6 Lean Manufacturing Techniques to Improve Your Manufacturing Process

Lean manufacturing works to minimize waste and maximize production to improve manufacturing processes. Waste is defined as anything that doesn’t bring value to the customer.

With several lean manufacturing techniques to choose from, companies can find one that fits best with their production process. Keep in mind that you can combine techniques for added benefits.

We’ve put together the top six lean manufacturing strategies to help improve your manufacturing processes:

Kaizen technique
The 5S of lean manufacturing
Six big losses
Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
Machine monitoring
Workforce intelligence and insights

1) Kaizen technique

Kaizen is a business philosophy that advocates striving for continuous small improvements. As a lean manufacturing technique, it involves employees of all levels working together to reach steady improvement within manufacturing processes.

From CEOs to assembly line workers, kaizen combines the talents of each employee to eliminate waste, improve productivity and add value to the consumer.

Kaizen also works in tandem with standardized work. While standardized work aims to implement the best practices for a process, kaizen finds improvements for those processes. A connected worker solution that includes digital work instructions and data-driven workforce intelligence is an example of applying kaizen to improve standardization and help drive continuous improvement in work processes as well as with the employees performing the work.

2) The 5S of lean manufacturing

5S stands for a five-step methodology for establishing and sustaining a productive workspace. The steps are:

Sort: It’s important to sort through all inventory and take away useless items.
Set in order: Make sure to place all items in the right place for proper functionality.
Shine: This concept focuses on inspecting all the machinery and maintaining it regularly.
Standardize: Standardized work helps keep everything in order.
Sustain: This step creates procedures to maintain the workspace. It’s easier to sustain something once it becomes a habit.

3) Six big losses

The six big losses are useful in categorizing equipment-based losses. The losses are unplanned stops, planned stops, small stops, slow cycles, production rejects and startup rejects.

Unplanned stops occur when equipment that is scheduled for production is not running due to an unplanned event.
Planned stops involve equipment that is scheduled for production but is not running due to a planned event.
Small stops happen when equipment stops working for a brief period before the operator resolves it.
Slow cycles occur when equipment runs slower than the process for manufacturing items.
Production rejects refer to defective parts created during stable production.
Startup rejects are defective parts created during startup operations.

4) Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

Overall equipment effectiveness is a popular key metric used to help manage equipment-based production processes. OEE tracks a system’s productivity to see how available a process is, how fast it is and how high quality it is in making non-defective parts.

This technique also helps monitor anything that is wasteful, from wasted time to defects. Using this lean manufacturing technique, a company is better equipped to identify small losses that may turn into huge ones over longer periods of time.

5) Machine monitoring

Machine monitoring is a technique involving sensors that collect data from parts of equipment in your manufacturing process.

As a manufacturer, you can get real-time visibility into your operations to see what is and isn’t working. From there, you can adjust processes to improve production.

6) Workforce intelligence and insights

Similar to machine monitoring, workforce intelligence is another lean manufacturing technique that can greatly impact continuous improvement. Workforce intelligence involves utilizing connected worker technology to capture data from your workforce and using that data to improve manufacturing processes.

Workers that are connected with digital tools are a source of valuable enterprise data. Capturing this data and using technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) can help manufacturers gain real-time visibility into the human side of their operations to see what is and isn’t working. This data can be analyzed to gain insights into areas of improvement. For example, Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker software suite helps industrial companies use lean manufacturing to optimize the safety, quality, and productivity of the industrial frontline workforce.

Learn more about how artificial intelligence is transforming lean manufacturing.

Interested in learning how Augmentir’s connected worker platform can help you implement Lean within your manufacturing operation? Get in touch with us for a free demo.