Elements of Lean Manufacturing Paper

Elements of Lean Manufacturing

University of Phoenix

ISCOM472

Richard Baginski

�

Introduction

Lean manufacturing is eliminating wastes and the non-value added items in the organization, which in turn saves the organization and the customers money. Lean manufacturing was developed by Sakichi Toyoda from the Toyota Production System. The Japanese methodology was created in order to reduce inventory to lower wastes and enhance productivity (WiseGeek, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to review lean manufacturing and how some of the core elements work for Energizer Holdings.

Three Core Elements of Lean Manufacturing

There are many different elements that can be utilized in lean manufacturing. Energizer Holdings utilizes several of the core elements but in this paper I will cover the three major elements.

The elimination of waste is one of the first and major key elements of being a lean organization. Whether it is eliminating unnecessary handling at the distribution center or removing the amount of people needed to do a specific job, the elimination of waste is all about the bottom line for the company and the customers.

Energizer AA size 2500 mA·h (1.2 V, 3.0 W·h, NiM...

Inc

English: Lean Manufacturing

If the company can save money by eliminating a job that was done by three people and can now be done by one person and an automated packing machine, these cost savings are being passed onto the customers.

The kanban system is another core element of lean manufacturing. The kanban system is a pull material system that pulls production through based on the customer demand (Lean Masters Consulting Group, Inc., 2010). The kanban system also includes having stock piles of high volume items available at the manufacturing location instead of having the finished goods sitting around at a centralized warehouse. The kanban offers flexibility to the high volume items in case of an increase in the demand...