to identify types of the waste in maintenance process. The core concept
of lean manufacturing is eliminating the seven cardinal forms of waste. This concept can be helpful in maintenance
as well as in production. The seven cardinal types of waste in the maintenance process can be discussed in the same
manner as in the eight waste types identified in the production system.

Over- Transport Motion Defects

Waste Rework Waiting Inventory Sort: when in doubt. Move it out –
processing ation
aim red tag technique.
to optimize maintenance activities, reduce waste, and improve overall efficiency.
performing incorrect repair is Excessive Set in order: A place for everything VSM(value stream mapping):serves as a
Performing any a source of poor Delay in inventory of and everything in its place. manual tool to identify both value added
Errors and
unnecessary maintenance. Incorrect process maintenance Unnecessary PDCA(Plan-Do-Check-Act): iterative
Cause steps and
Unnecessary
work results in Mouvement
mistakes in Shine: Clean and inspect or inspect and non-value-added components in a
processes or using maintenance requires several mouvement maintenance process for continuous improvement
repeated times to complete disrupts slow by people through cleaning. process. It provides a visual
the wrong tools opreations
the repair job correctly work-flow response Standardize: Make up the rules, representation of the flow of materials
follow and enforce them. and information within maintenance
Sustain: Part of daily work and it process.
becomes a habit.

6.Implementtion of lean maintenance

The implementation of lean maintenance involves an strategic and systematic approach to infuse lean principles into the
maintenance processes of an organization

JIT(Just-in-Time): It's like a well-coordinated system where

Kaizen: a systematic approach that making small,
incremental adjustments in both processes and
practices in order to attain a state of continuous
improvement.
things move or get done exactly when they're needed. In
lean maintenance, they use Just-in-Time (JIT) principles to
make maintenance activities happen at the right time and
flow smoothly. Just like how it works in making things, JIT in
lean maintenance tries to avoid delays, cut down on waste,
and make maintenance processes work better overall.

References

7.Conclusion
In conclusion, The transition of maintenance activities to a Lean approach may turn out to be a time-
consuming process. However, investing in employee training and fostering teamwork can serve as an
accelerator for implementing lean maintenance.This approach promotes a culture of continuous
improvement, aiming for maintenance excellence. All of these efforts ensure a high degree of utilization,
reliability, and availability of manufacturing facilities, particularly in continuous production processes, to
achieve world-class performance
•
•
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• Hesham Almomani and Naser Almutairi. Using lean principles in maintenance operations with application to water treatment plant. International Journal of Environmental
Science, 6, 2021
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