How can you measure the effectiveness of lean manufacturing?
Lean manufacturing is a systematic approach to reducing waste and increasing value in a production process. It aims to optimize the flow of materials, information, and activities, and eliminate any unnecessary or non-value-adding steps. But how can you measure the effectiveness of lean manufacturing? What are the key indicators and metrics that can help you assess your performance and improvement? In this article, we will explore some of the most common and useful ways to measure lean manufacturing outcomes and benefits.
Cycle time is the time it takes to complete one unit of output, from start to finish. It is a measure of how fast and efficient your production process is, and how well you manage your resources and capacity. By reducing cycle time, you can increase your output, lower your costs, and improve your customer satisfaction. To measure cycle time, you can use a stopwatch, a barcode scanner, or a software tool to track the duration of each step and the total time for each unit. You can then compare your cycle time with your target time, your historical data, or your industry benchmarks.
-
Mohit Sharma
TECHNAVIA INDIA|| EX-ADDVERB || EX-SSP PACKAGING || EX-SAXSONS GROUP || SOLIDWORKS || SOLID-EDGE ||
In Lean manufacturing production planning, effective performance measurement involves tracking key indicators like OEE, cycle time, takt time, lead time, inventory turns, defect rate, VSM, 5S compliance, employee engagement, and cost per unit.
-
Akshay Kasar
diploma at MIT College of Engineering
Lean manufacturing is a set of principles and practices that aim to eliminate waste, improve quality, and increase customer value in the production process. To measure the effectiveness of lean manufacturing, you need to track key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect the goals and benefits of lean. Some of the common KPIs for lean manufacturing are: Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): Lead Time: Quality Defect Rate: Labor Productivity Rate: Inventory Turnover Ratio:
-
Denil Daison
Aspiring Designer | Skilled in CAD and GD&T | Eager to Innovate and Learn
Revolutionizing Mechanical Engineering: A Passport to Excellence. In the dynamic world of mechanical engineering, innovation reigns supreme. Smart Materials: Crafting Tomorrow's Wonders Enter the realm of "MAGIC MATERIALS," where self-healing wonders and shape-memory alloys redefine possibilities, from structural engineering to aerospace components. Sustainable Design Practices: Engineering for a Greener Tomorrow Discover "GREEN MACHINES," where engineers integrate renewables, minimize environmental impact, and showcase sustainable triumphs in a commitment to greener engineering solutions. Conclusion: A Call to Mechanical Mastery This journey invites engineers to contribute to innovation and earn a badge of distinction.
-
Daniel Morais
Coordenador de Manutenção | Engenheiro de Confiabilidade | Especialista de Confiabilidade | Analista de PCM |
O conceito de tempo de ciclo destaca-se como uma métrica crucial para avaliar a eficiência do processo de produção. Ao compreender e reduzir esse tempo, as organizações têm a oportunidade de aumentar a produção, reduzir custos e aprimorar a satisfação do cliente. A variedade de métodos para medir o tempo de ciclo, desde cronômetros até ferramentas de software, oferece flexibilidade na coleta de dados. A comparação com metas, dados históricos ou benchmarks do setor proporciona uma referência valiosa para avaliar o desempenho e identificar áreas de melhoria no gerenciamento de recursos e capacidade. Essa abordagem analítica é fundamental para impulsionar a eficácia operacional e competitiva de uma organização.
-
Manzooralam Momin
Production Manager @ ALBAIK Food Systems | Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
The effectiveness can be measured using(KPIs) 1. Cycle Time: Measure the time it takes to complete a process or produce a product from start to finish 2. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): Calculate the percentage of planned production time that is truly productive 3. Inventory Turnover: Measure how many times a company's inventory is sold and replaced over a period of time 4. Defect Rate: Track the number of defects or errors in the production process 5. Lead Time: Measure the time it takes to fulfill a customer order from the time it is placed 6. Employee Engagement: Assess the level of involvement and commitment of employees to lean manufacturing principles It’s important to track all the above to know the impact.
