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A practical approach towards productivity through Lean manufacturing
Written by Srinidhi Chakravarthi [BDM Axcend]   
Thursday, 24 May 2007

 The roadmap to Lean Manufacturing and its benefits were discussed at a seminar hosted by Bangalore based Manufacturing IT Solutions company Axcend Automation & Software Solutions on May 15, 2007.

 Lean manufacturing initiative focuses on cost reduction and increase in turnover by systematically and continuously eliminating non value added activities.

 Lean manufacturing helps organizations to achieve targeted productivity and more by introduction of easy to apply and maintainable techniques and tools. Its focus on waste reduction and elimination will soon be part of organization culture and turn every process into a profit center. Thousands of companies' worldwide have achieved tremendous productivity and return on investments by implementing lean manufacturing practices and techniques. Indian industry has also witnessed many success stories in automotive, process and other industries.

  In a nutshell, lean manufacturing is all about driving towards achieving profitability and productivity through continuous improvement and resource waste elimination. It is an organizational culture as well as specific practices with clear goals.

 The roadmap to Lean Manufacturing and its benefits were discussed at a seminar hosted by Bangalore based Manufacturing IT Solutions company Axcend Automation & Software Solutions on May 15, 2007. Senior level delegates from various multinational and national companies pitched in with their perspective on Lean Manufacturing during this half day event held at Axcend’s premises.

 Mr. Janakiram, Advisor (Lean), HAL set the theme for the event mentioning about how a large public sector enterprise like HAL has embraced “SAMPOORNA PARIVARTHAN” (complete change) to implement Lean. He reiterated the fact that implementing lean is a collective achievement where every single member’s dedication and perseverance makes it a success. Lean is about achievement orientation and execution excellence. There is a need for shift in thinking to “A zero tolerance for waste”. Persistence for improvement, learning by doing, attitudinal changes, and team work along with emphasis to bring value quickly and remove waste continuously form the essence of lean. Mr. Janakiram concluded beautifully saying that the Mantra for Success has 4P’s – Purpose & Process as intellectual issues connected to brain where as Pride & Passion gives the heart dimension.

 While Lean is to be definitely achieved, how can it be done? What are the tools required? Providing answers to this was Mr. Gary Flum, GM (Advanced Manufacturing Systems), QAD. Taking into account QAD’s long standing relationship with manufacturing industry, Gary gave the enterprise IT perspective of achieving lean. He presented the lean solution available from QAD that could be implemented even in SMEs.

 Lean manufacturing is a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS). Mr. T R Parasuraman, GM, TKAP spoke about best practices of manufacturing and its benefits. Elimination of 3Ms – Muri, Mura, and Muda is important and forms the basis of TPS. Touching upon the 5S methods, Mr. Parasuraman reiterated the need to passionately practice it to achieve global standards. If quality is lost, everything is lost. Emphasis on quality is supreme and any failure needs to be analyzed in depth to get the root cause. “Rejection is a treasure” said Mr. Parasuraman reiterating the Toyota way of handling quality problems. He concluded by giving the Ten Commandments of Quality.
Last Updated ( Friday, 25 May 2007 )
 
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