Lean Management is a business management concept aimed at adapting an enterprise to prevailing market conditions and meeting ever-increasing competitiveness. It utilizes knowledge from the fields of logistics, production management, and production engineering.
European and global companies that have successfully implemented Lean Management tools can serve as an inspiration for Polish entrepreneurs. The benefits of correctly implementing selected methods are multifaceted. However, one must be aware that the process of implementing Lean Management is multi-stage – it requires analysis of the object under study, development of a change concept and its schedule, as well as the involvement of the entire staff.
Selected Lean Management methods and techniques
The Lean Management method is primarily used in the process of enterprise restructuring. This is achieved through rational changes in the management of company assets, personnel, and maintaining good relations with the environment. Thanks to the implementation of the Lean concept, it is possible to minimize inventory, increase productivity and product quality, while maintaining maximum efficiency of the organization itself and individual work processes.
The scope of Lean Management applications includes the following areas of enterprise activity: organization, production, and procurement and sales.
Kaizen (from Japanese: improvement, continuous improvement) is a Japanese philosophy of conduct that stems from local culture and management practice, based on setting standards and continuously improving the current state. It is a fundamental, though not the only, element of implementing lean management in an organization. The aforementioned changes are possible thanks to the involvement of the entire staff, from management to line employees. Thanks to suggestions for changes coming from the lowest levels of the enterprise, it is possible to gradually improve the production cycle while increasing employee satisfaction with the work performed. Through the application of the Kaizen philosophy, we make gradual improvements to various levels of the enterprise. This system is most easily represented by the Deming cycle.
The Deming cycle (also known as the Deming wheel) is a scheme that should be followed for continuous improvement. We distinguish two types of cycles: PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) and SDSA (Standardize-Do-Check-Act).
The diagram shown in Figure 1 presents the PDCA version of the Deming wheel, which is repeated until a satisfactory level is reached. It is essential to continuously search for new and better solutions. The subsequent steps of the cycle are:
– P (plan) – plan a better method of conduct, prepare documentation of changes, set goals and assumptions;
– D (do) – execute, implement the created plan while observing its progress;
– C (check) – check, compare the effect with the assumptions of the implemented changes;
– A (act) – act, if the applied method brings results, it should be considered a standard procedure and monitored. If, however, discrepancies occur, it is necessary to introduce corrective changes.
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Source: Logistyka Magazine