Inventory turnover is the ratio of how many times you sell or use your inventory in a given period, such as a month or a year. It is a measure of how well you manage your inventory levels, and how quickly you convert your inventory into sales or finished goods. By increasing inventory turnover, you can reduce your inventory holding costs, free up your cash flow, and avoid obsolescence or spoilage. To measure inventory turnover, you can divide your cost of goods sold by your average inventory value for the period. You can then compare your inventory turnover with your target ratio, your historical data, or your industry benchmarks.
-
Daniel Morais
Coordenador de Manutenção | Engenheiro de Confiabilidade | Especialista de Confiabilidade | Analista de PCM |
O giro de estoque emerge como uma métrica vital, refletindo a eficiência na gestão de inventário ao longo de um período específico. A frequência com que o estoque é vendido ou utilizado é fundamental para compreender a eficácia na conversão desse recurso em vendas ou produtos finais. A elevação do giro de estoque não apenas reduz os custos associados à retenção de estoque, mas também melhora o fluxo de caixa, evitando obsolescência e deterioração. A fórmula que relaciona o custo das mercadorias vendidas ao valor médio do estoque permite uma avaliação precisa. A comparação do giro de estoque com metas, dados históricos ou benchmarks setoriais fornece insights valiosos para otimizar a gestão de estoque e manter a competitividade no mercado.
-
Dhananjay Patil - [ Chemical Engineer ]
Quality comes when you love your job!
Inventory management plays a crucial role by -Reducing Waste: Maintaining optimal inventory levels minimizes excess and obsolete stock, aligning with lean principles to eliminate waste. -Enhancing Responsiveness: Keeping the right amount of inventory facilitates quick response to customer demands, aligning with the lean concept of customer focus. -Preventing Overproduction: Controlling inventory helps prevent excessive production, reducing the risk of producing goods that may not be immediately needed. -Minimizing Lead Times: Well-managed inventory contributes to shorter lead times, promoting agility and responsiveness to market changes.
-
Yuzo Makitani
Masters in CS candidate, ex-Apple manufacturing
#2 Here are more applications of Little's Law: * Calculate the queue length at any station. First calculate the TH (UPH of the station). Then measure its CT. Plug the two numbers into WIP = TH * CT, and you can determine how many units are queued inside that machine. * Calculate your product's inventory time. You might want to know this if you have items with shelf life, such as a discharging battery. Measure your storage facility's actual usage capacity, WIP. Using a stop watch, measure the rate at which units are put into and taken out of the facility, TH. Plug the two numbers into CT = WIP/TH, and that is your inventory turnover time at the facility.
-
Rodrigo Ronconi
Industrial Management | Project Management | Continuous Improvement | Black Belt - Six Sigma | WCM | TPM |Power BI | Lean Manufacturing
O giro de estoque é a frequência com que os produtos são vendidos ou renovados em um período. Um alto giro é bom, pois indica vendas rápidas, reduzindo custos de armazenamento. Porém, um giro excessivamente alto pode gerar problemas de falta de estoque. Equilibrar o giro é essencial para ajustar compras, maximizar lucros e satisfazer clientes. É crucial monitorar regularmente para tomar decisões estratégicas eficazes.
-
Vipinchandra Vankar, PMP®
Project Manager @ The Estée Lauder Companies | Project Management | Mechanical Engineer
Lean manufacturing effectiveness with Inventory Turnover is gauged by tracking how quickly inventory is used and replenished. Calculate Inventory Turnover ratio by dividing the cost of goods sold (COGS) by the average inventory. Higher turnover indicates efficient use of resources, reduced holding costs, and improved responsiveness to demand. Regularly monitoring and optimizing Inventory Turnover aligns with lean principles, emphasizing minimal waste and efficient production flow. Continuous improvement, accurate demand forecasting, and streamlined processes contribute to enhancing Inventory Turnover in a lean manufacturing context.
First pass yield is the percentage of units that meet the quality standards without any rework, scrap, or defects. It is a measure of how well you control your quality and prevent errors or variations in your production process. By improving first pass yield, you can reduce your waste, save your time and materials, and enhance your customer satisfaction. To measure first pass yield, you can divide the number of units that pass the quality inspection by the total number of units produced for the period. You can then compare your first pass yield with your target percentage, your historical data, or your industry benchmarks.
