Lean Manufacturing for Waste Minimization in Facilities

No matter how prepared a company is, materials will not be fully utilized, ultimately leading to waste. According to the Lean Enterprise Research Center (LERC), 60% of activities through production is waste, which has a loss of value to the consumers. Manufacturing waste is a hurdle to overcome and holds facilities back from reaching their goal: maximum efficiency.

Now, this is much more easier said than done considering that unplanned hurdles are presented everyday, hindering a facility’s ability to be able to reach that point of maximum production. There are various methods on how to reduce waste and reach overall efficiency, with many of the manufacturing methods being used for years - but there is always room for improvement, right? If minimizing waste is the goal, then this introduction to lean manufacturing may be the answer.

What is Lean Manufacturing? 

Lean manufacturing has spoken for itself through companies such as Toyota. It is a systematic approach of waste minimization without surrendering efficiency and productivity. This method of reducing waste was developed for two reasons; consumer gratification and profitability. After all, the consumers are the deciding factor in what will be bought, therefore making a durable product that they choose out of all competitors only makes sense. With lean, anything that is not providing value to the consumer is considered waste. There is no value in an item that is not being made money off of, so what is the point of ramping up inventory cost for an unwanted product?

Understanding what consumers explicitly value is a step in the right direction of minimizing waste and moving more toward lean manufacturing. Of course, this is easier said than done, but gathering a consensus on what consumers as a whole are asking for will allow an insight into what is being produced that is considered “wasteful”. Lean manufacturing is becoming a top method for manufacturing industry leaders to further enhance the operation through production efficiency.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling with Lean Manufacturing

Advanced planning and scheduling systems (APS) are a great way to implement lean manufacturing into a manufacturing facility. Companies of any size can utilize lean manufacturing and improve their production process. Along with being compatible with any size company, there are various other benefits pertaining to APS and lean manufacturing such as the following areas where waste is minimized:

• Transport
• Inventory
• Motion
• Waiting
• Over-processing
• Overproduction
• Defects

As an operation is beginning to need production on a much larger scale, lean manufacturing may be the solution, and advanced planning and scheduling systems reduce the headache of dealing with complex waste minimization methods such as lean manufacturing. APS decreases the workload and enables manufacturing companies to focus their attention on the facility as a whole. With lean and APS, there is a guaranteed overall facility improvement, waste minimization, and production efficiency. 

Video: Lean Manufacturing – Eliminating the 7 Wastes with PlanetTogether APS

In this video, you’ll see how PlanetTogether Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps manufacturers apply lean manufacturing to reduce waste and improve efficiency. Learn how APS supports identifying value, minimizing non–value-added activities, and targeting the 7 wastes of lean—transport, inventory, motion, waiting, over-processing, overproduction, and defects.

Key takeaways from this video:

• How PlanetTogether APS supports lean waste minimization
• How better sequencing and planning cut the 7 wastes
• How APS uses ERP/MRP data to build lean, realistic schedules
• How what-if scenarios help test lean ideas safely
• How scheduling around value and constraints boosts efficiency and profit

Make Sure Your Lean Efforts Show Up in the Schedule

Lean manufacturing tells you that anything not adding value to the customer is waste—but waste is created or removed every day in your production plan and schedule. If you’re still planning in spreadsheets or using rough-cut logic, it’s easy for overproduction, excess inventory, waiting, and other wastes to creep back in, even after a lean initiative.

Download our one-page “The Money Is in the Planning” infographic to see how better planning and scheduling can help you:

• Reduce overproduction, inventory, motion, and waiting
• Improve flow by protecting bottlenecks and leveling work across resources
• Cut overtime, expediting, and rework that eat into lean gains
• Turn your existing ERP/MRP data and APS into a lean, demand-driven schedule

Use it as a quick checklist during lean events, value stream mapping workshops, and planning meetings to connect lean waste minimization to the planning and scheduling decisions that truly drive efficiency and profitability in your facility.