-
Yuzo Makitani
Masters in CS candidate, ex-Apple manufacturing
When tracking yield, it is important to maintain an yield bridge. An yield bridge tracks the failure rate (FR) and failure mode at all test or inspection stations, including stations which both assemble and test. The yield bridge aids you in determining the criticality of each issue, so that your team can prioritize which issues to chase. During new product introduction stages, the most critical issue is not necessarily the failure mode with the highest FR. For example, the line may catch a 0.1% walking wounded issue which results in a catastrophic reliability failure in the future, like an improperly formed wireform inside a MEMs device. Even though the FPY is high, at 1000DPPM this is an unacceptable failure.
-
Daniel Morais
Coordenador de Manutenção | Engenheiro de Confiabilidade | Especialista de Confiabilidade | Analista de PCM |
O rendimento de primeira passagem surge como uma métrica crucial na avaliação do controle de qualidade, representando a porcentagem de unidades que atendem aos padrões sem retrabalho, sucata ou defeitos. A eficácia nessa medida não apenas reduz o desperdício, economiza tempo e materiais, mas também eleva a satisfação do cliente ao garantir a entrega de produtos livres de falhas. A fórmula que compara as unidades aprovadas na inspeção de qualidade com o total produzido fornece uma visão clara do desempenho. A comparação do rendimento de primeira passagem com metas, dados históricos ou benchmarks do setor é fundamental para impulsionar melhorias contínuas na qualidade e eficiência do processo de produção.
-
Tugberk Karan
Mould Maintenance Engineer @ Eldor Corporation | YetGen 23'2
First pass yield (FPY) is a vital metric in lean manufacturing, indicating the percentage of units meeting quality standards without rework or defects. It reflects the effectiveness of quality control and error prevention. Improving FPY reduces waste, saves resources, and boosts customer satisfaction. For instance, in an electronics assembly line, a high FPY would mean most circuit boards are assembled correctly the first time, reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
-
Jittu Simon
Quality operations specialist
First Pass Yield (FPY) in manufacturing is a critical metric indicating the proportion of defect-free products produced without rework or corrections during the initial manufacturing attempt. It gauges process efficiency, quality control, and waste reduction. A high FPY signifies streamlined processes, minimizing resource utilization for rework. Monitoring and improving FPY align with lean manufacturing principles, focusing on right-first-time production. This metric is vital for enhancing overall product quality, customer satisfaction, and operational effectiveness. Continuous FPY evaluation supports a culture of ongoing improvement, crucial in maintaining competitiveness in the manufacturing landscape
-
Luis Antonio Alcázar Castro
Ingeniero Mecánico Industrial Experiencia en Producción, Mantenimiento y Aseguramiento de Calidad.
Algo muy importante del rendimiento de la primera pasada son los datos de las variables que inciden de manera directa e indirecta en las características de calidad del producto y la manera de como estas se van ajustando de tal manera que se obtienen los mejores resultados de calidad así con quedan como el punto de arranque de la próxima corrida. Saludos
Customer satisfaction is the degree to which your customers are happy with your products or services, and how likely they are to recommend you to others. It is a measure of how well you meet or exceed your customer expectations and needs, and how you create value and loyalty for your customers. By increasing customer satisfaction, you can boost your sales, retention, and referrals, and gain a competitive advantage in the market. To measure customer satisfaction, you can use surveys, feedback forms, reviews, ratings, or testimonials to collect data from your customers. You can then analyze the data to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and to calculate your net promoter score (NPS), which is the difference between the percentage of customers who are promoters and the percentage of customers who are detractors.
Employee engagement is the extent to which your employees are committed, motivated, and productive in their work, and how they feel about your organization and culture. It is a measure of how well you empower, support, and involve your employees in your lean manufacturing journey, and how you foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning. By enhancing employee engagement, you can improve your performance, quality, innovation, and retention, and reduce your absenteeism, turnover, and accidents. To measure employee engagement, you can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or observations to collect data from your employees. You can then analyze the data to evaluate your employee satisfaction, motivation, involvement, and alignment with your vision and values.
-
Kanishkar Hemsankar
Engineer @ Renault Nissan Tech - System Simulation | EV | MATLAB - SIMULINK| MBSE | Performance Analysis
Every employee at a company has their own goal for bettering their own lives. The company's management must align both the company's goal and its people in order to achieve proactive results. Counselling and education for both physical and mental health can be provided. Companies can organise icebreaker events to help employees feel more empowered. Innovative ideas might be encouraged by providing a bonus or a company stake. Based on the shared vision, businesses can invest in training employees in current trends such as AI, data science, and so on, which can be used to improve quality and productivity.
-
Pankaj Upadhyay
Seasoned professional with over 32 years of industry experience in automotive and engineering sector
Single most important thing for effective lean manufacturing practice at work. WPO (work place organisation) is a daily basis routine activity which is key to lean implementation, however being a routine work, employees tend to get bored easily and starts skipping, avoiding maintenence of systems and practices. It important to keep them engaged and motivated to adhere to the systems and processes.
-
Rodrigo Ronconi
Industrial Management | Project Management | Continuous Improvement | Black Belt - Six Sigma | WCM | TPM |Power BI | Lean Manufacturing
Para impulsionar o engajamento dos funcionários: 1- Comunique-se abertamente e promova um ambiente positivo. 2- Ofereça oportunidades de crescimento e reconhecimento. 3- Equilibre a vida pessoal e profissional. 4- Envolva os funcionários nas decisões. 5- Mostre como o trabalho deles se alinha aos objetivos da empresa.
-
Erick Fernandes
Engenharia | Supervisão | Projetos | Planejamento | Inovação
Quando a empresa apresenta um bom nível de engajamento dos colaboradores, seus processos tendem a ser mais produtivos. Além disso, a qualidade das entregas é superior, o que impacta na competitividade e produtividade da empresa. Funcionários bem engajados, que se comprometem com suas tarefas e com a entrega de resultados de alto nível, tornam-se um diferencial para a empresa em um mercado cada vez mais competitivo.
-
ECANSH TYAGI
Quality Assurance senior Engineer at FCC CLUTCH INDIA PVT LTD with internal auditor Certified & Black belt Certified.
Employee engagement is best way to increase the effectiveness of lean manufacturing,if employee is highly motivated then it's performance converted into productivity rejection reduction,follow the best possible system for zero Defect quality product.
-
Sravan K. Kumar
Asset Management Professional (IAM-UK Certified)
Lean Manufacturing is all about value addition and waste reduction which is a continuous improvement process. Briefly, it is all about the adaptable and applicable systems and robust processes (which ever or what ever; and these vary with new developments and idea generations) which helps the companies to provide a faster and efficient products & services and ultimately creating or adding value to both the companies and customers.
-
Casper Von Rauenstein
-Mechanical Engineer
Artisan are also measured on the cost of new parts fitted vs old parts repaired. Older generation can refurbish parts and new generation has become new part fitters.
-
Raphael Michael N.
HVAC Projects & Technical | MEP
The effectiveness of lean manufacturing can be measured through key performance indicators (KPIs) such as cycle time reduction, inventory turnover, defect rates, lead time, and overall production efficiency. Regularly monitoring these metrics helps assess the impact of lean practices on operational performance and identify areas for continuous improvement.
-
Anthony S.
Machinist/Tool and Diemaker
Lean is Resource intensive wasteful garbage policy. Throwing 20k in tooling away because you haven’t used it in 6 months is a ridiculously wasteful concept and I cannot support that. Literally worked for people who were ok with doing this.
-
Dale Dahlman
Sales Engineer For Ellison Technologies in Washington State.
Well, never throw it away, create an area away from your immediate production area, tag and catalog it electronically as time permits. Tag it out later if that job comes back or you can repurpose. The point is to organize your work area removing clutter and standardizing as much as possible across the shop. Makes training easier and reducing waste like hunting and gathering. The system can be designed around what you need it to be in being more efficient with spindle up time.
Rate this article
More relevant reading
-
Lean ManufacturingHow can Lean Manufacturing professionals measure their performance?
-
Lean ManufacturingHow can you use value stream mapping to mistake-proof a lean manufacturing environment?
-
Product EngineeringHow can you align lean manufacturing with customer needs?
-
Warehouse OperationsHow can you use lean manufacturing principles to reduce lead times?